TITLE. A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath
day. This admirable composition is both a Psalm and a Song,
full of equal measures of solemnity and joy; and it was intended
to be sung upon the day of rest. The subject is the praise of
God; praise is Sabbatic work, the joyful occupation of resting
hearts. Since a true Sabbath can only be found in God, it is
wise to meditate upon him on the Sabbath day. The style is
worthy of the theme and of the day, its inspiration is from the
"fount of every blessing"; David spake as the Spirit
gave him utterance. In the church of Christ, at this hour, no
Psalm is more frequently sung upon the Lord's day than the
present. The delightful version of Dr. Watts is familiar to us
all—
"Sweet is the work, my God, my King,
To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing;
To shew thy love by morning light,
And talk of all thy truth at night."
The Sabbath was set apart for adoring the
Lord in his finished work of creation, hence the suitableness of
this Psalm; Christians may take even a higher flight, for they
celebrate complete redemption. No one acquainted with David's
style will hesitate to ascribe to him the authorship of this
divine hymn; the ravings of the Rabbis who speak of its being
composed by Adam, only need to be mentioned to be dismissed.
Adam in Paradise had neither harps to play upon, nor wicked men
to contend with.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the
Lord, or JEHOVAH. It is good ethically, for it is the Lord's
right; it is good emotionally, for it is pleasant to the heart;
it is good practically, for it leads others to render the same
homage. When duty and pleasure combine, who will be backward? To
give thanks to God is but a small return for the great benefits
wherewith he daily loadeth us; yet as he by his Spirit calls it
a good thing we must not despise it, or neglect it. We thank men
when they oblige us, how much more ought we to bless the Lord
when he benefits us. Devout praise is always good, it is never
out of season, never superfluous, but it is especially suitable
to the Sabbath; a Sabbath without thanksgiving is a Sabbath
profaned. And to sing praises unto thy name, O most High. It is
good to give thanks in the form of vocal song. Nature itself
teaches us thus to express our gratitude to God; do not the
birds sing, and the brooks warble as they flow? To give his
gratitude a tongue is wise in man. Silent worship is sweet, but
vocal worship is sweeter. To deny the tongue the privilege of
uttering the praises of God involves an unnatural strain upon
the most commendable prompting of our renewed manhood, and it is
a problem to us how the members of the Society of Friends can
deprive themselves of so noble, so natural, so inspiring a part
of sacred worship. Good as they are, they miss one good thing
when they decline to sing praises unto the name of the Lord. Our
personal experience has confirmed us in the belief that it is
good to sing unto the Lord; we have often felt like Luther when
he said, "Come, let us sing a psalm, and drive away the
devil."
Verse 2. To shew forth thy loving kindness in the
morning. The day should begin with praise: no hour is too
early for holy song. Loving kindness is a most appropriate theme
for those dewy hours when morn is sowing all the earth with
orient pearl. Eagerly and promptly should we magnify the Lord;
we leave unpleasant tasks as long as we can, but our hearts are
so engrossed with the adoration of God that we would rise
betimes to attend to it. There is a peculiar freshness and charm
about early morning praises; the day is loveliest when it first
opens its eyelids, and God himself seems then to make
distribution of the day's manna, which tastes most sweetly if
gathered ere the sun is hot. It seems most meet that if our
hearts and harps have been silent through the shades of night we
should be eager again to take our place among the chosen choir
who ceaselessly hymn the Eternal One. And thy faithfulness every
night. No hour is too late for praise, the end of the day must
not be the end of gratitude. When nature seems in silent
contemplation to adore its Maker, it ill becomes the children of
God to refrain their thanksgiving. Evening is the time for
retrospect, memory is busy with the experience of the day, hence
the appropriate theme for song is the divine faithfulness,
of which another day has furnished fresh evidences. When
darkness has settled down over all things, "a shade
immense", then there comes over wise men a congenial,
meditative spirit, and it is most fitting that they should take
an expanded view of the truth and goodness of Jehovah—
"This sacred shade and solitude, what is it?
It is the felt presence of the Deity."
"Every night, "clouded or clear, moonlit or dark,
calm or tempestuous, is alike suitable for a song upon the
faithfulness of God, since in all seasons, and under all
circumstances, it abides the same, and is the mainstay of the
believer's consolation. Shame on us that we are so backward in
magnifying the Lord, who in the daytime scatters bounteous love,
and in the night season walks his rounds of watching care.
Verse 3. Upon an instrument of ten strings;
with the fullest range of music, uttering before God with the
full compass of melody the richest emotions of his soul. And
upon the psaltery; thus giving variety to praise: the Psalmist
felt that every sweet-sounding instrument should be consecrated
to God. George Herbert and Martin Luther aided their private
devotions by instrumental music; and whatever may have been the
differences of opinion in the Christian church, as to the
performance of instrumental music in public, we have met with no
objection to its personal and private use. Upon the harp with a
solemn sound, or upon meditation with a harp; as much as
to say, my meditative soul is, after all, the best instrument,
and the harp's dulcet tones comes in to aid my thoughts. It is
blessed work when hand and tongue work together in the heavenly
occupation of praise.
"Strings and voices, hands and hearts,
In the concert bear your parts:
All that breathe, your God adore,
Praise him, praise him, evermore."
