TITLE. This Psalm is without a title, and
we have no means of ascertaining either the name of its writer,
or the date of its composition, with certainly. The Jewish
doctors consider that when the author's name is not mentioned we
may assign the Psalm to the last named writer; and, if so, this
is another Psalm of Moses, the man of God. Many expressions here
used are similar to those of Moses in Deuteronomy, and the
internal evidence, from the peculiar idioms, would point towards
him as the composer. The continued lives of Joshua and Caleb,
who followed the Lord fully, make remarkably apt illustrations
of this Psalm, for they, as a reward for abiding in continued
nearness to the Lord, lived on "amongst the dead, amid
their graves." For these reasons it is by no means
improbable that this Psalm may have been written by Moses, but
we dare not dogmatize. If David's pen was used in giving us this
matchless ode, we cannot believe as some do that he this
commemorated the plague which devastated Jerusalem on account of
his numbering the people. For him, then, to sing of himself as
seeing "the reward of the wicked" would be clean
contrary to his declaration, "I have sinned, but these
sheep, what have they done?"; and the absence of any
allusion to the sacrifice upon Zion could not be in any way
accounted for, since David's repentance would inevitably have
led him to dwell upon the atoning sacrifice and the sprinkling
of blood by the hyssop.
In the whole collection there is not a more cheering Psalm,
its tone is elevated and sustained throughout, faith is at its
best, and speaks nobly. A German physician was wont to speak of
it as the best preservative in times of cholera, and in truth,
it is a heavenly medicine against plague and pest. He who can
live in its spirit will be fearless, even if once again London
should become a lazar-house, and the grave be gorged with
carcases.
DIVISION. On this occasion we shall follow the
divisions which our translators have placed at the head of the
Psalm, for they are pithy and suggestive.
Ps 91:1-2—The state of the godly.
Ps 91:3-8—Their safety.
Ps 91:9-10—Their habitation.
Ps 91:11-13—Their servants.
Ps 91:14-16—Their friend; with the effects
of them all.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the most High. The blessings here promised are not for all
believers, but for those who live in close fellowship with God.
Every child of God looks towards the inner sanctuary and the
mercyseat, yet all do not dwell in the most holy place; they run
to it at times, and enjoy occasional approaches, but they do not
habitually reside in the mysterious presence. Those who through
rich grace obtain unusual and continuous communion with God, so
as to abide in Christ and Christ in them, become possessors of
rare and special benefits, which are missed by those who follow
afar off, and grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Into the secret
place those only come who know the love of God in Christ Jesus,
and those only dwell there to whom to live is Christ. To them
the veil is rent, the mercyseat is revealed, the covering
cherubs are manifest, and the awful glory of the Most High is
apparent: these, like Simeon, have the Holy Ghost upon them, and
like Anna they depart not from the temple; they are the
courtiers of the Great King, the valiant men who keep watch
around the bed of Solomon, the virgin souls who follow the Lamb
whithersoever he goeth. Elect out of the elect, they have
"attained unto the first three", and shall walk with
their Lord in white, for they are worthy. Sitting down in the
august presence chamber where shines the mystic light of the
Sheckinah, they know what it is to be raised up together, and to
be made to sit together with Christ in the heavenlies, and of
them it is truly said that their conversation is in heaven.
Special grace like theirs brings with it special immunity. Outer
court worshippers little know what belongs to the inner
sanctuary, or surely they would press on until the place of
nearness and divine familiarity became theirs. Those who are the
Lord's constant guests shall find that he will never suffer any
to be injured within his gates; he has eaten the covenant salt
with them, and is pledged for their protection. Shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. The Omnipotent Lord will
shield all those who dwell with him, they shall remain under his
care as guests under the protection of their host. In the most
holy place the wings of the cherubim were the most conspicuous
objects, and they probably suggested to the psalmist the
expression here employed. Those who commune with God are safe
with Him, no evil can reach them, for the outstretched wings of
his power and love cover them from all harm. This protection is
constant—they abide under it, and it is all sufficient,
for it is the shadow of the Almighty, whose omnipotence
will surely screen them from all attack. No shelter can be
imagined at all comparable to the protection of Jehovah's own
shadow. The Almighty himself is where his shadow is, and hence
those who dwell in his secret place are shielded by himself.
What a shade in the day of noxious heat! What a refuge in the
hour of deadly storm! Communion with God is safety. The more
closely we cling to our Almighty Father the more confident may
we be.
Verse 2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge
and my fortress. To take up a general truth and make it our
own by personal faith is the highest wisdom. It is but poor
comfort to say `the Lord is a refuge, 'but to say he is my
refuge, is the essence of consolation. Those who believe should
also speak—"I will say", for such bold
avowals honour God and lead others to seek the same confidence.
Men are apt enough to proclaim their doubts, and even to boast
of them, indeed there is a party nowadays of the most audacious
pretenders to culture and thought, who glory in casting
suspicion upon every thing: hence it becomes the duty of all
true believers to speak out and testify with calm courage to
their own well grounded reliance upon their God. Let others say
what they will, be it ours to say of the Lord, "he is our refuge."
But what we say we must prove by our actions, we must fly to the
Lord for shelter, and not to an arm of flesh. The bird flies
away to the thicket, and the fox hastens to its hole, every
creature uses its refuge in the hour of danger, and even so in
all peril or fear of peril let us flee unto Jehovah, the Eternal
Protector of his own. Let us, when we are secure in the Lord,
rejoice that our position is unassailable, for he is our fortress
as well as our refuge. No moat, portcullis, drawbridge, wall,
battlement and donjon, could make us so secure as we are when
the attributes of the Lord of Hosts environ us around. Behold
this day the Lord is to us instead of walls and bulwarks! Our
ramparts defy the leagured hosts of hell. Foes in flesh, and
foes in ghostly guise are alike balked of their prey when the
Lord of Hosts stands between us and their fury, and all other
evil forces are turned aside. Walls cannot keep out the
pestilence, but the Lord can.
As if it were not enough to call the Lord his refuge and
fortress, he adds, My God! in him will I trust. Now he can say
no more; "my God" means all, and more than all, that
heart can conceive by way of security. It was most meet that he
should say "in him will I trust", since to deny faith
to such a one were wilful wickedness and wanton insult. He who
dwells in an impregnable fortress, naturally trusts in it; and
shall not he who dwells in God feel himself well at ease, and
repose his soul in safety? O that we more fully carried out the
psalmist's resolve! We have trusted in God, let us trust him
still. He has never failed us, why then should we suspect him?
To trust in man is natural to fallen nature, to trust in God
should be as natural to regenerated nature. Where there is every
reason and warrant for faith, we ought to place our confidence
without hesitancy or wavering. Dear reader, pray for grace to
say, "In him will I trust."
Verse 3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare
of the fowler. Assuredly no subtle plot shall succeed against
one who has the eyes of God watching for his defence, We are
foolish and weak as poor little birds, and are very apt to be
lured to our destruction by cunning foes, but if we dwell near
to God, he will see to it that the most skilful deceiver shall
not entrap us.
"Satan the fowler who betrays
Unguarded souls a thousand ways,"
shall be foiled in the case of the man whose high and
honourable condition consists in residence within the holy place
of the Most High.
And from the noisome pestilence. He who is a Spirit can
protect us from evil spirits, he who is mysterious can rescue us
from mysterious dangers, he who is immortal can redeem its from
mortal sickness. There is a deadly pestilence of error, we are
safe from that if we dwell in communion with the God of truth;
there is a fatal pestilence of sin, we shall not be infected by
it if we abide with the thrice Holy One; there is also a
pestilence of disease, and even from that calamity our faith
shall win immunity if it be of that high order which abides in
God, walks on in calm serenity, and ventures all things for
duty's sake. Faith by cheering the heart keeps it free from the
fear which, in times of pestilence, kills more than the plague
itself. It will not in all cases ward off disease and death, but
where the man is such as the first verse describes, it will
assuredly render him immortal where others die; if all the
saints are not so sheltered it is because they have not all such
a close abiding with God, and consequently not such confidence
in the promise. Such special faith is not given to all, for
there are diversities in the measure of faith. It is not of all
believers that the psalmist sings, but only of those who dwell
in the secret place of the Most High. Too many among us are weak
in faith, and in fact place more reliance in a phial or a
globule than in the Lord and giver of life, and if we die of
pestilence as others die it is because we acted like others, and
did not in patience possess our souls. The great mercy is that
in such a case our deaths are blessed, and it is well with us,
for we are for ever with the Lord. Pestilence to the saints
shall not be noisome but the messenger of heaven.
Verse 4. He shall cover thee with thy feathers, and
under his wings shalt thou trust. A wonderful expression!
Had it been invented by an uninspired man it would have verged
upon blasphemy, for who should dare to apply such words to the
Infinite Jehovah? But as he himself authorised, yea, dictated
the language, we have here a transcendent condescension, such as
it becomes us to admire and adore. Doth the Lord speak of his
feathers, as though he likened himself to a bird? Who will not
see herein a matchless love, a divine tenderness, which should
both woo and win our confidence? Even as a hen covereth her
chickens so doth the Lord protect the souls which dwell in him;
let us cower down beneath him for comfort and for safety. Hawks
in the sky and snares in the field are equally harmless when we
nestle so near the Lord. His truth—his true promise, and his
faithfulness to his promise, shall be thy shield and buckler.
Double armour has he who relies upon the Lord. He bears a shield
and wears an all surrounding coat of mail—such is the force of
the word "buckler." To quench fiery darts the truth is
a most effectual shield, and to blunt all swords it is an
equally effectual coat of mail. Let us go forth to battle thus
harnessed for the war, and we shall be safe in the thickest of
the fight. It has been so, and so shall it be till we reach the
land of peace, and there among the "helmed cherubim and
sworded seraphim, " we will wear no other ornament, his
truth shall still be our shield and buckler.
Verse 5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by
night. Such frail creatures are we that both by night and by
day we are in danger, and so sinful are we that in either season
we may be readily carried away by fear; the promise before us
secures the favourite of heaven both from danger and from the
fear of it. Night is the congenial hour of horrors, when alarms
walk abroad like beasts of prey, or ghouls from among the tombs;
our fears turn the sweet season of repose into one of dread, and
though angels are abroad and fill our chambers, we dream of
demons and dire visitants from hell. Blessed is that communion
with God which renders us impervious to midnight frights, and
horrors born of darkness. Not to be afraid is in itself an
unspeakable blessing, since for every suffering which we endure
from real injury we are tormented by a thousand griefs which
arise from fear only. The shadow of the Almighty removes all
gloom from the shadow of night: once covered by the divine wing,
we care not what winged terrors may fly abroad in the earth. Nor
for the arrow that flieth by day. Cunning foes lie in ambuscade,
and aim the deadly shaft at our hearts, but we do not fear them,
and have no cause to do so. That arrow is not made which can
destroy the righteous, for the Lord hath said, "No weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper." In times of
great danger those who have made the Lord their refuge, and
therefore have refused to use the carnal weapon, have been
singularly preserved; the annals of the Quakers bear good
evidence to this; yet probably the main thought is, that from
the cowardly attacks of crafty malice those who walk by faith
shall be protected, from cunning heresies they shall be
preserved, and in sudden temptations they shall be secured from
harm. Day has its perils as well as night, arrows more deadly
than those poisoned by the Indian are flying noiselessly through
the air, and we shall be their victims unless we find both
shield and buckler in our God. 0 believer, dwell under the
shadow of the Lord, and none of the archers shall destroy thee,
they may shoot at thee and wound thee grievously, but thy bow
shall abide in strength. When Satan's quiver shall be empty thou
shalt remain uninjured by his craft and cruelty, yea, his broken
darts shall be to thee as trophies of the truth and power of the
Lord thy God.
Verse 6. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in
darkness. It is shrouded in mystery as to its cause and
cure, it marches on, unseen of men, slaying with hidden weapons,
like an enemy stabbing in the dark, yet those who dwell in God
are not afraid of it. Nothing is more alarming than the
assassin's plot, for he may at any moment steal in upon a man,
and lay him low at a stroke; and such is the plague in the days
of its power, none can promise themselves freedom from it for an
hour in any place in the infected city; it enters a house men
know not how, and its very breath is mortal; yet those choice
souls who dwell in God shall live above fear in the most plague
stricken places—they shall not be afraid of the
"plagues which in the darkness walk." Nor for the
destruction that wasteth at noonday. Famine may starve, or
bloody war devour, earthquake may overturn and tempest may
smite, but amid all, the man who has sought the mercy seat and
is sheltered beneath the wings which overshadow it, shall abide
in perfect peace. Days of horror and nights of terror are for
other men, his days and nights are alike spent with God, and
therefore pass away in sacred quiet. His peace is not a thing of
times and seasons, it does not rise and set with the sun, nor
does it depend upon the healthiness of the atmosphere or the
security of the country. Upon the child of the Lord's own heart
pestilence has no destroying power, and calamity no wasting
influence: pestilence walks in darkness, but he dwells in light;
destruction wastes at noonday, but upon him another sun has
risen whose beams bring restoration. Remember that the voice
which saith "thou shalt not fear" is that of God
himself, who hereby pledges his word for the safety of those who
abide under his shadow, nay, not for their safety only, but for
their serenity. So far shall they be from being injured that
they shall not even be made to fear the ills which are around
them, since the Lord protects them.