It is, however, much to be feared that attention to the mere
mechanism of music, noting keys and strings, bars and crotchets,
has carried many away from the spiritual harmony which is the
soul and essence of praise. Fine music without devotion is but a
splendid garment upon a corpse.
Verse 4. For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through
thy work. It was natural for the psalmist to sing, because
he was glad, and to sing unto the Lord, because his gladness was
caused by a contemplation of the divine work. If we consider
either creation or providence, we shall find overflowing reasons
for joy; but when we come to review the work of redemption,
gladness knows no bounds, but feels that she must praise the
Lord with all her might. There are times when in the
contemplation of redeeming love we feel that if we did not sing
we must die; silence would be as horrible to us as if we were
gagged by inquisitors, or stifled by murderers. I will triumph
in the works of thy hands. I cannot help it, I must and I will
rejoice in the Lord, even as one who has won the victory and has
divided great spoil. In the first sentence of this verse he
expresses the unity of God's work, and in the second the variety
of his works; in both there is reason for gladness and triumph.
When God reveals his work to a man, and performs a work in his
soul, he makes his heart glad most effectually, and then the
natural consequence is continual praise.
Verse 5. O Lord, how great are thy works! He is
lost in wonder. He utters an exclamation of amazement. How vast!
How stupendous are the doings of Jehovah! Great for number,
extent, and glory and design are all the creations of the
Infinite One. And thy thoughts are very deep. The Lord's plans
are as marvellous as his acts; his designs are as profound as
his doings are vast. Creation is immeasurable, and the wisdom
displayed in it unsearchable. Some men think but cannot work,
and others are mere drudges working without thought; in the
Eternal the conception and the execution go together. Providence
is inexhaustible, and the divine decrees which originate it are
inscrutable. Redemption is grand beyond conception, and the
thoughts of love which planned it are infinite. Man is
superficial, God is inscrutable; man is shallow, God is deep.
Dive as we may we shall never fathom the mysterious plan, or
exhaust the boundless wisdom of the all comprehending mind of
the Lord. We stand by the fathomless sea of divine wisdom, and
exclaim with holy awe, "O the depth!"
Verse 6. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a
fool understand this. In this and the following verses the
effect of the psalm is heightened by contrast; the shadows are
thrown in to bring out the lights more prominently. What a stoop
from the preceding verse; from the saint to the brute, from the
worshipper to the boor, from the psalmist to the fool! Yet,
alas, the character described here is no uncommon one. The
boorish or boarish man, for such is almost the very Hebrew word,
sees nothing in nature; and if it be pointed out to him, his
foolish mind will not comprehend it. He may be a philosopher,
and yet be such a brutish being that he will not own the
existence of a Maker for the ten thousand matchless creations
around him, which wear, even upon their surface, the evidences
of profound design. The unbelieving heart, let it boast as it
will, does not know; and with all its parade of intellect, it
does not understand. A man must either be a saint or a brute, he
has no other choice; his type must be the adoring seraph, or the
ungrateful swine. So far from paying respect to great thinkers
who will not own the glory or being of God, we ought to regard
them as comparable to the beasts which perish, only vastly lower
than mere brutes, because their degrading condition is of their
own choosing. O God, how sorrowful a thing it is that men whom
thou hast so largely gifted, and made in thine own image, should
so brutify themselves that they will neither see nor understand
what thou hast made so clear. Well might an eccentric writer
say, "God made man a little lower than the angels at first,
and he has been trying to get lower ever since."
Verse 7. When the wicked spring as the grass,
in abundance, and apparent strength, hastening on their progress
like verdant plants, which come to perfection in a day, and when
all the workers of iniquity do flourish; flowering in their
prime and pride, their pomp and their prosperity; it is that
they shall be destroyed for ever. They grow to die, they blossom
to be blasted. They flower for a short space to wither without
end. Greatness and glory are to them but the prelude of their
overthrow. Little does their opposition matter, the Lord reigns
on as if they had never blasphemed him; as a mountain abides the
same though the meadows at its feet bloom or wither, even so the
Most High is unaffected by the fleeting mortals who dare oppose
him; they shall soon vanish for ever from among the living. But
as for the wicked—how can our minds endure the contemplation
of their doom "for ever." Destruction "for
ever" is a portion far too terrible for the mind to
realise. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, the full terror of
the wrath to come!
Verse 8. But thou, Lord, art most high for
evermore. This is the middle verse of the Psalm, and the
great fact which this Sabbath song is meant to illustrate. God
is at once the highest and most enduring of all beings. Others
rise to fall, but he is the Most High to eternity. Glory be to
his name! How great a God we worship! Who would not fear thee, O
thou High Eternal One! The ungodly are destroyed for ever, and
God is most high for ever; evil is cast down, and the Holy One
reigns supreme eternally.
Verse 9. For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord. It is
a wonder full of instruction and warning, observe it, O ye sons
of men; for, lo, thine enemies shall parish; they shall cease
from among men, they shall be known no more. In that the thing
is spoken twice it is confirmed by the Lord, it shall surely be,
and that speedily. All the workers of iniquity shall be
scattered; their forces shall be dispersed, their hopes broken,
and themselves driven hither and thither like chaff before the
tempest. They shall scatter like timid sheep pursued by the
lion, they will not have the courage to remain in arms, nor the
unity to abide in confederacy. The grass cannot resist the
scythe, but falls in withering ranks, even so are the ungodly
cut down and swept away in process of time, while the Lord whom
they despised sits unmoved upon the throne of his infinite
dominion. Terrible as this fact is, no true hearted heart would
wish to have it otherwise. Treason against the great Monarch of
the universe ought not to go unpunished; such wanton wickedness
richly merits the severest doom.