"He, his shadowy plumes outspread.
With his wing shall fence thy head;
And his truth around thee wield,
Strong as targe or bossy shield!
Naught shall strike thee with dismay,
Fear by night, nor shaft by day."
Verse 7. A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten
thousand at thy right hand. So terribly may the plague rage
among men that the bills of mortality may become very heavy and
continue to grow ten times heavier still, yet shall such as this
Psalm speaks of survive the scythe of death. It shall not come
nigh thee. It shall be so near as to be at thy side, and yet not
nigh enough to touch thee; like a fire it shall burn all around,
yet shall not the smell of it pass upon thee. How true is this
of the plague of moral evil, of heresy, and of backsliding.
Whole nations are infected, yet the man who communes with God is
not affected by the contagion; he holds the truth when falsehood
is all the fashion. Professors all around him are plague
smitten, the church is wasted, the very life of religion decays,
but in the same place and time, in fellowship with God, the
believer renews his youth, and his soul knows no sickness. In a
measure this also is true of physical evil; the Lord still puts
a difference between Israel and Egypt in the day of his plagues.
Sennacherib's army is blasted, but Jerusalem is in health.
"Our God his chosen people saves
Amongst the dead, amidst the graves."
Verse 8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and
see the reward of the wicked. The sight shall reveal both
the justice and the mercy of God; in them that perish the
severity of God will be manifest, and in the believer's escape
the richness of divine goodness will be apparent. Joshua and
Caleb verified this promise. The Puritan preachers during the
plague of London must have been much impressed with this verse
as they came out of their hiding places to proclaim mercy and
judgment to the dissolute age which was so sorely visited with
the pest. The sight of God's judgments softens the heart,
excites a solemn awe, creates gratitude, and so stirs up the
deepest kind of adoration. It is such a sight as none of us
would wish to see, and yet if we did see it we might thus be
lifted up to the very noblest style of manhood. Let us but watch
providence, and we shall find ourselves living in a school where
examples of the ultimate reward of sin are very plentiful. One
case may not be judged alone lest we misjudge, but instances of
divine visitation will be plentiful in the memory of any
attentive observer of men and things; from all these put
together we may fairly draw conclusions, and unless we shut our
eyes to that which is self evident, we shall soon perceive that
there is after all a moral ruler over the sons of men, who
sooner or later rewards the ungodly with due punishment.
Verses 9-10. Before expounding these verses I cannot
refrain from recording a personal incident illustrating their
power to soothe the heart, when they are applied by the Holy
Spirit. In the year 1854, when I had scarcely been in London
twelve months, the neighbourhood in which I laboured was visited
by Asiatic cholera, and my congregation suffered from its
inroads. Family after family summoned me to the bedside of the
smitten, and almost every day I was called to visit the grave. I
gave myself up with youthful ardour to the visitation of the
sick, and was sent for from all corners of the district by
persons of all ranks and religions. I became weary in body and
sick at heart. My friends seemed falling one by one, and I felt
or fancied that I was sickening like those around me. A little
more work and weeping would have laid me low among the rest; I
felt that my burden was heavier than I could bear, and I was
ready to sink under it. As God would have it, I was returning
mournfully home from a funeral, when my curiosity led me to read
a paper which was wafered up in a shoemaker's window in the
Dover Road. It did not look like a trade announcement, nor was
it, for it bore in a good bold handwriting these words:
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the
most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee,
neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. The effect
upon my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage as
her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went
on with my visitation of the dying in a calm and peaceful
spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no harm. The
providence which moved the tradesman to place those verses in
his window I gratefully acknowledge, and in the remembrance of
its marvellous power I adore the Lord my God. The psalmist in
these verses assures the man who dwells in God that he shall be
secure. Though faith claims no merit of its own, yet the Lord
rewards it wherever he sees it. He who makes God his
refuge shall find him a refuge; he who dwells in God shall find
his dwelling protected. We must make the Lord our
habitation by choosing him for our trust and rest, and then we
shall receive immunity from harm; no evil shall touch us
personally, and no stroke of judgment shall assail our
household. The dwelling here intended by the original was
only a tent, yet the frail covering would prove to be a
sufficient shelter from harm of all sorts. It matters little
whether our abode be a gypsy's hut or a monarch's palace if the
soul has made the Most High its habitation. Get into God and you
dwell in all good, and ill is banished far away. It is not
because we are perfect or highly esteemed among men that we can
hope for shelter in the day of evil, but because our refuge is
the Eternal God, and our faith has learned to hide beneath his
sheltering wing.
"For this no ill thy cause shall daunt,
No scourge thy tabernacle haunt."
It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is
beloved of the Lord; the most crushing calamities can only
shorten his journey and hasten him to his reward. Ill to him is
no ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich him,
sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honour, death is his
gain. No evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him,
for everything is overruled for good. Happy is he who is in such
a case. He is secure where others are in peril, he lives where
others die.
Verse 11. For he shall give his angels charge over
thee. Not one guardian angel, as some fondly dream, but all
the angels are here alluded to. They are the bodyguard of the
princes of the blood imperial of heaven, and they have received
commission from their Lord and ours to watch carefully over all
the interests of the faithful. When men have a charge they
become doubly careful, and therefore the angels are represented
as bidden by God himself to see to it that the elect are
secured. It is down in the marching orders of the hosts of
heaven that they take special note of the people who dwell in
God. It is not to be wondered at that the servants are bidden to
be careful of the comfort of their Master's guests; and we may
be quite sure that when they are specially charged by the Lord
himself they will carefully discharge the duty imposed upon
them. To keep thee in all thy ways. To be a bodyguard, a
garrison to the body, soul, and spirit of the saint. The limit
of this protection "in all thy ways" is yet no limit
to the heart which is right with God. It is not the way of the
believer to go out of his way. He keeps in the way, and then the
angels keep him. The protection here promised is exceeding broad
as to place, for it refers to all our ways, and what do
we wish for more? How angels thus keep us we cannot tell.
Whether they repel demons, counteract spiritual plots, or even
ward off the more subtle physical forces of disease, we do not
know. Perhaps we shall one day stand amazed at the multiplied
services which the unseen bands have rendered to us.
Verse 12. They, that is the angels, God's own
angels, shall cheerfully become our servants. They shall bear
thee up in their hands; as nurses carry little children,
with careful love, so shall those glorious spirits bear up each
individual believer. Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone;
even minor ills they ward off. It is most desirable that we
should not stumble, but as the way is rough, it is most gracious
on the Lord's part to send his servants to bear us up above the
loose pebbles. If we cannot have the way smoothed it answers
every purpose if we have angels to bear us up in their hands.
Since the greatest ills may arise out of little accidents, it
shows the wisdom of the Lord that from the smaller evils we are
protected.
Verse 13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder.
Over force and fraud shalt thou march victoriously; bold
opponents and treacherous adversaries shall alike be trodden
down. When our shoes are iron and brass lions and adders are
easily enough crushed beneath our heel. The young lion and the
dragon shalt thou trample under feet. The strongest foe in
power, and the most mysterious in cunning, shall be conquered by
the man of God. Not only from stones in the way, but from
serpents also, shall we be safe. To men who dwell in God the
most evil forces become harmless, they wear a charmed life, and
defy the deadliest ills. Their feet come into contact with the
worst of foes, even Satan himself nibbles at their heel, but in
Christ Jesus they have the assured hope of bruising Satan under
their feet shortly. The people of God are the real "George
and the dragon, "the true lion kings and serpent tamers.
Their dominion over the powers of darkness makes them cry,
"Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy
word."
Verse 14. Here we have the Lord himself speaking of
his own chosen one. Because he hath set his love upon me,
therefore will I deliver him. Not because he deserves to
be thus kept, but because with all his imperfections he does
love his God; therefore not the angels of God only, but the God
of angels himself will come to his rescue in all perilous times,
and will effectually deliver him. When the heart is enamoured of
the Lord, all taken up with him, and intensely attached to him,
the Lord will recognise the sacred flame, and preserve the man
who bears it in his bosom. It is love,—love set upon God,
which is the distinguishing mark of those whom the Lord secures
from ill. I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
The man has known the attributes of God so as to trust in him,
and then by experience has arrived at a yet deeper knowledge,
this shall be regarded by the Lord as a pledge of his grace, and
he will set the owner of it above danger or fear, where he shall
dwell in peace and joy. None abide in intimate fellowship with
God unless they possess a warm affection towards God, and an
intelligent trust in him; these gifts of grace are precious in
Jehovah's eyes, and wherever he sees them he smiles upon them.
How elevated is the standing which the Lord gives to the
believer. We ought to covet it right earnestly. If we climb on
high it may be dangerous, but if God sets us there it is
glorious.
Verse 15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer
him. He will have need to pray, he will be led to pray
aright and the answer shall surely come. Saints are first called
of God and then they call upon God; such calls as
theirs always obtain answers. Not without prayer will the
blessing come to the most favoured, but by means of prayer they
shall receive all good things. I will be with him in trouble, or
"I am with him in trouble." Heirs of heaven are
conscious of a special divine presence in times of severe trial.
God is always near in sympathy and in power to help his tried
ones. I will deliver him, and honour him. The man honours God,
and God honours him. Believers are not delivered or preserved in
a way which lowers them, and makes them feel themselves
degraded; far from it, the Lord's salvation bestows honour upon
those it delivers. God first gives us conquering grace, and then
rewards us for it.
Verse 16. With long life will I satisfy him.
The man described in this Psalm fills out the measure of his
days, and whether he dies young or old he is quite satisfied
with life, and is content to leave it. He shall rise from life's
banquet as a man who has had enough, and would not have more
even if he could. And shew him my salvation. The full sight of
divine grace shall be his closing vision. He shall look from
Amana and Lebanon. Not with destruction before him black as
night, but with salvation bright as noonday smiling upon him he
shall enter into his rest.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. The Talmud writers ascribe not only the
ninety-first Psalm, but the nine ensuing, to the pen of Moses;
but from a rule which will in no respect hold, that all the
psalms which are without the name of an author in their
respective titles are the production of the poet whose name is
given in the nearest preceding title. And though it is
impossible to prove that this highly beautiful ode was not
written by David, the general drift of its scenery and allusions
rather concur in showing that, like the last, we are indebted
for it to the muse of Moses: that it was composed by him during
the journey through the wilderness, shortly after the plague of
the fiery serpents; when the children of Israel, having returned
to a better spirit, were again received into the favour of
JEHOVAH. Besides political enemies, the children of Israel in
the wilderness had other evils in great numbers to encounter,
from the nature and diseases of the climate, which exposed them
to coups de soleil, or sun smiting, during the heat of
the day; and to pestilential vapours, moon smiting,
during the damp of the night, so as to render the miraculous
canopy of the cloud that hung over them in the former season,
and the miraculous column of fire that cheered and purified them
in the latter, equally needful and refreshing. In Egypt, they
had seen so much of the plague, and they had been so fearfully
threatened with it as a punishment for disobedience, that they
could not but be in dread of its reappearance, from the
incessant fatigues of their journeying. In addition to all
which, they had to be perpetually on their guard against the
insidious attacks of the savage monsters and reptiles of
"that great and terrible wilderness", as Moses
describes it on another occasion, "wherein were fiery
serpents, and scorpions, and drought; where there was no
water" (De 8:15); and where, also, as we learn from other
parts of Scripture, bears, lions, leopards or tigers, and
"the wolf of the evening", as Jeremiah has beautifully
expressed it, prowled without restraint. Now in the Psalm before
us, and especially in Ps 91:6-13, we have so clear and graphic a
description of the whole of these evils presented to us, as to
bring its composition directly home to the circumstances and the
period here pitched upon, and to render it at least needless to
hunt out for any other occasion. J. M. Good's
"Historical Outline of the Book of Psalms", 1842.
Whole Psalm. It is one of the most excellent works of
this kind which has ever appeared. It is impossible to imagine
anything more solid, more beautiful, more profound, or more
ornamented. Could the Latin or any modern language express
thoroughly all the beauties and elegancies as well of the words
as of the sentences, it would not be difficult to
persuade the reader that we have no poem, either in Greek
or Latin, comparable to this Hebrew ode. Simon de Muis.
Whole Psalm. Psalm 90 spoke of man withering away
beneath God's anger against sin. Psalm 91 tells of a Man, who is
able to tread the lion and adder under His feet.—Undoubtedly
the Tempter was right in referring this Psalm to "the Son
of God" (Mt 4:6). The imagery of the Psalm seems to be in
part drawn from that Passover Night, when the Destroying Angel
passed through Egypt, while the faithful and obedient Israelites
were sheltered by God. William Kay.
Verse 1. He, no matter who he may be, rich or
poor, learned or unlearned, patrician or plebeian, young or old,
for "God is no respecter of persons", but "he is
rich to all that call upon him." Bellarmine.
Verse 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the Most High. Note, he who dwells in the secret place of
the Most High is not he that conjures up one or two slight and
fleeting acts of hope in Him, but the man that places in him an
assiduous and constant confidence. In this way he establishes
for himself in God by that full trust, a home, a dwelling place,
a mansion, ...The Hebrew for he that dwelleth, is bvy,
that is, dwelling in quietude, and resting, enduring and
remaining with constancy. Le Blanc.
Verse 1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the most High. What intimate and unrestrained communion does
this describe!—the Christian in everything making known his
heart, with its needs and wishes, its thoughts and feelings, its
doubts and anxieties, its sorrows and its joys, to God, as to a
loving, perfect friend. And all is not on one side. This
Almighty Friend has admitted his chosen one to his "secret
place." It is almost too wonderful to be true. It is
almost too presumptuous a thought for such creatures as we are
to entertain. But He himself permits it, desires it,
teaches us to realise that it is communion to which he
calls us. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear
him." And what is this "secret"? It is that
in God which the world neither knows, nor sees, nor cares to
enjoy. It is his mind revealed to those that love him, his
plans, and ways ("He made known his ways to Moses",
Ps 103:7), and thoughts opened to them. Yea, and things hid from
angels are manifest to the least of his friends (1Pe 1:12). He
wishes us to know him, and by his Word and by his Spirit he puts
himself before us. Ah! it is not his fault if we do not know
him. It is our own carelessness. Mary B. M. Duncan, in
"Under the Shadow", 1867.
Verse 1. By secret here is meant a place of
refuge from the storms of the world under the secret of his
providence, who careth for all his children. Also, by the secret
of the most High, some writers understand the castle of his
mighty defence, to which his people run, being pursued by
enemies, as the wild creature doth to his hole or den for
succour, when the hunter hath him in chase, and the dogs are
near. This then being the meaning of that which the prophet
calleth the "secret place of the most High",
and our dwelling in it, by confidence in him; we learn, in all
troubles, to cleave to God chiefly or only for help, and
to means but as underlings to his providence. . . . That
which is here translated dwelleth, is as much in weight
as sitteth, or is settled; and so, our dwelling in God's secret,
is as much as our sitting down in it: the meaning is, we must
make it our rest, as if we should say, Here will we dwell. From
whence we learn, that God's children should not come to God's secret
place as guests to an inn, but as inhabitants to their own
dwellings; that is, they should continue to trust in God, as
well in want as in fulness; and as much when they wither
in their root, as when they flourish in it. Robert
Horn.
Verse 1. He that dwelleth, etc.
1. "He dwells", therefore he shall
"abide." He shall lodge quietly, securely.
2. "He dwells in the secret place", therefore he
shall "abide under the shadow." In the cool, the
favour, the cover from the heat
3. "He dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High,
therefore he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty;
"i.e., of the all powerful God, of the God of
heaven; of that God whose name is Shaddai, All sufficient. Adam
Clarke.
Verse 1. Shall abide. The Hebrew for
"shall abide" is Nkwlty, which signifies, he shall
pass the night. Abiding denotes a constant and continuous
dwelling of the just in the assistance and protection of God.
That help and protection of God is not like a lodge in a garden
of cucumbers, or in a vineyard; which is destroyed in a moment,
nor is it like a tent in the way which is abandoned by the
traveller. It is a strong tower, a paternal home, wherein we
spend all our life with the best, wealthiest, and mightiest of
parents. Passing the night also denotes security and rest
in time of darkness, temptations and calamities. With God
Abraham passed the night, when He foretold to him the affliction
of his descendants in Egypt, and their deliverance, Ge 15:12-16.
Then also God said to him (Ge 15:1), Fear not Abram. I am thy
shield. And leading him forth he showed him the glittering
stars, and said, Tell the number of the stars, if thou bc able;
so shall thy seed be. Le Blanc.
Verse 1. The shadow. The allusion of this verse
may be to the awful and mystic symbols of the ark. Under the
ancient ceremony, the high priest only could enter, and that but
once a year, into the holy place, where stood the emblems of the
divine glory and presence; but under the present bright and
merciful dispensation, every true believer has access, with
boldness, into the holiest of all; and he who now dwelleth in
the secret place of prayer and communion with the God of
salvation, shall find the divine mercy and care spread over him
for his daily protection and solace. John Morison.
Verse 1. Under the shadow of the Almighty. This
is an expression which implies great nearness. We must walk very
close to a companion, if we would have his shadow fall on us.
Can we imagine any expression more perfect in describing the constant
presence of God with his chosen ones, than this—they shall
"abide under his shadow"? In Solomon's
beautiful allegory, the Church in a time of special communion
with Christ, says of him—"I sat down under his shadow
with great delight" (So 2:3)—"sat down",
desiring not to leave it, but to abide there for ever. And it is
he who chooses to dwell in the secret place of the most High,
who shall "abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
There is a condition and a promise attached to it. The condition
is, that we "dwell in the secret place, "—the
promise, that if we do so we "shall abide under the
shadow." It is of importance to view it thus. For when we
remember the blessing is a promised blessing—we are led
to feel it is a gift—a thing therefore to be prayed for in
faith, as well as sought for by God's appointed means. Ah, the
hopes that this awakens! My wandering, wavering, unstable
heart, that of itself cannot keep to one course two days
together is to seek its perseverance from God, and not in its
own strength. He will hold it to him if it be but seeking for
stedfastness. It is not we who cling to him. It is he who keeps
near to us. Mary B. M. Duncan.
Verse 1-4, 9. O you that be in fear of any danger,
leave all carnal shifts, and carking counsels, and projects, and
dwell in the rock of God's power and providence, and be like the
dove that nestles in the holes of the rock; by faith betake
yourselves unto God, by faith dwell in that rock, and there
nestle yourselves, make your nests of safety in the clefts of
this rock. But how may we do this thing, and what is the way to
do it? Do this,—Set thy faith on work to make God that unto
thee which thy necessity requires, pitch and throw thyself upon
his power and providence, with a resolution of spirit to rest
thyself upon it for safety, come what will come. See an
excellent practice of this, Ps 91:1, He that dwelleth in the
secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of
the Almighty; that is, he shall be safe from all fears and
dangers. Aye, that is true, you will say, who makes any doubt of
it? But how shall a man come to dwell, and get into this secret
place, within this strong tower? See Ps 91:2: I will say of
the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; as if he had
said, I will not only say, that he is a refuge; but he is my
refuge, I will say to the Lord; that is, I will set my faith on
work in particular, to throw, devolve, and pitch myself upon him
for my safety. And see what follows upon this setting faith thus
on work, Ps 91:3-4: Surely he shall deliver thee from the
snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall
cover thee with his feathers, etc. So confident the Psalmist
is that upon this course taken, safety shall follow. Our safety
lies not simply upon this, because God is a refuge, and is an
habitation, but "Because thou hast made the Lord
which is my refuge, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall
thee, "etc. It is therefore the making of God our
habitation, upon which our safety lies; and this is the way to
make God an habitation, thus to pitch and cast ourselves by
faith upon his power and providence. Jeremiah Dyke.
Verse 1. We read of a stag that roamed about in the
greatest security, by reason of its having a label on its neck, "Touch
me not, I belong to Caesar": thus the true servants of
God are always safe, even among lions, bears, serpents, fire,
water, thunder, and tempests; for all creatures know and
reverence the shadow of God. Bellarmine.
Verse 2. My refuge, my fortress, my God. "My
refuge." God is our "refuge." He who
avails himself of a refuge is one who is forced to fly. It is a
quiet retreat from a pursuing enemy. And there are trials, and
temptations, and enemies, from which the Christian does best to
fly. He cannot resist them. They are too strong for him. His
wisdom is to fly into the refuge of the secret place of his
God—to rest in the shadow of the Almighty. His "strength
is to sit still" there. Isa 30:7. "My
fortress." The Psalmist says, moreover, that God is his
"fortress." Here the idea is changed—no
longer a peaceful, quiet hiding place, but a tower of defence—strong,
manifest, ready to meet the attacks of all enemies, ready and
able to resist them all. God is a Friend who meets every want in
our nature, who can supply every need. So when we are weak and
fainting, and unable to meet the brunt of battle, and striving
against sin and sorrow and the wrath of man He is our safe,
quiet resting place—our fortress also where no harm can reach
us, no attack injure us. "My God." Now the
Psalmist, as a summing up of all his praises, says "I will
say of Him, He is... my God!" Is there any thing omitted in
the former part of his declaration? Everything is
here—all possible ascription of honour, and glory, and power
to Him "as God"—"God over all, blessed
for ever, "and of love, reverence, trust, obedience, and
filial relation towards him on the part of the Psalmist, as MY
God ...when reflecting on the refuge and strength which the Lord
has always been to him, and recalling his blessed experiences of
sweet communion with God—words fail him. He can only say (but
oh, with what expression!) MY GOD! Mary B.M. Duncan.
Verse 2. My God. Specially art Thou my God,
first, on thy part, because of the special goodness and favour
which Thou dost bestow upon me. Secondly, on my part, because of
the special love and reverence with which I cling to Thee. J.
Paulus Palanterius.
Verse 2-4. If the severity and justice of God terrify,
the Lord offereth himself as a bird with stretched out wings
to receive the supplicant, Ps 91:4. If enemies who are too
strong do pursue, the Lord openeth his bosom as a refuge,
Ps 91:2. If the child be assaulted, he becometh a fortress, Ps
91:2. If he be hotly pursued and enquired after, the Lord
becometh a secret place to hide his child; if persecution
be hot, God giveth himself for a shadow; if potentates and
mighty rulers turn enemies, the Lord interposes as the Most
High and Almighty Saviour, Ps 91:1. If his adversaries be
crafty like fowlers or hunters, the Lord promises to prevent and
break the snares, Ps 91:3. Whether evils do come upon the
believer night or day, secretly or openly, to destroy him, the
Lord preserveth his child from destruction;and if
stumbling blocks be laid in his child's way, he hath his
instruments, his servants, his angels, prepared to keep the
believer that he stumble not: He shall give his angels charge
over thee; not one angel only, but all of them, or a number
of them. David Dickson.
Verse 3. He shall deliver thee from the snare of
the fowler. Are we therefore beasts? Beasts doubtless. When
man was in honour he understood not, but was like the foolish
beasts. (Ps 49:12) Men are certainly beasts, wandering
sheep, having no shepherd. Why art thou proud, O man? Why dost
thou boast thyself, O smatterer? See what a beast thou art, for
whom the snares of the fowler are being prepared. But who are
these fowlers? The fowlers indeed are the worst and most
wicked, the cleverest and the most cruel. The fowlers are they
who sound no horn, that they may not be heard, but shoot their
arrows in secret places at the innocent... But lo! since we know
the fowlers and the beasts, our further enquiry must be, what
this snare may be. I wish not myself to invent it, nor to
deliver to you what is subject to doubt. The Apostle shows us
this snare, for he was not ignorant of the devices of these
fowlers. Tell us, I pray, blessed Paul, what this snare of the
devil is, from which the faithful soul rejoices that it is
delivered? They that will be rich (in this world?) says
he, fall into temptation and the snare (of the devil?)
(1Ti 6:9-10). Are not the riches of this world, then, the snare
of the devil?. Alas! how few we find who can boast of freedom
from this snare, how many who grieve that they seem to
themselves too little enmeshed in the net, and who still labour
and toil with all their strength to involve and entangle
themselves more and more. Ye who have left all and followed the
Son of man who has not where to lay his head, rejoice and say, He
hath delivered we from the snare of the fowlers. Bernard.
Verse 3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the
noisome pestilence. Lord Craven lived in London when that
sad calamity, the plague, raged. His house was in that part of
the town called Craven Buildings. On the plague growing
epidemic, his Lordship, to avoid the danger, resolved to go to
his seat in the country. His coach and six were accordingly at
the door, his baggage put up, and all things in readiness for
the journey. As he was walking through his hall with his hat on,
his cane under his arm, and putting on his gloves, in order to
step into his carriage, he overheard his negro, who served him
as postillion, saying to another servant. "I suppose, by my
Lord's quitting London to avoid the plague, that his God lives
in the country, and not in town." The poor negro said this
in the simplicity of his heart, as really believing a plurality
of gods. The speech, however, struck Lord Craven very sensibly,
and made him pause. "My God, "thought he, "lives
everywhere, and can preserve me in town as well as in the
country. I will even stay where I am. The ignorance of that
negro has just now preached to me a very useful sermon. Lord,
pardon this unbelief, and that distrust of thy providence, which
made me think of running from thy hand." He immediately
ordered his horses to be taken from the coach, and the baggage
to be taken in. He continued in London, was remarkably useful
among his sick neighbours, and never caught the infection. Whitecross's
Anecdotes.