Verse 10. But my horn shalt thou exalt like the
horn of an unicorn. The believer rejoices that he shall not
be suffered to perish, but shall be strengthened and enabled to
triumph over his enemies, by the divine aid. The unicorn may
have been some gigantic ox or buffalo now unknown, and perhaps
extinct—among the ancients it was the favourite symbol of
unconquerable power; the psalmist adopts it as his emblem. Faith
takes delight in foreseeing the mercy of the Lord, and sings of
what he will do as well as of what he has done. I shall be
anointed with fresh oil. Strengthening shall be attended with
refreshment and honour. As guests were anointed at feasts with
perfumed unguents, so shall the saints be cheered and delighted
by fresh outpourings of divine grace; and for this reason they
shall not pass away like the wicked. Observe the contrast
between the happiness of the brutish people and the joy of the
righteous: the brutish men grow with a sort of vegetable vigour
of their own, but the righteous are dealt with by the Lord
himself, and all the good which they receive comes directly from
his own right hand, and so is doubly precious in their esteem.
The psalmist speaks in the first person, and it should be a
matter of prayer with the reader that he may be enabled to do
the same.
Verse 11. Mine eye also shall see MY DESIRE on mine
enemies. The words, "my desire", inserted by the
translators, had far better have been left out. He does not say
what he should see concerning his enemies, he leaves that blank,
and we have no right to fill in the vacant space with words
which look vindictive. He would see that which would be for
God's glory, and that which would be eminently right and just.
And mine ears shall hear MY DESIRE of the wicked that rise up against
me. Here, again, the words "my desire" are not
inspired, and are a needless and perhaps a false interpolation.
The good man is quite silent as to what he expected to hear; he
knew that what he should hear would vindicate his faith in his
God, and he was content to leave his cruel foes in God's hands,
without an expression concerning his own desire one way or the
other. It is always best to leave Scripture as we find it. The
broken sense of inspiration is better let alone than pieced out
with additions of a translator's own invention; it is like
repairing pure gold with tinsel, or a mosaic of gems with
painted wood. The holy psalmist had seen the beginning of the
ungodly, and expected to see their end; he felt sure that God
would right all wrongs, and clear his Providence from the charge
of favouring the unjust; this confidence he here expresses, and
sits down contentedly to wait the issues of the future.
Verse 12. The song now contrasts the condition of the
righteous with that of the graceless. The wicked "spring as
the grass", but The righteous shall flourish like a palm
tree, whose growth may not be so rapid, but whose endurance
for centuries is in fine contrast with the transitory verdure of
the meadow. When we see a noble palm standing erect, sending all
its strength upward in one bold column, and growing amid the
dearth and drought of the desert, we have a fine picture of the
godly man, who in his uprightness aims alone at the glory of
God; and, independent of outward circumstances, is made by
divine grace to live and thrive where all things else perish.
The text tells us not only what the righteous is, but what he
shall be; come what may, the good man shall flourish, and
flourish after the noblest manner. He shall grow like a cedar in
Lebanon. This is another noble and long lived tree. "As the
days of a tree are the days of my people", saith the Lord.
On the summit of the mountain, unsheltered from the blast, the
cedar waves its mighty branches in perpetual verdure, and so the
truly godly man under all adversities retains the joy of his
soul, and continues to make progress in the divine life. Grass,
which makes hay for oxen, is a good enough emblem of the
unregenerate; but cedars, which build the temple of the Lord,
are none too excellent to set forth the heirs of heaven.
Verse 13. Those that be planted in the house of the
Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. In the
courtyards of Oriental houses trees were planted, and being
thoroughly screened, they would be likely to bring forth their
fruit to perfection in trying seasons; even so, those who by
grace are brought into communion with the Lord, shall be likened
to trees planted in the Lord's house, and shall find it good to
their souls. No heart has so much joy as that which abides in
the Lord Jesus. Fellowship with the stem begets fertility in the
branches. If a man abide in Christ he brings forth much fruit.
Those professors who are rooted to the world do not flourish;
those who send forth their roots into the marshes of frivolous
pleasure cannot be in a vigorous condition; but those who dwell
in habitual fellowship with God shall become men of full growth,
rich in grace, happy in experience, mighty in influence,
honoured and honourable. Much depends upon the soil in which a
tree is planted; everything, in our case, depends upon our
abiding in the Lord Jesus, and deriving all our supplies from
him. If we ever really grow in the courts of the Lord's house we
must be planted there, for no tree grows in God's garden self
sown; once planted of the Lord, we shall never be rooted up, but
in his courts we shall take root downward, and bring forth fruit
upward to his glory for ever.
Verse 14. They shall still bring forth fruit in old
age. Nature decays but grace thrives. Fruit, as far as
nature is concerned, belongs to days of vigour; but in the
garden of grace, when plants are weak in themselves, they become
strong in the Lord, and abound in fruit acceptable with God.