Verses 3, 6. Pestilence. It is from a word (rkd) that
signifies to speak, and speak out; the pestilence is a speaking
thing, it proclaims the wrath of God amongst a people. Drusius
fetches it from the same root, but in piel, which is to
decree; showing that the pestilence is a thing decreed in
heaven, not casual. Kirker thinks it is called rkd, because it
keeps order, and spares neither great nor small. The Hebrew root
signifies to destroy, to cut off, and hence may the plague or
pestilence have its name. The Septuagint renders it yanatos,
death, for ordinarily it is death; and it is expressed by "Death,
"Re 6:8, he sat on the pale horse, and killed with
sword, hunger, death, and beasts of the earth; it refers to Eze
14:21, where the pestilence is mentioned. Pestilence may be from
a word which signifies to spread, spoil, rush upon, for it doth
so; 2Sa 24:15, seventy thousand slain in three days; and plague,
a plhgh from plhssw, to smite, to wound, for it smites suddenly,
and wounds mortally; hence it is in Nu 14:12, "I will smite
them with the pestilence." This judgment is very grievous,
it is called in Ps 91:3 the "noisome pestilence,
"because it is infectious, contagious; and therefore the
French read it, "de la peste dangereuse, "from
the dangerous pestilence, it doth endanger those that come near
it: and Musculus hath it, a peste omnium pessima, from
the worst pestilence of all: and others, the woeful pestilence;
it brings a multitude of woes with it to any place or person it
comes unto, it is a messenger of woeful fears, sorrows,
distractions, terrors, and death itself. William Greenhill.
Verse 4. He shall cover thee with his feathers,
etc. Christ's wings are both for healing and for hiding (Mt
4:2), for curing and securing us; the devil and his instruments
would soon devour the servants of God, if he did not set an
invincible guard about them, and cover them with the golden
feathers of his protection. Thomas Watson.
Verse 4. He shall cover thee with his feathers,
etc. This is the promise of the present life. For the promise of
the life to come, who can explain? If the expectation of the
just be gladness, and such gladness, that no object of desire in
the world is worthy to be compared with it, what will the thing
itself be which is expected? No eye, apart from Thee, O God,
hath seen what Thou hast prepared for them that love Thee. Under
these wings, therefore, four blessings are conferred upon us.
For under these we are concealed:under these we are protected
from the attack of the hawks and kites, which are the powers of
the air: under these a salubrious shade refreshes us, and
wards off the overpowering heat of the sun; under these, also we
are nourished and cherished. Bernard.
Verse 4. He shall cover thee with his feathers,
etc.,
His plumes shall make a downie bed,
here thou shalt rest; He shall display
His wings of truth over thy head,
Which, like a shield, shall drive away
The fears of night, the darts of day. Thomas Caryl.
Verse 4. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
That which we must oppose to all perils is the truth, or Word of
God; so long as we keep that, and ward off darts and swords by
that means, we shall not be overcome. David Dickson.
Verse 5. The true remedy against tormenting fear is
faith in God; for many terrible things may befall men when they
are most secure, like unto those which befall men in the night:
but for any harm which may befall the believer this way, the
Lord here willeth him to be nothing afraid: Thou shalt not be
afraid for the terror by night. Many sadder accidents may
befall men when they are most watching and upon their guard, but
the Lord willeth the believer to be confident that he shall not
be harmed this way: Thou shalt not be afraid for the arrow
that flieth by day. Many evils are men subject unto, which
come upon them men cannot tell how, but from such evils the Lord
assures the believer he shall have no harm: Thou shalt not be
afraid of the pestilence which walketh in darkness. Men are
subject to many evils which come upon them openly, and not
unawares, such as are calamities from enemies and oppressors;
the Lord willeth the believer to be confident that he shall not
be harmed this way: Thou shalt not be afraid for the
destruction that wasteth at noonday. David Dickson.
Verse 5. Thou shalt not be afraid. Not only do
the pious stand safe, they are not even touched with fear. For
the prophet does not say, Thou shalt not be seized; but, Thou
shalt not be afraid. Certainly such a confidence of mind could
not be attributed to natural powers, in so menacing and so
overwhelming a destruction. For it is natural to mortals, it is
implanted in them by God the author and maker of nature, to fear
whatever is hurtful and deadly, especially what visibly smites
and suddenly destroys. Therefore does he beautifully join
together these two things: the first, in saying, Thou shalt
not be afraid;the second, by adding, For the terror.
He acknowledges that this plague is terrible to nature; and then
by his trust in divine protection he promises himself this
security, that he shall not fear the evil, which would otherwise
make human nature quail. Wherefore, in my judgment, those
persons are neither kind (humani) nor pious who are of
opinion that so great a calamity is not to be dreaded by
mortals. They neither observe the condition of our nature, nor
honour the blessing of divine protection; both of which we see
here done by the prophet. Musculus.
Verse 5. Not that we are always actually delivered out
of every particular danger or grievance, but because all will
turn (such is our confidence in God) to our greater good; and
the more we suffer the greater shall our reward and our glory
be. To the same purpose is the expression of Isaiah: "When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou
walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee." Isa 43:2. So also Hab
3:17-18, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
"&c.; and Job 5:19-20, etc. And therefore here is no
ground, if the words be rightly understood, for any man
absolutely to presume or conclude that he shall actually be
delivered out of any particular danger; much less upon such a
presumption wilfully to run into dangers. If such figures, the
ornament of all language; such rhetorical, emphatic
amplifications be allowed to human writers, and well enough
understood in ordinary language; why not to holy writers as
well, who had to do with men, as well as others; whose end also
was to use such expressions as might affect and move? That human
writers have said as much of the security of good and godly men,
I shall need to go no further than Horace his Ode, Integer
vitae scelerisque purus, &c. Most dangerous then and
erroneous is the inference of some men, yea, of some expositors,
here, upon these words of the psalmist, that no godly man can
suffer by the plague, or pestilence: nor is old Lactantius his
assertion much sounder, Non potest ergo fieri, quin hominem
justum inter descrimina tempestatum, &c., that no just
man can perish by war, or by tempest. (Instit. 1. v, c. 18).
Most interpreters conclude here, that the godly are preserved in
time of public calamities; which, in a right sense, may be true;
but withal they should have added, that all godly men are not
exempted at such times; to prevent rash judgments. Westminster
Assembly's Annotations.
Verse 5. The arrow. The arrow in this passage
probably means the pestilence. The Arabs denote the pestilence
by an allusion to this flying weapon. "I desired to remove
to a less contagious air. I received from Solyman, the emperor,
this message; that the emperor wondered what I meant, in
desiring to remove my habitation; is not the pestilence God's
arrow, which will always hit his mark? If God would visit me
here with, how could I avoid it? is not the plague, said he, in
my own palace, and yet I do not think of removing." Busbequiu's
Travels. "What, say they, is not the plague the dart of
Almighty God, and can we escape the blow that he levels at us?
is not his hand steady to hit the persons he aims at? can we run
out of his sight, and beyond his power?" Smith's Remarks
on the Turks, 1673. Herbert also, speaking of Curroon,
says, "That year his empire was so wounded with God's
arrows of plague, pestilence, and famine, as this thousand years
before was never so terrible." See Eze 5:16. S. Burder's
Scripture Expositor.
Verses 5-6. Joseph Scaliger explains, in Epis. 9,
these two verses thus, thou shalt not fear, dxkm, from
consternation by night, Uxm, from the arrow flying by day,
rgdm, from pestilence walking at evening, kymqm, from
devastation at noon. Under these four he comprehends all the
evils and dangers to which man is liable. And as the Hebrews
divide the twenty-four hours of day and night into four parts,
namely, evening, midnight, morning, and midday, so he
understands the hours of danger to be divided accordingly: in a
word, "that the man who has made God his refuge, "is
always safe, day and night, at every hour, from every danger. Bythner.
Verse 6. The pestilence that walketh in darkness;
the destruction that wasteth at noonday. The description is
equally forcible and correct. The diseases of all hot climates,
and especially where vegetation is highly luxuriant, and marshes
and miry swamps are abundant, as in the wilderness here referred
to, proceed from the accumulating vapours of the night,
or from the violence of the sun's rays at midday. The
Beriberi of Ceylon, the spasmodic cholera and jungle fever of
India, and the greater part of the fevers of intertropical
climates, especially that called the yellow fever, chiefly
originate from the first of these—"the pestilence
that stalks in darkness"; while sunstrokes or coups de
soleil, apoplexies, inflammations of the brain, and liver
complaints of most kinds, proceed from the second, "the destruction
that wasteth at noonday." And it is in allusion to this
double source of mischief that the psalmist exclaims most
beautifully on another occasion, Ps 121:6: "The sun shall
not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." And hence
the Israelites were miraculously defended against both during
their passage through the wilderness by the pillar of a cloud in
the daytime, to ward off the solar rays; and by the pillar of
fire by night, to dissipate the collecting vapours, and preserve
the atmosphere clear, dry, and healthy. J. M. Good.
Verse 6. The putrid plague fever often comes on in the
night while the patient is asleep; the solstitial disease seizes
in heat of harvest upon a man in open air, and cuts him off,
perhaps ere evening. It is safety from perils like these that is
spoken of. All these blessings are derived from and rest on (Ps
91:1) the position of Him that claims them "under the
covert of the Most High." Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse 6. The pestilence that walketh in darkness.
It walketh not so much in natural darkness, or in the darkness
of the night, as in a figurative darkness, no man knowing where
it walks, or whither it will walk, in the clearest light,
whether to the poor man's house, or to the rich man's house,
whether to the dwelling of the plebeian, or of the prince, till
it hath left its own mark, and given a deadly stroke. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 7. Ten thousand. The word myriad
would better represent the exact idea in the original, as the
Hebrew word is different from that which is translated "a
thousand." It is here put for any large number. Albert
Barnes.
Verse 7. It shall not come nigh thee. Not nigh
thee? What? when they die on this side and on that, on every
hand of a man, doth it not come nigh him? Yes, nigh him, but not
so nigh as to hurt him: the power of God can bring us near to
danger, and yet keep us far from harm. As good may be locally
near us, and yet virtually far from us, so may evil. The
multitude thronged Christ in the Gospel, and yet but one touched
him so as to receive good; so Christ can keep us in a throng of
dangers, that not one shall touch us to our hurt. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 7. It shall not come nigh thee. Not with
a view of showing that all good men may hope to escape from the
pestilence, but as proofs that some who have had superior faith
have done so, I have collected the following instances from
various sources. C. H. S.
Before his departure from Isna (Isny), the town was greatly
afflicted with the pestilence; and he, understanding that many
of the wealthiest of the inhabitants intended to forsake the
place, without having any respect or care of such as laboured
with that disease, and that the houses of such as were infected,
were commanded to be shut up by the magistrate, he openly
admonished them, either to continue in the town, or liberally to
bestow their alms before their departure, for the relief of such
as were sick. And during the time of the visitation, he himself
in person would visit those that were sick: he would administer
spiritual comfort unto them, pray for them, and would be present
with them day and night; and yet by the providence of God he
remained untouched, and was preserved by the all powerful hand
of God. From the Life of Paulus Fagius, in T. Fuller's Abel
Redevivus.
In 1576, Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, the
worthiest of all the successors of St. Ambrose, when he learnt
at Lodi, that the plague had made its appearance in his city,
went at once to the city. His council of clergy advised him to
remain in some healthy part of his diocese till the sickness
should have spent itself, but he replied that a bishop, whose
duty it is to give his life for his sheep, could not rightly
abandon them in time of peril. They owned that to stand by them
was the higher course. "Well, "he said, "is it
not a bishop's duty to choose the higher course?" So back
into the town of deadly sickness he went, leading the people to
repent, and watching over them in their suffering, visiting the
hospitals, and, by his own example, encouraging his clergy in
carrying spiritual consolation to the dying. All the time the
plague lasted, which was four months, his exertions were
fearless and unwearied, and what was remarkable was, that of his
whole household only two died, and they were persons who had not
been called to go about among the sick. From "A Book of
Golden Deeds, "1864.
Although Defoe's history of the plague is a work of fiction,
yet its statements are generally facts, and therefore we extract
the following:—"The misery of the poor I had many
occasions to be an eyewitness of, and sometimes also of the
charitable assistance that some pious people daily gave to such,
sending them relief and supplies both of food, physic, and other
help as they found they wanted... Some pious ladies were
transported with zeal in so good a work, and so confident in the
protection of Providence in discharge of the great duty of
charity, that they went about in person distributing alms to the
poor, and even visiting poor families, though sick and infected,
in their very houses, appointing nurses to attend those that
wanted attending, and ordering apothecaries and surgeons...
giving their blessing to the poor in substantial relief to them,
as well as hearty prayers for them. I will not undertake to say,
as some do, that none of those charitable people were suffered
to fall under the calamity itself; but this I may say, that I
never knew anyone of them that came to any ill, which I mention
for the encouragement of others in case of the like distress,
and, doubtless, if they that give to the poor lend to the Lord,
and he will repay them, those that hazard their lives to give to
the poor, and to comfort and assist the poor in such misery as
this, may hope to be protected in the work." Daniel
Defoe's Journal of the Plague in London.
Horne, in his notes on the Psalms, refers to the plague in
Marseilles and the devotion of its bishop. There is a full
account of him in the Percy Anecdotes from which we cull the
following:—"M. de Belsunce, Bishop of Marseilles, so
distinguished himself for his humanity during the plague which
raged in that city in 1720, that the Regent of France offered
him the richer and more honourable See of Laon, in Picardy; but
he refused it, saying, he should be unwilling to leave a flock
that had been endeared to him by their sufferings. His pious and
intrepid labours are commemorated in a picture in the Town Hall
of Marseilles, in which he is represented in his episcopal
habit, attended by his almoners, giving his benediction to the
dying... But perhaps the most touching picture extant of the
bishop's humane labours, is to be found in a letter of his own,
written to the Bishop of Soissons, Sept. 27, 1720. `Never, 'he
says, `was desolation greater, nor was ever anything like this.