Happy they who can sing this Sabbath Psalm, enjoying the rest
which breathes through every verse of it; no fear as to the
future can distress them, for their evil days, when the strong
man faileth, are the subject of a gracious promise, and
therefore they await them with quiet expectancy. Aged believers
possess a ripe experience, and by their mellow tempers and sweet
testimonies they feed many. Even if bedridden, they bear the
fruit of patience; if poor and obscure, their lowly and
contented spirit becomes the admiration of those who know how to
appreciate modest worth. Grace does not leave the saint when the
keepers of the house do tremble; the promise is still sure
though the eyes can no longer read it; the bread of heaven is
fed upon when the grinders fail; and the voice of the Spirit in
the soul is still melodious when the daughters of music are
brought low. Blessed be the Lord for this! Because even to hoar
hairs he is the I AM, who made his people, he therefore bears
and carries them. They shall be fat and flourishing. They do not
drag out a wretched, starveling existence, but are like trees
full of sap, which bear luxuriant foliage. God does not pinch
his poor servants, and diminish their consolations when their
infirmities grow upon them; rather does he see to it that they
shall renew their strength, for their mouths shall be satisfied
with his own good things. Such an one as Paul the aged would not
ask our pity, but invite our sympathetic gratitude; however
feeble his outward man may be, his inner man is so renewed day
by day that we may well envy his perennial peace.
Verse 15. This mercy to the aged proves the
faithfulness of their God, and leads them to shew that the Lord
is upright, by their cheerful testimony to his ceaseless
goodness. We do not serve a Master who will run back from his
promise. Whoever else may defraud us, he never will. Every aged
Christian is a letter of commendation to the immutable fidelity
of Jehovah. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in
him. Here is the psalmist's own seal and sign manual; still was
he building upon his God, and still was the Lord a firm
foundation for his trust. For shelter, for defence, for
indwelling, for foundation, God is our rock; hitherto he has
been to us all that he said he would be, and we may be doubly
sure that he will abide the same even unto the end. He has tried
us, but he has never allowed us to be tempted above what we are
able to bear: he has delayed our reward, but he has never been
unrighteous to forget our work of faith and labour of love. He
is a friend without fault, a helper without fail. Whatever he
may do with us, he is always in the right; his dispensations
have no flaw in them, no, not the most minute. He is true and
righteous altogether, and so we weave the end of the psalm with
its beginning, and make a coronet of it, for the head of our
Beloved. It is a good thing to sing praises unto the Lord, for "he
is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him."
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. This is entitled A Psalm to be sung on the
day of the Sabbath. It is known that the Jews appropriated
certain Psalms to particular days. R. Selomo thinks that it
refers to the future state of the blessed, which is a perpetual
sabbath. Others pretend that it was composed by Adam, on the
seventh day of the creation. It might, with more probability,
have been supposed to be put, by a poetic fiction, into the
mouth of Adam, beholding, with wonder and gratitude, the recent
creation. But Ps 92:2 seems to refer to the morning and evening
sacrifice, which the psalmist considers as most proper for
prayer and praise.—D. Cresswell.
Title. For the Sabbath day. Perchance, as Lud. de
Dieu remarks on this place, every day of the week had its
allotted psalms, according to what is said in the Talmud,
lib. Myvdq. The songs which the Levites formerly sang in the
sanctuary are these: on the first day, Ps 24:1-10; on the
second, Ps 48:1-14; on the third, Ps 82:1-8; on the fourth, Ps
104:1-35; on the fifth, Ps 81:1-16; on the sixth, Ps 93:1-5; on
the seventh, the Ps 92:1-15, the beginning of which is, a
psalm or a canticle for the Sabbath day, that is to say, for
the future age, which will be altogether a sabbath.—Martin
Geier.
Title. For the Sabbath. It is observable that the name
JEHOVAH occurs in the Psalms seven times—the sabbatical number
(1,4,5,8,9,13,15).—C. Wordsworth.
Verse 1. It is a good thing. It is bonum,
honestum, jucundum, utile; an honest, pleasant, and
profitable good. The altar of incense was to be overlaid with
pure gold, and to have a crown of gold round about it. Which (if
we may allegorically apply it) intimates unto us, that the
spiritual incense of prayers and praises is rich and precious, a
golden and a royal thing.—Henry Jeanes, in "The Works
of Heaven upon Earth," 1649.
Verse 1. It is a good thing to give thanks,
etc. Giving of thanks is more noble and perfect in itself than
petition; because in petition often our own good is eyed and
regarded, but in giving of thanks only God's honour. The Lord
Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to
receive." Now, a subordinate end of petition is to receive
some good from God, but the sole end of thanks is to give glory
unto God.—William Ames (1576-1633), in "Medulla
Theologica."
Verse 1. "Give thanks;
""praises." We thank God for his benefits,
and praise him for his perfections.—Filliucius, out of
Aquinas.
Verse 1. To sing praises.
1. Singing is the music of nature. The Scriptures tell
us, the mountains sing (Is 41:23); the valleys sing (Ps 65:13);
the trees of the wood sing (1Ch 16:33). Nay, the air is the
birds' music room, where they chant their musical notes.
2. Singing is the music of ordinances. Augustine
reports of himself, that when he came to Milan and heard the
people sing, he wept for joy in the church to hear that pleasing
melody. And Beza confesses, that at his first entrance into the
congregation, and hearing them sing Ps 91:1-16 he felt himself
exceedingly comforted, and did retain the sound of it afterwards
upon his heart. The Rabbis tell us, that the Jews, after the
feast of the Passover was celebrated, sang Ps 91:1-16, and the
five following psalms; and our Saviour and his apostles
"sang an hymn" immediately after the blessed supper,
(Mt 26:30).
3. Singing is the music of saints. (1) They have
performed this duty in their greatest numbers, (Ps 149:1). (2)
In their greatest straits, (Is 26:19). (3) In their greatest
flight, (Is 42:10-11). (4) In their greatest deliverances, (Is
65:14). (5) In their greatest plenties. In all these changes
singing hath been their stated duty and delight. And indeed it
is meet that the saints and servants of God should sing forth
their joys and praises to the Lord Almighty; every attribute of
him can set both their song and their tune.
4. Singing is the music of angels. Job tells us,
"The morning stars sang together", (Job 38:7). Now
these morning stars, as Pineda tells us, are the angels; to
which the Chaldee paraphrase accords, naming these morning
stars, aciem angelorum, "a host of angels."
Nay, when this heavenly host was sent to proclaim the birth of
our dearest Jesus, they delivered their message in this raised
way of duty, (Lu 2:13). They were ainountwn, delivering their
messages in a "laudatory singing", the whole company
of angels making a musical choir. Nay, in heaven, there is the
angels' joyous music, they there sing hallelujahs to the Most
High, and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne, (Re 5:11-12).
5. Singing is the music of heaven. The glorious saints
and angels accent their praises this way, and make one harmony
in their state of blessedness; and this is the music of the
bride chamber, (Re 15:3). The saints who were tuning here their
psalms, are now singing hallelujahs in a louder strain, and
articulating their joys, which here they could not express to
their perfect satisfaction. Here they laboured with drowsy
hearts, and faltering tongues; but in glory these impediments
are removed, and nothing is left to jar their joyous
celebrations.
—John Wells(-1676), in "The Morning
Exercises."
Verse 2. In the morning. When indeed the mind
after the rest of the night is more active, devoted and
constant. In other parts of the day, as at noon, or in the
afternoon, many sounds of business disturb, and greater
lassitude oppresses. Compare Ps 5:4 59:17 58:2 88:14 Ps
119:147-148, where this same part of the day is celebrated as
the fittest for sacred meditations. However, this ought not to
be taken exclusively, as if, in the morning alone, and not also
at noon or in the evening, it was suitable to celebrate divine
grace.—Martin Geier.
Verse 2. In the morning. The Brahmins rise
three hours before the sun, to pray. The Indians would esteem it
a great sin to eat in the morning before praying to their gods.
The ancient Romans considered it impious if they had not a
little chamber, in their house, appropriated to prayer. Let us
take a lesson from these Turks and heathen; their zealous ardour
ought to shame us. Because we possess the true light, should
their zeal surpass ours?—Frederic Arndt, in "Lights of
the Morning", 1861.
Verse 2. To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the
morning. Our praise ought to be suitably arranged. In the
time of prosperity or the morning we should declare thy
lovingkindness, because whatever of prosperity we have proceeds
from the mercy and grace of God; and in the time of adversity or
night, we should declare thy justice or faithfulness,
because whatever adversity happens to us is ordained by the just
judgment of God.—J. Turrecremata.
Verse 2. God's mercy is itself the morning
ray, which scatters away darkness (Ps 3:5 59:16); his faithfulness
the guardian, that assures us against night peril.—F.
Delitzsch.
Verse 2. In the morning, and...every night. God
is Alpha and Omega. It is fit we should begin and end the day
with his praise, who begins and ends it for us with mercy. Well,
thou seest thy duty plainly laid before thee. As thou wouldst
have God prosper thy labour in the day, and sweeten thy rest in
the night, clasp them both together with thy morning and evening
devotions. He that takes no care to set forth God's portion of
time in the morning, doth not only rob God of his due, but is a
thief to himself all the day after, by losing the blessing which
a faithful prayer might bring from heaven on his undertakings.
And he that closes his eyes at night without prayer, lies down
before his bed is made.—William Gurnall.
Verse 2. Thy faithfulness (Vulg. `veritas, ')every
night. Truth can be taken in its proper signification. Thus
St. Jerome on our Psalm takes it, and says: "The truth of
the Lord is announced in the night, as if it were wrapped up in
some verbal obscurities. In an enigma it is spoken, and in
parables; that seeing, they should not see, and hearing, they
should not understand. Moses ascended Mount Sinai, Ex 24:9, and
passed into the tempest and into the blackness and darkness, and
there spake with the Lord." Thus Jerome. Christ brings back
the light to us, as Lactantius teaches. Shall we wait, says he,
till Socrates shall know something? Or Anaxagoras find light in
the darkness? Or Democritus draw forth the truth from a well? Or
till Empedocles expands the paths of his soul? Or Ascesilas and
Carneades see, feel, and perceive? Behold a voice from heaven
teaches us the truth, and reveals it more clearly to us than the
sun himself ...In the night truth is to be shown forth, that the
night may be turned into day.—Le Blanc.