Here have been many cruel plagues, but none was ever more cruel:
to be sick and dead was almost the same thing. What a melancholy
spectacle have we on all sides', we go into the streets full of
dead bodies, half rotten through, which we pass to come to a
dying body, to excite him to an act of contrition, and to give
him absolution.'"Notwithstanding exposure to a pestilence
so fatal, the devoted bishop escaped uninjured.
While France justly boasts of "Marseilles' good Bishop,
"England may congratulate herself on having cherished in
her bosom a clergyman who in an equally earnest manner
discharged his pastoral care, and watched over the simple flock
committed to his charge, at no less risk of life, and with no
less fervour of piety and benevolence. The Rev. W. Mompesson was
rector of Eyam in Derbyshire, in the time of the plague that
nearly depopulated the town in the year 1666. During the whole
time of the calamity, he performed the functions of the
physician, the legislator, and the minister of his afflicted
parish; assisting the sick with his medicines, his advice, and
his prayers. Tradition still shows a cavern near Eyam, where
this worthy pastor used to preach to such of his parishioners as
had not caught the distemper, Although the village was almost
depopulated, his exertions prevented the spread of the plague to
other districts, and he himself survived unharmed.
Verse 8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and
see the reward of the wicked. First, indeed, because of thy
own escape; secondly, on account of thy complete security;
thirdly, for the sake of comparison; fourthly, because of the
perfect preeminence of justice itself. For then it will not be
the time of mercy, but of judgment; nor shall any mercy in any
way be ever shown towards the wicked there, where no improvement
can be hoped for. Far away will be that softness of human
infirmity, which meanwhile charity nevertheless uses for
salvation, collecting in the ample folds of her outspread net
good and bad fishes, that is, pleasant and hurtful affections.
But this is done at sea. On the shore she chooses only the good,
and so rejoicing with them that do rejoice, it hence comes to
pass that she weeps not with those that weep. Bernard.
Verse 9. Here commences the second half of the Psalm.
And it is as though the Psalmist feared lest (as is too often
the case with us) we should, in dwelling on the promises and
blessings of God, and applying them to ourselves, forget the
condition to which they are annexed—the character of those who
are to receive them. He therefore pauses here to remind us of
the opening verses of the Psalm, by repeating again their
substance. Mary B. M. Duncan.
Verse 9. Because thou hast made the Lord, etc.
What faith is this, what trust is that which God hath promised
protection and deliverance to in the time of a plague? What act
of faith is it? What faith is it? I answer first, there
is a faith of persuasion, called faith, whereby men are
persuaded and verily believe that they shall not die, nor fall
by the hand of the plague. This is well; but I do not find in
the 91st Psalm that this protection is entailed upon this
persuasion, neither do I find this faith here mentioned. There
is also a faith of reliance, whereby a man doth rely upon God
for salvation; this is a justifying faith, true justifying
faith; this is true faith indeed; but I do not find in this
Psalm, that this promise of protection and deliverance in the
time of a plague is entailed upon this, nor that this is here
mentioned.
But again, there is a faith, I may call it a faith of
recourse unto God, whereby a man doth betake himself unto God
for shelter, for protection as to his habitation; when other men
do run one this way, another that way, to their hiding places:
in the time of a plague for a man then to betake himself to God,
as to his habitation, I think this is the faith here spoken of
in this 91st Psalm: for do but mark the words of the Psalm: at
Ps 91:1, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most
High, "in the hiding place of the Most High: as if he
should say, "When others run from the plague and pestilence
and run to their hiding places, ""He that dwelleth in
the secret place of the Most High, "that betakes himself to
God as his Hiding place and his habitation, he shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty, shall be protected; and so at Ps
91:9, "Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge,
even the Most High thy habitation, there shall no evil befall
thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling; "as
if he should say to us, In time of a plague men are running and
looking out for habitations and hiding places; but because thou
hast made the Lord thy habitation and hast recourse to him as
thy habitation, "no evil shall befall thee, neither shall
the plague come nigh thy dwelling:" and again at Ps 91:11
it is said, "He shall give his angels charge over thee to
keep thee in all thy ways, "the ways of thy calling; as if
he should say, In the time of a plague men will be very apt to
leave station and calling, and so run away from the plague and
pestilence; but saith he, "He shall give his angels charge
over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways, "the ways of thy
calling and place; that is, look when a man in the time of a
plague shall conscientiously keep his station and place, and
betake himself to God as his habitation; this is the faith that
is here spoken of, and this is the faith that God hath promised
protection to, here in the 91st Psalm... This promise of
protection and deliverance is not made to a believer as a
believer, but as acting and exercising faith; for though a man
be a believer, if he do not act and exercise his faith, this
promise will not reach him, therefore if a believer die, not
exercising faith and trusting in God, it is no disparagement to
the promise. William Bridge.
Verse 9. No man can have two homes—two places
of constant resort. And if the Lord be truly "our
habitation, " we can have no other refuge for our
souls, no other resting place for our hearts. Mary B. M.
Duncan.
Verses 9-10. There is a threefold preservation which
the church and the members of it may look for from divine
providence. One from, another in, and a third by, dangers.
I. First, from dangers, according to the promise in one of
the Psalms, "Because thou hast made the Lord who is my
refuge, even the Most High thy habitation: there shall no evil
befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy
dwelling." Austin had appointed to go to a certain town to
visit the Christians there, and to give them a sermon or more.
The day and place were known to his enemies, who set armed men
to lie in wait for him by the way which he was to pass, and kill
him. As God would have it, the guide whom the people had sent
with him to prevent his going out of the right way mistook, and
led him into a bypath, yet brought him at last to his journey's
end. Which when the people understood, as also the adversaries'
disappointment, they adored the providence of God, and gave him
thanks for that great deliverance. (Agnoscunt omnes miram Dei
providentiam, cui ut liberatori gratias merito egerunt.
Possidonius in vita August, chap. 12.)
II. In dangers. So in Job 5:19-20. "He shall deliver
thee in six troubles, yea in seven there shall no evil touch
thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from
the power of the sword." In time of famine the widow of
Sarepta's store was made to hold out. The providence of God was
with Daniel in the lions' den, shutting up the mouths of those
furious beasts: and with the men in the fiery furnace, giving a
prohibition to the fire that it should not burn, when they were
in the jaws of danger, yea of death. The church hath always been
a lily among thorns, yet flourishes still. This bush is yet far
from a consumption, although it has seldom or never been out of
the fire.
III. By danger. There is a preservation from greater evils by
less. No poison but Providence knoweth how to make an antidote;
so Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and by that danger kept
alive. Joseph thrown into a pit, and afterwards sold into Egypt,
and by these hazards brought to be a nursing father to the
church. Chrysostom excellently, Fides in periculis secura est,
in securitate periclitatur. (Homil. 26, operis imperf in Matt.)
Faith is endangered by security, but secure in the midst of
danger, as Esther's was when she said, "If I perish I
perish." God preserveth us, not as we do fruits that are to
last but for a year, in sugar; but as flesh for a long voyage in
salt: we must expect in this life much brine and pickle, because
our heavenly Father preserveth us as those whom he resolves to
keep for ever, in and by dangers themselves. Paul's thorn in the
flesh, which had much of danger and trouble in it, was given him
on purpose to prevent pride, which was a great evil. "Lest
I, "said he, "should be exalted above measure through
abundance of revelations, there was given me a thorn in the
flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be
exalted above measure." Elsewhere having commemorated
Alexander the coppersmith's withstanding and doing him much
evil, yea Nero's opening his mouth as a lion against him, and
the Lord's delivering of him thence, he concludes as more than a
conqueror. "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil
work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom; to whom be
glory for ever and ever, Amen." 2Ti 4:14-15, 17-18. John,
Arrowsmith, (1602-1659).
Verses 9-14. Dependence on Christ is not the cause of
his hiding us, but it is the qualification of the person that
shall be hid. Ralph Robinson.
Verse 10. There shall no evil befall thee, etc.
It is a security in the very midst of evils. Not like the
security of angels—safety in a world of safety, quiet in a
calm; but it is quiet in a storm; safety amid desolation and the
elements of destruction, deliverance where everything else is
going to wreck. Cicaties Bradley, 1840.
Verse 10. God doth not say no afflictions shall befall
us, but no evil. Thomas Watson.
Verse 10. Sin which has kindled a fire in hell, is
kindling fires on earth continually. And when they break out,
every one is asking how they happened. Amos replies, "Shall
there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?"
And when desolation is made by fire, Isaiah declares, The Lord
hath "consumed us, because of our iniquities." Many
years ago my house was oft threatened to be destroyed, but the
Lord insured it, by giving me Ps 91:10; and the Lord's
providence is the best insurance. John Bridge.
Verse 11. He shall give his angels charge, etc.
Charge; charge is a strict command, more than a bare command; as
when you would have a servant do a business certainly and fully,
you lay a charge upon him, I charge you that you do not neglect
that business; you do not barely tell what he should do,
prescribe him his work, but you charge him to do it. So says the
Lord unto the angels: My servants or children, now they are in
the plague and pestilence, O my angels, I change you stir not
from their houses, I charge you, stir not from such an one's
bedside; it is a charge, "He shall give his angels
charge." Further, he doth not only, and will not only
charge his angel, but his angels; not one angel charged with the
safety of his people, but many angels; for their better guard
and security, "He shall give his angels charge." And
again, "He will give his angels charge over thee to
keep thee; "to keep thee;charge over thee and
to keep thee; not only over the whole church of God, but over
every particular member of the church of God; "He will give
his angels charge over thee to keep thee; "this is his
marvellous care. Well, but besides this, "He will give his
angels charge to keep thee in all thy ways, "not in
some of thy ways, but in all thy ways. As God's providence is
particular in regard of our persons, so it is universal in
regard of our ways. "He will give his angels charge over
thee, to keep thee, "not in some but "in all thy
ways." But is this all? No: "They shall bear thee up
in their hands, "as every servant desires and loves to take
up the young heir, or the young master into his arms, so the
angels. It is a great matter that the Lord promises to pitch his
tents. "And the angels of the Lord shall pitch their tents
round about them that fear him; "but here is more; the
angels shall not only pitch their tents, be their guard, but
their nurses, to bear them up in their hands; but why?
"That thou dash not thy foot against a stone." When
children begin to go, they are very apt to fall and get many a
knock; to stumble at every little stone. Now there are many
stones of stumbling that are in our way, and we are very apt to
fall and miscarry; but such is the goodness of God, the
providence of God, the goodness of his providence, that as he
hath provided his angels to be our guard, in opposition to all
our foreign enemies, so he hath provided his angels to be our
nurses, in opposition to all our weaknesses and infirmities,
that we get no hurt, that we miscarry not in the least.
But what need God make use of angels to protect his people,
he is able to do it alone; and is it not for God's dishonour to
make use of them for the protection of his people? No, it is for
the honour of God, for the more honourable the servants are, the
instruments are, that a king or prince doth use for the
protecting of his people, the more honourable is that king or
prince. Now, the angels, they are honourable creatures;
frequently they are called gods; "Thou hast made him a
little lower than the angels."... They are the fittest
people in the world for this employment, fittest in regard of
themselves, fittest in regard of the saints. They are fittest in
regard of themselves, for First, they are an exceeding
strong and potent people; who more fit to look to and care for
the concerns of the saints and people of God, than those that
are strong and potent? It is said of the angels in Ps 103:20
that they excel in strength. One angel you know destroyed a
hundred and fourscore thousand of the host of Assyria in a
night; as one constable will scare away twenty thieves, so one
good angel invested with God's authority is able to drive away a
thousand evil angels, devils: they are an exceeding strong and
potent people. Second. As they are an exceeding strong
and potent people, so they are a very knowing and a wise people;
and who so fit to manage the affairs and concerns of the saints
and people of God, and to protect and defend them, as a knowing
and understanding people? You know what Joab said to David;
"Thou art for wisdom as an angel of God." Says our
Saviour, "No man knoweth that day and time, no, not the
angels in heaven; "as if the angels in heaven knew every
secret and were acquainted with every hidden thing: they are an
exceeding knowing people, very prudent and very wise. Third.
As they are an exceeding knowing and wise people, so they are
also exceeding active and expeditious, quick in despatches. Who
more fit to protect and defend the saints and people of God,
than those that are active, expedite, and quick in their
despatches? such are the angels. In the first of Ezekiel ye read
that every one had four wings; why?, because of their great
activity and expedition, and the quick despatch they make in all
their affairs. Fourth. As they are an active and
expeditious people, so they are a people very faithful both to
God and man; in Ps 103:20-21 they are ready to do God's will,
and not only ready to fulfil God's will, but they do it:
"Bless the Lord all ye his angels that excel in strength
(Ps 103:20), that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice
of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts, ye ministers
of his that do his pleasure." They are very faithful; and
who so fit to do the work, to attend and look to the concerns of
the saints and people of God, as those that are faithful? Fifth.
As they are an exceeding faithful people, so they are a people
that are very loving to the saints and children of God, very
loving; otherwise they were not fit to be their nurses: what is
a nurse without love? They are loving to the saints. "Do it
not, "(said the angel unto John), "I am thy fellow
servant; "do not give divine worship to me, I am thy fellow
servant; fellow servants are loving to one another; they are
fellow servants with the saints... It is recorded of Alexander
that being in great danger and to fight next day with his
enemies, he slept very soundly the night before; and he being
asked the reason thereof, said, Parmenio wakes; meaning a great
and faithful captain of his; Parmenio wakes, says he. The angels
are called watchmen, they watch and are faithful, therefore you
may be secure, quiet, and at rest: trust in the Lord for ever,
upon this account, in this day trust in the Lord.
If these things be so, then, friends, why should we not stoop
to any work commanded, though it lie much beneath us? Do not you
think that the attending upon a sick man, a man that hath a
plague sore running upon him, is a work that lies much beneath
angels? yet the angels do it because it is commanded, though
much beneath them yet they stoop to it because it is commanded;
and what though a work lie much beneath you, yet if it be
commanded, why should you not stoop to it? You will say, Such an
one is much beneath me, I will not lay my hand under his shoes,
he is much beneath me; ah, but the angels lay their hands under
your shoes, and the work they do for you is much beneath them:
why should we not be like our attendants? This is angelical
obedience; the angels do you many a kindness, and never look for
thanks from you, they do many a kindness that you are not aware
of: why are you delivered sometimes you know not how? here is a
hand under a wing, the ministration of angels is the cause of
it. But I say the work they stoop to for you is much beneath
them, and therefore why should we not stoop to any work
commanded, though it lie much beneath us? William Bridge.
Verse 11. He shall give his angels charge over
thee, etc. When Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness, he
alleged but one sentence of Scripture for himself, Mt 4:6, and
that Psalm out of which he borrowed it made so plain against
him, that he was fain to pick here a word and there a word, and
leave out that which went before, and skip in the midst, and
omit that which came after, or else he had marred his cause. The
Scripture is so holy, and pure, and true, that no word nor
syllable thereof can make for the Devil, or for sinners, or for
heretics: yet, as the devil alleged Scripture, though it made
not for him, but against him, so do the libertines, and
epicures, and heretics, as though they had learned at his
school. Henry Smith.
Verse 11. One angel armed with the power and glory of
God is stronger than a whole country. Earthly princes are
subject to many changes and great unsurety of life and estate.
The reason is, their enemies may kill their watch, and corrupt
their guard. But what men or kingdoms can touch the Church's
watch? what angels of gold are able to corrupt the angels of
God? and then how can that perish that is committed to keepers
so mighty and faithful? Secondly, the charge of us is given to
those ministering spirits by parcels, not in gross and
piecemeal, not in a lump: our members in a book, our hairs by
tale and number. For it is upon record, and, as it were,
delivered to them in writing in one Psalm, They keep all our
bones, Ps 34:20; in this, they keep our very foot,
putting it in security (Ps 91:12); and elsewhere our whole man
and every member. And can a charge so precisely and so
particularly given and taken, be neglected? Thirdly, their
manner of keeping us, as it is set down in the text, cannot but
promise great assurance; for, is not the little child safe while
the nurse carrieth it in her arms, or beareth it in her hands?
So while these nurses so bear us, can we be ill danger? but our
nurses on earth may fall; these nurses, the angels,
cannot. Robert Horn.
Verse 11. His angels. Taking the word angel in
its literal meaning, messenger, we may look upon any
agency which God employs to strengthen, protect, and help us, as
his angel to us. Mary B.M. Duncan.
Verse 11. To keep thee in all thy ways. How
should those heavenly spirits bear that man in their arms, like
nurses, upon earth living; or bear up his soul to heaven, like
winged porters, when he dies, that refuseth the right way? They
shall keep us in all our ways. Out of the way it is their charge
to oppose us, as to preserve us in the way. Nor is this more a
terror to the ungodly, than to the righteous a comfort. For if
an angel would keep even a Balaam from sinning, how much more
careful are all those glorious powers to prevent the
miscarriages of God's children! From how many falls and bruises
have they saved us! In how many inclinations to evil have they
turned us, either by removing occasions, or by casting in
secretly good motions! We sin too often, and should catch many
more falls, if those holy guardians did not uphold us. Satan is
ready to divert us, when we endeavour to do well; when to do
ill, angels are as ready to prevent us. We are in Joshua the
high priest's ease, with Satan on the one hand, on the other an
angel, Zec 3:1: without this, our danger were greater than our
defence, and we could neither stand nor rise. Thomas Adams.
Verse 11. To keep thee in all thy ways. Their
commission, large as it is, reaches no further: when you leave
that, you lose your guard; but while you keep your way, angels,
yea; the God of angels, will keep you. Do not so much fear
losing your estate or your liberty or your lives, as losing your
way, and leaving your way: fear that more than any tiring;
nothing but sin exposes you to misery. So long as you keep your
way, you shall keep other things; or if you lose any of them,
you shall get what is better: though you may be sufferers for
Christ, you shall not be losers by him. Samuel Sletter,
(1704) in "Morning Exercises."
Verse 11. In all thy ways Your ways are God's
ways, your way is the way commanded by God. If you be out of
God's ways, you are out of your own way: if you be in your way,
the angels shall keep you, even in the time of a plague, and
bear you up in their hands that you dash not your foot against a
stone; but if you be out of your way, I will not insure your
safety. When Balaam went upon the devil's errand an angel met
him and scared his ass, and the ass ran his foot against the
wall, dashed his foot against the wall. The promise is,
"Thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone; "but he
was out of his way, and the angel met him and scared his ass,
and his ass made him rush his leg against the wall. Jonah went
out of his way when he ran away from God; God bade him go one
way, and he went another. Well, what then were the angels with
him for his protection; the very sea would not be quiet till he
was thrown overboard: instead of angels to protect him, he had a
whale to devour him. I confess indeed, through the free grace
and mercy of God, the belly of destruction was made a chamber of
preservation to him, but he was out of his way; and instead of
an angel to keep him that he dash not his foot, his whole body
was thrown overboard. Says Solomon, "As a bird from her
nest, so is a man out of his place:" so long as the bird is
in her nest it is free from the hawk, it is free from the
birding piece, it is free from the nets and gins and snares as
long as it is in its nest; but when the bird is off her nest
then she is exposed to many dangers. So, so long as a man is in
his way, in his place and in his way, he is well and under
protection; but when a man is off his nest, out of his place and
out of his way, then is he exposed to all dangers: but be but in
your way and then you may assure yourselves of divine
protection, and of the management thereof by the hands of
angels. Oh who would not labour always to be in that way which
God hath appointed him to be in? Why should we not always
consider with ourselves and say, But am I in my way? Old Mr. Dod
being upon the water and going out of one boat into another,
slipped between them, and the first word he spake was this,
"Am I in my way?" so we should always be saying, But
am I in my way? am I in my way? I am now idling away my time,
but am I in my way? Oh my soul, am I in my way? I am in my
calling this day without prayer in the morning and reading the
Scriptures; but am I in my way? Oh, my soul, am I in my way? I
am now in such frothy company where I get no good, but hurt; but
am I in my way? Ever consider this, Am I in my way? You may
expect the Lord's protection and the angels' attendance, if you
be in your way, but not else. William Bridge.
Verse 11. We have the safeguard of the empire; not
only the protection of the King, from which the wicked as
outlaws are secluded; but also the keeping of angels, to whom he
hath given a charge over us, to keep us in all h's ways. So
nearly we participate of his Divine things, that we have his own
guard royal to attend us. Thomas Adams.
Verse 11. He shall give his angels charge over
thee, etc.
And is there care in heaven, and is there love
In heavenly spirits to these creatures base,
That may compassion of their evils move?
There is, else much more wretched were the race
Of men than beasts. But oh, the exceeding grace
Of highest God, that loves his creatures so,
And all his works with mercy doth embrace,
That blessed angels he sends to and fro,
To serve us wicked men, to serve his wicked foe!
How oft do they their silver bowers leave,
To come to succour us that succour want!
How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,
Against foul fiends to aid us militant!
They for us fight, they watch and duly ward,
And their bright squadrons round about us plant;
And all for love and nothing for reward.
Oh, wily should heavenly God to man have such regard!
—Edmund Spenser, 1552-1599.
Verses 11-12. It is observable that Scripture is the
weapon that Satan doth desire to wield against Christ. In his
other ways of dealing he was shy, and did but lay them in
Christ's way, offering only the occasion, and leaving him to
take them up; but in this he is more confident, and
industriously pleads it, as a thing which he could better stand
to and more confidently avouch. The care of his subtlety herein,
lay in the misrepresentation and abuse of it, as may be seen in
these particulars: (1) In that he urged this promise to promote
a sinful thing, contrary to the general end of all Scripture,
which was therefore written `that we sin not.' (2) But more
especially in his clipping and mutilating of it. He
industriously leaves out that part of it which doth limit and
confine the promise of protection to lawful undertakings, such
as this was not, and renders it as a general promise of absolute
safety, be the action what it will. It is a citation from Ps
91:11-12, which there runs thus, He shall give his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. These last
words, "in all thy ways, "which doth direct to
a true understanding of God's intention in that promise, he
deceitfully leaves out, as if they were needless and unnecessary
parts of the promise, when indeed they were on purpose put there
by the Spirit of God, to give a description of those persons and
actions, unto whom, in such cases, the accomplishment of the
promise might be expected; for albeit the word in the original,
which is translated "ways"—Mykrd—doth
signify any kind of way or action in the general, yet in this
place it doth not; for then God were engaged to an absolute
protection of men, not only when they unnecessarily thrust
themselves into dangers, but in the most abominably sinful
actions whatsoever, which would have been a direct contradiction
to those many scriptures wherein God threatens to withdraw his
hand and leave sinners to the danger of their iniquities; but it
is evident that the sense of it is no more than this, `God is
with you, while you are with him.' We have a paraphrase of this
text, to this purpose, in Pr 3:23, "Then shalt thou walk in
thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble:" where the
condition of this safety, pointed to in the word "then,
" which leads the promise, is expressly mentioned in the
foregoing verses, "My son, let them"—that is, the
precepts of wisdom—"not depart from thine eyes...
Then"—not upon other terms—"shalt thou walk in thy
way safely." The "ways" then in this
promise cited by Satan, are the ways of duty, or the ways of our
lawful callings. The fallacy of Satan in this dealing with
Scripture is obvious, and Christ might have given this answer,
as Bernard hath it, That God promises to keep him in his ways,
but not in self created dangers, for that was not his way, but
his ruin; or if a way, it was Satan's way, but not his. (3) To
these two, some add another abuse, in a subtle concealment of
the following verse in Ps 91:13: Thou shalt tread upon the
lion and adder. This concerned Satan, whose cruelty and
poisonous deceits were fitly represented by the lion and the
adder, and there the promise is also explained to have a respect
to Satan's temptations—that is—God would so manage his
protection, that his children should not be led into a snare. Richard
Gilpin.
Verses 11-12. There is, to my mind, a very remarkable
coincidence of expression between the verses of this Psalm,
about the office of God's angels, and that passage in Isaiah
where Christ's sympathy and presence receive the same charge
attributed to them without interposition. In Isa 63:9, we read,
"In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of
his presence saved them." And again, "They shall bear
thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone,
"compared with "And he bare them, and he carried them
all the days of old." Christ in us, by sympathy with our
nature—Christ in us, by the indwelling of his Spirit in each
individual heart—thus he knows all our needs. Christ with us,
in every step, all powerful to make all work for good, and with
love and pity watching over our interests—thus his presence
saves us, and all things are made his messengers to us. Mary
B.M. Duncan.
Verse 12. Angels... shall bear thee up... lest thou
dash thy foot against a stone. Angels are introduced as
bearing up the believer in their hands, not that he may be
carried in safety over some vast ocean, not that he may be
transported through hostile and menacing squadrons, not that;
when exposed to some extraordinary danger, he may be conveyed to
a place of refuge, but, as bearing him up in their arms,
"lest at any time he hurt his foot against a
stone."... Angels, the topmost beings in creation, the
radiant, the magnificent, the powerful—angels are represented
as holding up a righteous man, lest some pebble in the path
should make him trip, lest he hurt his foot against a stone. Is
there, after all, any want of keeping between the agency and the
act, so that there is even the appearance of angels being
unworthily employed, employed on what is beneath them, when
engaged in bearing us up, lest at any time we hurt the foot
against a stone? Nay, the hurting the foot against a stone has
often laid the foundations of fatal bodily disease: the injury
which seemed too trifling to be worth notice has produced
extreme sickness, and ended in death. Is it different in
spiritual respects, in regard of the soul, to which the promise
in our text must be specially applied? Not a jot. Or, if there
be a difference, it is only that the peril to the soul from a
slight injury is far greater than that to the body: the worst
spiritual diseases might commonly be traced to inconsiderable
beginnings. . . . It can be no easy thing, this keeping the foot
from being hurt against a stone, seeing that the highest of
created beings are commissioned to effect it. Neither is it. The
difficulty in religion is the taking up the cross "daily,
"rather than the taking it up on some set occasion, and
under extraordinary circumstances. The serving God in little
things, the carrying religious principles into the details of
life, the discipline of our tempers, the regulation of our
speech, the domestic Christianity, the momentary sacrifices, the
secret and unobserved self denials; who that knows anything of
the difficulties of piety, does not know that there is greater
danger of his failing in these than in trials of apparently far
higher cost, and harder endurance; if on no other account, yet
because the very absence of what looks important, or arduous, is
likely to throw him off his guard, make him careless or
confident, and thereby almost insure defect or defeat? Henry
Melvill.