Verse 3. Upon an instrument of ten strings.
Eusebius, in his comment on this psalm, says: "The
psaltery of ten strings is the worship of the Holy Spirit
performed by means of the five senses of the body, and by the five
powers of the soul." And to confirm this interpretation, he
quotes the apostle, 1Co 14:15: "I will pray with the
spirit, and with the understanding also; I will sing with the
spirit, and with the understanding also." "As the mind
has its influence by which it moves the body, so the spirit has
its own influence by which it moves the soul." Whatever may
be thought of this gloss, one thing is pretty evident from it,
that instrumental music was not in use in the church of
Christ in the time of Eusebius, which was near the middle of the
fourth century. Had any such thing then existed in the
Christian Church, he would have doubtless alluded to or
spiritualized it; or, as he quoted the words of the apostle
above, would have shown that carnal usages were
substituted for spiritual exercises.—Adam Clarke.
Verse 3. In Augustine to Ambrose there is the
following passage bearing on this same
subject:—"Sometimes, from over jealousy, I would entirely
put from me and from the church the melodies of the sweet chants
that we use in the Psalter, lest our ears seduce us; and the way
of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, seems the safe one, who, as
I have often heard, made the reader chant with so slight a
change of voice, that it was more like speaking than singing.
And yet, when I call to mind the tears I shed when I heard the
chants of thy church in the infancy of my recovered faith, and
reflect that I was affected, not by the mere music, but by the
subject, brought out as it were by clear voices and appropriate
tune, then, in turn, I confess how useful is the practice."
Verse 3. We are not to conceive that God enjoyed the
harp as feeling a delight like ourselves in mere melody of
sounds; but the Jews, who were yet under age, were restricted to
the use of such childish elements. The intention of them was to
stimulate the worshippers, and stir them up more actively to the
celebration of the praise of God with the heart. We are to
remember that the worship of God was never understood to consist
in such outward services, which were only necessary to help
forward a people, as yet weak and rude in knowledge, in the
spiritual worship of God. A difference is to be observed in this
respect between his people under the Old and under the New
Testament; for now that Christ has appeared, and the church has
reached full age, it were only to bury the light of the Gospel,
should we introduce the shadows of a departed dispensation. From
this, it appears that the Papists, in employing instrumental
music, cannot be said so much to imitate the practice of God's
ancient people, as to ape it in a senseless and absurd manner,
exhibiting a silly delight in that worship of the Old Testament
which was figurative, and terminated with the gospel.—John
Calvin.
Verse 3. Chrysostom says, "Instrumental music was
only permitted to the Jews, as sacrifice was, for the heaviness
and grossness of their souls. God condescended to their
weakness, because they were lately drawn off from idols; but now
instead of organs, we may use our own bodies to praise him
withal." Theodoret has many like expressions in his
comments upon the Psalms and other places. But the author under
the name of Justin Martyr is more express in his determination,
as to matter of fact, telling us plainly, "that the use of
singing with instrumental music was not received in the
Christian churches as it was among the Jews in their infant
state, but only the use of plain song."—Joseph
Bingham.
Verse 3. Instrumental music, the more I think of it,
appears with increasing evidence to be utterly unsuited to the
genius of the gospel dispensation. There was a glare, if I may
so express it, which characterized even the divine appointments
of Judaism. An august temple, ornamented with gold and silver,
and precious stones, golden candlesticks, golden altars, priests
in rich attire, trumpets, cymbals, harps; all of which were
adapted to an age and dispensation when the church was in a
state of infancy. But when the substance is come, it is time
that the shadows flee away. The best exposition of harps in
singing is given by Dr. Watts—
"Oh may my heart in tune be found,
Like David's harp of solemn sound."
—Andrew Fuller.
Verse 3. (last clause). On meditation with a
harp. (New translation.) By a bold but intelligible figure,
meditation is referred to as an instrument, precisely as the
lyre and harp are, the latter being joined with it as a mere
accompaniment.—J.A. Alexander.
Verse 3. With a solemn sound. Let Christians
abound as much as they will in the holy, heavenly exercise of
singing in God's house and in their own houses; but let it be
performed as a holy act, wherein they have immediately and
visibly to do with God. When any social open act of devotion or
solemn worship of God is performed, God should be reverenced as
present. As we would not have the ark of God depart from us, her
provoke God to make a breach upon us, we should take heed that
we handle the ark with reverence.—Jonathan Edwards, in
"Errors connected with singing praises to God."
Verse 4. Thou LORD hast made me glad through thy
work. One of the parts of the well spending of the Sabbath,
is the looking upon, and consideration of the works of creation.
The consideration of the Lord's works will afford us much sweet
refreshment and joy when God blesses the meditation; and when it
is so we ought to acknowledge our gladness most thankfully and
lift up our heart in his ways.—David Dickson.
Verse 4. Thy work. The "work of God"
here is one no less marvellous than that of creation, which was
the original ground of hallowing the Sabbath (see title of this
Psalm)—namely, the final redemption of his people.—A.R.
Fausset.
Verse 4. Made me glad through thy work, etc.