Verse 12. To carry them in their hands is a metaphor,
and signifies a perfect execution of their custody, to have a
special care of them, and therefore is rather expressed so, than
carrying them on their shoulders. That which one carries on
their hand they are sure to keep. The Spaniards have a proverb
when they would signify eminent favour and friendship, `they
carry him upon the palms of their hands, 'that is, they
exceedingly love him, and diligently keep him. Lest thou dash
thy foot against a stone. He persists in the metaphor:
children often stumble and fall, unless they be led and carried
in hands and arms. By stones are meant all difficulties,
objections, perils, both to the outward and inward man, as
Christ is said to take care of hairs and sparrows, that is, of
every thing even to a hair. Now we know what this charge is,
saving that Zanchy adds also the metaphor of schoolmasters, and
says that we are poor rustic people, strangers; but being
adopted into the household of God, he gives his most noble
ministers, the angels, charge, first of our nursing and
then of our education; when we are weaned, to instruct us, to
admonish, to institute, to correct us, to comfort us, to defend
us, to preserve us from all evil, and to provoke us to all good.
And these angels, seeing we are so dear to God, that for our
sakes he spared not his own Son, take this charge with all their
hearts upon them, and omit nothing of their duty from our birth
to the end of our life. Henry Lawrence, in "A Treatise
of our Communion and Warre with Angells, "1646.
Verse 13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder,
the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
What avails a human foot among these? What force of human
affection can stand fast among such terrible monsters? These are
spiritual wickednesses, and are designated by not incongruous
titles... One is an asp, another a basilisk, a third a lion,
and a fourth a dragon, because each in his own invisible
way variously wounds,—one by his bite, another by his look, a
third by his roar or blow, and a fourth by his breath. . . .
Consider this also, whether perchance we are able to meet these
four temptations with four virtues. The lion roars, who will not
fear? If any there be, he shall be brave. But when the
lion is foiled, the dragon lurks in the sand, in order to excite
the soul with his poisonous breath; breathing therein the lust
of earthly things. Who, think you, shall escape his wiles? None
but the prudent. But perhaps whilst you are careful in
attacking these, some annoyance vexes you; and lo! the asp is
upon you forthwith. For he seems to have found for himself a
seasonable moment. Who is he that shall not be exasperated by
this asp? Certainly the man of temperance and modesty,
who knows how to abound, and to suffer want. On this
opportunity, I think, the Evil Eye with its wicked allurements
may determine to fascinate thee. Who shall turn away his face?
Truly the just man, who not only desires not to take to
himself the glory due to God, but not even to receive what is
presented by another: if yet he is a just man, that justly
executes what is just, who performs not his righteousness before
men, who, lastly, although he is just, lifts not up his head.
For this virtue consists specially in humility. This purifies
the intention, this also obtains merit all the more truly and
effectually, because it arrogates less to itself. Bernard.
Verse 13. Adder. The pethen is classed
with the lion as being equally to be dreaded by the traveller...
There is no doubt that the Egyptian cobra is the pethen
of Scripture. J. G. Wood.
Verse 13. Dragon. The expression is used (1)
for "sea monsters, " (2) for serpents, (3) for wild
beasts or birds characteristic of desolate places, and (4) it is
used figuratively to represent the enemies of the Lord, and
especially Pharaoh, as head and representative of the Egyptian
power, and Nebuchadnezzar, the head and representative of the
Chaldean monarchy. The term is thus a general one, signifying
any monstrous creature, whether of the land or of the water, and
is to be set down with the one or the other, according as the
context indicates. John Duns, in "Biblical Natural
Science."
Verse 13. Thou shalt tread upon; thou shalt trample
under feet. Thou shalt tread upon them, not accidentally, as
a man treads upon an adder or a serpent in the way; but his
meaning is, thou shalt intentionally tread upon them like a
conqueror, thou shalt tread upon them to testify the dominion
over them, so when the Lord Jesus gave that promise (Lu 10:19)
to his disciples, that they should do great things, he saith, You
shall tread upon serpents; that is, you shall have power to
overcome whatsoever may annoy you: serpentine power is all
hurtful power, whether literal or mystical. As the Apostle
assures all believers (Ro 16:20), "God shall tread down
Satan (that old serpent) under your feet shortly."
Joseph Caryl.
Verse 13 (second clause). But what is said unto
Christ? And thou shalt tread on the lion and dragon. Lion,
for overt wrath; dragon for covert lurking. Augustine.
Verse 14. Because he hath set his love upon me.
Vulg. Because he hath hoped in me. Whatever is to be
done, whatever is to be declined, whatever is to be endured,
whatever is to be chosen, Thou O Lord art my hope. This is the
only cause of all my promises, this the sole reason of my
expectation. Let another pretend to merit, let him boast that he
bears the burden and heat of the day, let him say that he fasts
twice on the Sabbath, let him finally glory that he is not as
other men; for me it is good to cleave unto God, to place my
hope in the Lord God. Let others hope in other things, one in
his knowledge of letters, another in his worldly wisdom, one in
his nobility, one in his dignity, another in some other vanity,
for thy sake I have made all things loss, and count them but
dung; since Thou, Lord, art my hope. Bernard, quoted by Le
Blanc.
Verse 14 (.first clause). As there is a because
and a therefore in the process of the law, in concluding
death for sin, so there is a because and a therefore
in the process of grace, and of the gospel, which doth reason
from one grace given to infer another grace to be given, even
grace for grace; and such is this here: Because he hath set
his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. David Dickson.
Verse 14. He does not say, Because he is without sin,
because he has perfectly kept all my precepts, because he has
merit and is worthy to be delivered and guarded. But he produces
those qualities which are even found in the weak, the imperfect,
and those still exposed to sin in the flesh, namely, adhesion,
knowledge of his name, and prayer. Musculus.
Verse 14. He hath set his love upon me. In the
love of a divinely illuminated believer there is (1) the sweet
property of gratitude. The soul has just and enlarged
views of the salvation which he has obtained through the name of
Jesus. The evils from which he is saved; the blessings in hand,
and the blessings in hope; the salvation in time, and the
salvation through eternity, which can and shall be enjoyed
through the name of Jesus, excites feelings of the most ardent
gratitude in the soul of the Christian. (2) Another delightful
ingredient in this settled love is, admiration.
Everything in the scheme and execution of God's redeeming plan
is an object of admiration. All that the Lord Jesus is in
himself; all that he has done; all that he does at the present;
and all that he has promised to do for his people, deserves the
warmest admiration. This holy feeling is experienced in the
breast of the man to whom the Lord can say, He hath set his
love upon me. (3) Another ingredient in the illuminated love
of the believer is delightful complacency. Nothing can
afford complacent delight in any excellency unless we are
persuaded that we either do possess, or may possess it. I may go
to the palace of the greatest monarch in the world, and be
deeply struck with astonishment and admiration at the wonder
beheld, but there will not be one thrill of complacency felt in
my bosom at the view of the astonishing objects which crowd upon
my vision. Why? Because I neither have, nor can have any
interest in them; they are not mine, nor ever can be; therefore,
I cannot take complacent delight in them. But the love of the
Christian is a delightful love, (as Mr. Baxter called
it,)because there is in the Lord everything that is worthy of
infinite and eternal admiration; and then there is the thought
which produces a thrill of pleasure,—whatever I admire I can,
in some measure, possess. The illuminated eye of God's favourite
sees everything in the Lord to supply his necessities;
everything to satisfy his desires, all his own; which makes the
soul delight itself in the Lord, and he rests in his love.
Therefore, the Lord says of the object of his lovingkindness, "He
hath set his love upon me"—he hath renounced sin as
the greatest abomination; he hath taken off the heart from all
idolatrous attachment to the creature, and placed it fixedly and
supremely upon God. William Dawson, Methodist Preacher
(1773-1841).
Verse 14. He hath set his love upon me. We have
a similar expression in daily use, which means the bending of
all our energies to one end—a ceaseless effort after one
object. We say, "I have set my heart on such a thing."
This is what God will have from us—an intense, single hearted
love. We must love him "with all our heart, and with all
our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind,
"so that, like Jesus, we may "delight to do his
will." Just let us think of the way in which setting our
heart on anything affects us, head, hands, time, thought,
action—all are at work for us attainment. How we sacrifice
everything else to it? Comfort, ease, present advantage, money,
health, nay, our very selves, go freely for the sake of our
cherished wish. Have I so "set my heart upon" God?
Temperaments differ. This may be an overdrawn picture of the way
in which some of us seek a cherished object. But each knows his
own capability in this way. God also knows our frame, and
requires his best at every man's hand. There is one thing in
this verse which may encourage us very much. It is not because
of perfect love that God will deliver. It is to the will
to love and serve—it is to the setting the heart, that
the promise is made—to the "full purpose of heart"
that is set to cleave unto the Lord. Mary B. M.
Duncan.
Verse 14. I will set him on high. That is, in
an inaccessible, or lofty place, I will set him, which means, I
will deliver him. When men truly know God to be a deliverer,
they both put confidence in Him, and call upon Him. Then God
exalts and delivers him that calls. Franciscus Vatablus.
Verse 14. I will set him on high, because he hath
known my name. There is a great deal of safety in the
knowledge of God, in his attributes, and in his Christ. A man's
safety we see lies in his running to the tower (Pr 28:10); he
runs and is safe. And it is the knowledge of this tower that
sets a man a running to it. Hence we find safety attributed to
the knowledge of the Lord. "I will set him on high,
"I will exalt him, and so he shall be safe. Why so? "Because
he hath known my name"; for the knowing of God aright
was that which made him run, and so he is exalted and set on
high. Then a man is safe when he hath got this tower to be his
tower, when he hath gotten God to be his God. Now when we know
God, we get him to be our God, and make this tower our tower,
Jer 24:7: "I will give them an heart to know me, and I will
be their God." Jeremiah Dyke, in "The Righteous Man's
Tower, "1639.
Verses 14-16. He hath known my name. From this text I
would introduce to your notice the most desirable character
under the sun; and I would exhibit him before you to excite each
one to seek, until you obtain the same blessedness. The
character that I shall exhibit is GOD'S FAVOURITE, one who is an
object of the "lovingkindness of the Lord"; and in
reading this passage there are two things which strike our
attention concerning such a character. First, what the
Lord says of him. Second, what the Lord says to
him. Now, then, my brethren—LOOK! There stands before you
GOD's FAVOURITE!
Listen to what God says OF him. 1. He says of
him, "He knows my name." The first principle of
the life of God the fallen soul of man is knowledge; spiritual,
divine knowledge. The first operation of the Holy Ghost in the
work of salvation, is a conviction of the character and
perfections and relations of God. The Lord says, "he knows
my name." He knows my name as Omniscient, Omnipresent,
Holy, Just and True. (1) He first knows my name as a sin hating,
sin avenging God; and this knowledge was a means of leading him
to a deep sense of his own personal corruption, guilt, and
danger as a sinner. (2) But the favourite of the Lord knows his
name as revealed to Moses, as "The Lord, the Lord God,
merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and
transgression, and sin." He knows the name of the Lord as
concentrated in the name of Jesus, who "shall save his
people from their sins." By the white beams of God's
holiness, (if I may so speak) the sinner sees his corruption,
guilt and deformity: by the red beams of God's justice he
sees his unspeakable danger: by the mild beams of God's
mercy, he discovers a ground of hope—that there is pardon for
his aggravated crimes. But it is in the face of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that God appears most delightful. Hence we can say to
every saved soul, as Paul did to the Corinthians:—"God,
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ." As all the colours of the
rainbow meet in one sunbeam, so all the perfections of God as
perfectly unite, and more beautifully shine forth, in the person
and offices of Jesus Christ, upon the soul of the penitent
believer. This saving knowledge is always vital, active, and
powerful. William Dawson.
Verse 14. He hath known my name. May we not get
some light on this expression from the custom of the Jews,
keeping the name JEHOVAH sacred to their own use, regarding it
as too holy even to be pronounced by them in common use and thus
preserving it from being taken in vain by the heathen around?
Thus it was known to Jews only... But whatever be the origin of
the expressions, to "know His name, " to
"trust in His name, "to "believe in His
name, "it evidently in all these cases means whatever
is revealed concerning Him—all that by which he maketh himself
known. His Word, his Providence, above all, his Son, are
included thus in his name, which we must know, believe
in, and trust. So that to "know his name" is to know
himself, as revealed in the Gospel. Mary B. M. Duncan.
Verse 14. (last clause). Sound love to God, floweth
from and is joined with sound knowledge of God, as his Majesty
is declared unto us in Scripture: the believer who hath set his love
upon God, hath known my name, saith he. David Dickson.
Verse 15. I will answer him. I think we
sometimes discourage ourselves by a misconception of the exact
meaning of the expression, "answer, "taking it
to mean only grant. Now, an answer is not necessarily an
acquiescence. It may be a refusal, an explanation, a promise, a
conditional grant. It is, in fact, simply attention to our
request expressed. In this sense, before we call he will
answer, and while we are get speaking he will hear, Isa 65:24. Mary
B. M. Duncan.
Verse 15. I will be with him in trouble. I will be
with him in trouble, says God: and shall I seek meanwhile
anything else than trouble? It is good for me to cleave unto
God. Not only so, but also to put my hope in the Lord: because I
will deliver him, he says, and honour him. I will be with
him in trouble. My delights, he says, are with the sons
of men. Emmanuel God with us. Hail, thou art highly
favoured, says the Angel to Mary, the Lord is with thee.
In the fulness of grace He is with us, in the plenitude of glory
we shall be with Him. He descends in order to be near to those
who are of a troubled heart, that He may be with us in our
trouble... It is better for me, O Lord, to be troubled, whilst
only Thou art with me, than to reign without Thee, to feast
without Thee, to be honoured without Thee. It is good rather to
be embraced by Thee in trouble, to have thee in this furnace
with me, than to be without Thee even in heaven. For what have I
in heaven, and without Thee what do I desire upon earth? The
furnace tries the gold, and the temptation of trouble just men. Bernard.
Verse 15. I will be with him trouble. God hath
made promises of his special presence with his saints in
suffering. If we have such a friend to visit us in prison, we
shall do well enough; though we change our place, we shall not
change our keeper. "I will be with him." God
will hold our head and heart when we are fainting! What if we
have more afflictions than others, if we have more of God's
company? God's honour is dear to him; it would not be for his
honour to bring his children into sufferings, and leave them
there; he will be with them to animate and support them; yea,
when new troubles arise. Job 5:19. "He shall deliver thee
in six troubles." Thomas Watson.
Verse 15. I will be with him in trouble. Again
God speaks and acts like a tender hearted mother towards a
sickly child. When the child is in perfect health she can leave
it in the hands of the nurse; but when it is sick she will
attend it herself; she will say to the nurse, "You may
attend a while to some other business, I will watch over the
child myself." She hears the slightest moan; she flies to
the cradle; she takes it in her arms; she kisses its lips, and
drops a tear upon its face, and asks, "What can I do for
thee, my child? How can I relieve thy pain and soften thy
sufferings? Do not weep and break my heart; it is thy mother's
arms that are around thee; it is thy mother's lap on which thou
art laid; it is thy mother's voice that speaks to thee; it is
thy mother that is with thee; fear not." So the Lord speaks
to his afflicted children. "I will be with him in
trouble." No mother can equally sympathise with her
suffering child; as the Lord does with his suffering people. No!
could all the love that ever dwelt in all the mothers' hearts
that ever existed, be united in one mother's heart, and fixed on
her only child, it would no more bear a comparison with the love
of God to his people than the summer midnight glow worm is to be
compared to the summer midday sun. Oh, that delightful sentence I
will be with him in trouble. At other times God will leave
them in the hands of angels: "I will give them charge over
them, to keep them in all their ways; they bear them up lest at
any time they dash their feet against a stone." But when
they are in trouble, I will say to the angels, "Stand
aside, I will take care of them myself." "I
will be with them in trouble." So he speaks to his people:
"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou
walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." When languishing in
sickness, He will make his bed, and his pillow; when travelling
through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord will be with
him, and enable him to sing, "I will fear no evil: for thou
art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Thus
he is with them as their physician and nurse, in pain and
sickness; as their strength in weakness; as their guide in
difficulty; their ease in pain; and as their life in death. "I
will be with him in trouble." William Dawson.
Verse 16. With long life will I satisfy him.
Saint Bernard interprets this of heaven;because he
thought nothing long that had an end. This, indeed, is the
emphasis of heaven's joy; those blessed souls never sin, never
weep more; they shall not only be with the Lord, but ever with
the Lord. This is the accent which is set on the eulogies given
to heaven in Scripture. It is "an inheritance, "and
that an "incorruptible one, that fadeth not away; "it
is "a crown of glory, "and that a weighty one, yea,
"an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory." When
once it is on the saint's head it can never fall, or be snatched
off; it is a feast, but such a one that hath a sitting down to
it but no rising up from it. William Gurnall.
Verse 16. With long life will I satisfy him.
Observe the joyful contrast here to the mournful words in the
foregoing Psalm. "We spend our years as a tale that is
told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten,
"(Ps 90:9-10.) The life of Israel in the wilderness was
shortened by Disobedience. The Obedience of Christ in the
wilderness has won for us a blessed immortality. Christopher
Wordsworth.
Verse 16. With long life will I satisfy him,
etc. The margin here is "length of days; "that is,
days lengthened out or multiplied. The meaning is, I will give
him length of days as he desires, or until he is satisfied with
life;—implying (1) that it is natural to desire long life; (2)
that long life is to be regarded as a blessing (comp. Pr 3:2,16
Ex 20:12); (8) that the tendency of religion is to lengthen out
life; since virtue, temperance, regular industry, calmness of
mind, moderation in all things, freedom from excesses in eating
and drinking,—to all of which religion prompts,—contribute
to health and to length of days; and (4) that a time will come,
even under this promised blessing of length of days, when a man
will be "satisfied" with living; when he will
have no strong desire to live longer; when, under the
infirmities of advanced years, and under his lonely feelings
from the fact that his early friends have fallen, and under the
influence of a bright hope of heaven, he will feel that he has
had enough of life here, and that it is better to depart
to another world. And shew him my salvation. In another
life, after he shall be satisfied with this life. Albert
Barnes.
Verse 16. With long life will I satisfy him.
This promise concerning length of life contains a gift of God by
no means to be despised. Many enemies indeed will plot against
his life, and desire to extinguish him as suddenly and as
quickly as possible; but I shall so guard him that he shall live
to a good old age and be filled with years, and desire to depart
from life. J. B. Folengius.
Verse 16. With long life will I satisfy him.
We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels noblest, acts the best.
—Philip James Bailey, in "Festus."
Verse 16. Long life.
They err who measure life by years,
With false or thoughtless tongue;
Some hearts grow old before their time;
Others are always young.
It is not the number of the lines
On life's fast filling page,
It is not the pulse's added throbs,
Which constitute their age.
Some souls are serfs among the free,
While others nobly thrive;
They stand just where their fathers stood
Dead, even while they live.
Others, all spirit, heart, and sense,
Theirs the mysterious power
To live in thrills of joy or woe,
A twelvemonth in an hour! Bryan W. Procter
Verse 16. Long life.
He liveth long who liveth well!
All other life is short and vain:
He liveth longest who can tell
Of living most for heavenly gain.
Fie liveth long who liveth well!
All else is being flung away;
He liveth longest who can tell of true things
truly done each day. Horatius Bonar
Verse 16. I will show him my salvation. The
last, greatest, climax of blessing, including and concluding
all! What God does is perfectly done. Hitherto has his servant
caught glimpses of the "great salvation." The Spirit
has revealed step by step of it, as he was able to bear it. The
Word has taught him, and he has rejoiced in his light. But all
was seen in part and known in part. But when God
has satisfied his servant with length of days, and time for him
is over, eternity begun, he will "shew him his
salvation." All will be plain. All will be known. God
will be revealed in his love and his glory. And we shall know
all things, even as we are known! Mary B. M. Duncan.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1.
1. The secret dwelling place. There is the dweller in the
dark world, in the favoured land, in the holy city, in the outer
court; but the holy of holies is the "secret
place"—communion, acceptance, etc.
2. The protecting shadow—security, peace, etc.; like
hamlets of olden time clustered beneath castle walls. Charles
A. Davis.
Verse 1.
1. The person. One who is in intimate, personal,
secret, abiding communion with God, dwelling near the mercyseat,
within the veil.
2. The Privilege. He is the guest of God, protected,
refreshed, and comforted by him, and that to all eternity.
Verses 1-2. Four names of God.
1. We commune with him reverently, for he is the Most High.
2. We rest in him as the Almighty.
3. We rejoice in him as Jehovah or Lord.
4. We trust him as EL, the mighty God.
Verse 2.
1. Observe the nouns applied to God—refuge from trouble,
fortress in trouble, God at all times.
2. Observe the pronouns applied by man—"I"
will say, "my refuge, my fortress, "etc. G.
R.
Verse 2. The power, excellence, fruit, reasonableness,
and open avowal of personal faith.
Verse 3. Invisible protection from invisible dangers;
wisdom to meet cunning, love to war with cruelty, omnipresence
to match mystery, life to baffle death.
Verse 3. SURELY, or reasons for assured confidence in
God's protection.
Verses 3-7. Pestilence, panic, and peace; (for times
of widespread disease). Charles A. Davis.
Verses 3, 8-9.
1. Saints are safe—"surely, "(Ps 91:3).
2. The evil is bounded—"only, "(Ps 91:8).
3. The Lord has reasons for preserving his own—because,
"(Ps 91:9).
Verse 4.
1. The compassion of God.
2. The confidence of saints.
3. The panoply of truth.
Verses 5-6.
1. The exposure of all men to fear. (a) Continually, day and
night. (b) Deservedly: "conscience doth make cowards of us
all."
2. The exemption of some men from fear. (a) Because of their
trust. (b) Because of the divine protection.
Verse 7. How an evil may be near but not nigh.
Verse 8. What we have actually seen of the reward of
the wicked.
Verses 9-10.
1. God our spiritual habitation.
2. God the keeper of our earthly habitation.
3. General truth that the spiritual blesses the temporal.
Verse 10.
1. The Personal Blessing.
2. The Domestic Blessing.
3. The connection between the two.
Verses 11-12. A "wrested" Scripture righted.
1. Satan's version—presumptuousness.
2. The Holy Spirit's version—trustfulness. Charles A.
Davis.
Verses 11-12.
1. The Ministry of Angels as employed by God. (a) Official:
"he shall give, "etc. (b) Personal: "over
thee." (c) Constant: "in all thy ways."
2. As enjoyed by man. (a) For preservation: "shall bear
thee, "etc.; tenderly but effectually. (b) Under
limitation. They cannot do the work of God, or of Christ, or of
the Spirit, or of the word, or of ministers, for salvation;
"are they not all ministering spirits, "etc. G. R.
Verse 12. Preservation from minor evils most precious
because they are often most grievous, lead to greater evils, and
involve much damage.
Verse 13. The believer's love set upon God.
Verse 13.
1. Every child of God has his enemies. (a) They are numerous:
"the lion, adder, young lion, dragon." (b)
Diversified: subtle and powerful—"lion and adder; "
new and old—"young lion" and the" old
dragon."
2. He will finally obtain a complete victory over
them—"Thou shalt tread, "etc.; "shall put thy
foot, "etc.; "the Lord shall bruise Satan, "etc. G.
R.
Verses 14-16. The six "I wills."
Verse 14. Here we have,
1. Love for love: "Because, "etc. (a) The fact of
the saints' love to God. There is, first, love in God without
their love, then love for their love. (b) The evidence of his
love to them: "I will deliver him"—from sin, from
danger, from temptation, from every evil.
2. Honour for honour. (a) His honouring God. "He hath
known my name" and made it known; God honouring him;
"I will set him on high"—high in honour, in
happiness, in glory. G. R.
Verse 15-16. Observe,
1. The exceeding great and precious promises. (a) Answer to
prayer: "he shall call, "etc. (b) Comfort in trouble:
"I will be with him." (c) Deliverance from trouble:
"I will deliver him." (d) Greater honour after
trouble: deliver "and honour him." (e) Length of days;
life long enough to satisfy him. (f) God's salvation; "show
him my salvation; "far beyond what man could think or
desire.
2. To whom these promises belong; who is the he and
the him to whom these promises are made. He "calls
upon God, "says Ps 91:15; he "hath known my name,
"says Ps 91:14; he "hath set his love upon me,
"says the former part of the same verse; he "has made
the Lord his habitation, "says Ps 91:9; he "dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High, "says Ps 91:1. Hannah
More says, "To preach privileges without specifying to whom
they belong is like putting a letter in the post office without
a direction." It may be very good and contain a valuable
remittance, but no one can tell for whom it is intended. All the
promises of Scripture are plainly directed to those to whom they
belong. The direction put upon the promises of this Psalm is
unmistakably clear and often repeated. G. R.
WORKS UPON THE NINETY-FIRST PSALM
S. Patris Bernardi, in Psalmum 90. (91). Qui
habitat. Sermones (In the Paris edition of Bernard's
works, imperial 8vo. 1839, Volume one part 2, also in the quarto
volume of Sermons, Salisburgi MDCLXVI.
The Shield of the Righteous: or, the
Ninety-first Psalme, expounded, with the addition of Doctrines
and Verses. Verie necessarie and comfortable in these dayes of
heauinesse, wherein the Pestilence rageth so sore in London, and
other parts of this Kingdome. By ROBERT HORN, Minister of God's
Word...London. 1628 (4to).
The Righteous man's Habitation in the Time of
the Plague and Pestilence; being a brief Exposition of the
Ninety-first Psalm: (In the Works of William Bridge (1600-1670)
Tegg's Edition, Volume one pg. 463-500.
In "UNDER THE SHADOW: being
additional leaves from the Note Book of the late Mary B.M.
Duncan, 1867", pp. 85-172, there is an Exposition of
this Psalm.