Surely there is nothing in the world, short of the most
undivided reciprocal attachment, that has such power over the
workings of the human heart as the mild sweetness of Nature. The
most ruffled temper, when emerging from the town, will subside
into a calm at the sight of an extended landscape reposing in
the twilight of a fine evening. It is then that the spirit of
peace settles upon the heart, unfetters the thoughts, and
elevates the soul to the Creator. It is then that we behold the
Parent of the universe in his works; we see his grandeur in
earth, sea, sky; we feel his affection in the emotions which
they raise, and half mortal, half etherealized, forgot where we
are in the anticipation of what that world must be, of which
this lovely earth is merely the shadow.—Miss Porter.
Verse 4. I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
Here it will be most fitting to remind the reader of those three
great bursts of adoring song, which in different centuries have
gushed forth from souls enraptured with the sight of nature.
They are each of them clear instances of triumphing in the works
of God's hands. How majestically Milton sang when he said of our
unfallen parents,—
"Nor holy rapture wanted they to praise
Their Maker, in fit strains pronounced or sung
Unmeditated; such prompt eloquence
Flowed from their lips in prose or numerous verse,
More tunable than needed lute or harp
To add more sweetness."
Then he gives us that noble hymn, too well known for us to
quote, the reader will find it in the fifth book of the Paradise
Lost, commencing—
"These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,
Almighty!"
Thomson also, in his Seasons, rises to a wonderful height, as
he closes his poem with a hymn—
"These as they change, Almighty Father, these
Are but the varied God."
Coleridge in his "Hymn before Sunrise, in the Vale of
Chamouni", equally well treads the high places of
triumphant devotion, as he cries—
"Awake my soul! not only passive praise
Thou owest! not alone these swelling tears,
Mute thanks and secret ecstasy! Awake,
Voice of sweet song! Awake, my heart, awake!
Green vales and icy cliffs, all join my hymn."
Verse 5. Thy thoughts. The plural of tbvrm,
from the verb bvr, to meditate, to count, to weave; and
this last word gives a good idea of what is here made the
subject of admiration and praise, the wonderful intricacy and
contrivance with which the Divine Mind designs and executes his
plans, till at length the result is seen in a beautifully woven
tissue of many delicately mingled and coloured threads.—Christopher
Wordsworth.
Verse 5. Thy thoughts are very deep. Verily, my
brethren, there is no sea so deep as these thoughts of God, who
maketh the wicked flourish, and the good suffer: nothing so
profound, nothing so deep; therein every unbelieving soul is
wrecked, in that depth, in that profundity. Dost thou wish to
cross this depth? Remove not from the wood of Christ's cross;
and thou shalt not sink: hold thyself fast to Christ.—Augustine.
Verse 6. Expressively he wrote: "The man brute
will not know; the fool will not understand this", viz.,
that when the wicked spring up with rapid and apparently
vigorous growth as the summer flowers in Palestine, it is that
they may ripen soon for a swift destruction. The man brute
precisely translates the Hebrew words; one whom God has endowed
with manhood, but who has debased himself to brutehood; a man as
being of God's creation in his own image, but a brute as being
self moulded (shall we say self made?) into the image of the
baser animals!—Henry Cowles.
Verse 6. A brutish man knoweth not, etc. A
sottish sensualist who hath his soul for salt only, to
keep his body from putrefying (as we say of swine) he takes no
knowledge of God's great works, but grunts and goes his ways,
contenting himself with a natural use of the creatures, as
beasts do.—John Trapp.
Verse 6. A brutish man knoweth not, etc. That
is, he being a beast, and having no sanctified principle of
wisdom in him, looks no further than a beast into all the works
of God and occurrences of things; looks on all blessings as
things provided for man's delight by God; but he extracts seldom
holy, spiritual, and useful thoughts out of all, he wants the
art of doing it.—Thomas Goodwin.
Verse 6. A brutish man knoweth not. How
universally do men strive, by the putrid joys of sense and
passion, to destroy the fineness of the sensibilities which God
has given them. This mind, which might behold a world of glory
in created things, and look through them as through a
transparent veil to things infinitely more glorious,
signified or contained within the covering, is as dull and heavy
as a piece of anthracite coal. Who made it so? Alas, habits of
sense and sin have done this. If from childhood the soul had
been educated for God, in habits accordant with its spiritual
nature, it would be full of life, love, and sensibility, in
harmony with all lovely things in the natural world, beholding
the spiritual world through the natural, alive to all excitement
from natural and intellectual beauty, and as ready to its duty
as a child to its play. What a dreadful destruction of the
mind's inner sensibilities results from a sensual life! What a
decline, decay, and paralysis of its intuitive powers, so that
the very existence of such a thing as spiritual intuition, in
reference to a spiritual world, may be questioned, if not
denied! A man may be frightfully successful in such a process of
destruction if long enough continued, upon his own nature.
"Who can read without indignation of Kant", remarks De
Quincey, "that at his own table in social sincerity and
confidential talk, let him say what he would in his books, he
exulted in the prospect of absolute and ultimate annihilation;
that he planted his glory in the grave, and was ambitious of
rotting for ever! The King of Prussia, though a personal friend
of Kant's, found himself obliged to level his State thunders at
some of his doctrines, and terrified him in his advance; else I
am persuaded that Kant would have formally delivered Atheism
from the professor's chair, and would have enthroned the horrid
ghoulish creed, which privately he professed, in the University
of Königsberg. It required the artillery of a great king to
make him pause. The fact is, that as the stomach has been known
by means of its natural secretion, to attack not only whatsoever
alien body is introduced within it, but also (as John Hunter
first showed), sometimes to attack itself and its own organic
structure; so, and with the same preternatural extension of
instinct, did Kant carry forward his destroying functions, until
he turned them upon his own hopes, and the pledges of his own
superiority to the dog, the ape, the worm."—George B.
Cheever, in "Voices of Nature", 1852.
Verse 6. A fool. The simpleton is an automaton,
he is a machine, he is worked by a spring; mere gravity carries
him forward, makes him move, makes him turn, and that
unceasingly and in the same way, and exactly with the same
equable pace: he is uniform, he is never inconsistent with
himself; whoever has seen him once, has seen him at all moments,
and in all periods of his life; he is like the ox that bellows,
or the blackbird which whistles; that which is least visible in
him is his soul; it does not act, it is not exercised, it takes
its rest.—Jean de la Bruyère (1639-1696), quoted by
Ramage.
Verse 6. Neither doth a fool understand this.
He roved among the vales and streams,
In the green wood and hollow dell;
They were his dwellings night and day,—
But nature never could find the way
Into the heart of Peter Bell.
In vain, through every changeful year,
Did Nature lead him as before;
A primrose by a river's brim
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more.
In vain, through water, earth, and air,
The soul of happy sound was spread,
When Peter on some April morn,
Beneath the broom or budding thorn,
Made the warm earth his lazy bed.
At noon, when by the forest's edge
He lay beneath the branches high,
The soft blue sky did never melt
Into his heart; he never felt
The witchery of the soft blue sky!
There was a hardness in his cheek,
There was a hardness in his eye,
As if the man had fixed his face,
In many a solitary place,
Against the wind and open sky.
—W. Wordsworth, 1770-1850.
Verse 7. When the wicked spring as the grass,
etc. Their felicity is the greatest infelicity.—Adam
Clarke.
Verse 7. Little do they think that they are suffered
to prosper that like beasts they may be fitter for slaughter.
The fatter they are, the fitter for slaughter, and the sooner
slain: "He slew the fattest of them." Ps 78:31.—Zachary
Bogan.
Verse 8. Here is the central pivot of the Psalm. But
thou, Lord, art most high for evermore, lit.
"art height", & c., the abstract used for
the concrete, to imply that the essence of all that is high
is concentrated in Jehovah. When God and the cause of holiness seem
low, God is really never higher than then; for out of
seeming weakness he perfects the greatest strength. When the
wicked seem high, they are then on the verge of being
cast down for ever. The believer who can realize this will not
despair at the time of his own depression, and of the seeming
exaltation of the wicked. If we can feel "Jehovah most
high for evermore", we can well be unruffled, however
low we lie.—A.R. Fausset.
Verse 9. "Lo thine enemies"; "lo
thine enemies." He represents their destruction as
present, and as certain, which the repetition of the words
implies.—Matthew Pool.
Verse 9. Thine enemies shall perish. This is
the only Psalm in the Psalter which is designated a Sabbath
song. The older Sabbath was a type of our rest in Christ from
sin; and therefore the final extirpation of sin forms one of the
leading subjects of the psalm.—Joseph Francis Thrupp.
Verse 9. All the workers of iniquity shall be
scattered. The wicked may unite and confederate together,
but the bands of their society are feeble. It is seldom that
they long agree together; at least as to the particular object
of their pursuit. Though they certainly harmonize in the general
one, that of working iniquity. But God will soon by his power,
and in his wrath, confound and scatter them even to
destruction.—Samuel Burder.
Verse 10. Thou shalt lift up, as a Reêym, my horn,
seems to point to the mode in which the bovidoe use their
horns, lowering the head and then tossing it up.—William
Houghton, in Smith's Bible Dictionary.
Verse 10. The horn of an unicorn.—After
discussing the various accounts which are given of this animal
by ancient and modern writers, Winer says, I do not hesitate to
say, it is the Antelope Leucoryx, a species of goat with
long and sharp horns.—William Walford.
Verse 10. If shall be anointed with fresh oil.
Montanus has, instead of "fresh oil", given the
literal meaning of the original virido oleo, "with green
oil." Ainsworth also renders it: "fresh or
green oil." The remark of Calmet is: "The plants
imparted somewhat of their colour, as well as of their
fragrance, hence the expression, `green oil.'"Harmer
says, "I shall be anointed with green oil." Some of
these writers think the term green, as it is in the
original, signifies "precious fragrant oil"; others,
literally "green" in colour; and others,
"fresh" or newly made oil. But I think it will appear
to mean "cold drawn oil", that which has been
expressed or squeezed from the nut or fruit without the process
of boiling. The Orientals prefer this kind to all others for
anointing themselves; it is considered the most precious, the
most pure and efficacious. Nearly all their medicinal oils are
thus extracted; and because they cannot gain so much by this
method as by the boiling process, oils so drawn are very dear.
Hence their name for the article thus prepared is also patche,
that is, "green oil." But this term, in Eastern
phraseology, is applied to other things which are not boiled or
raw: thus unboiled water is called patchi-tameer, "green
water": patche-pal, likewise, "green
milk", means that which has not been boiled, and the butter
made from it is called "green butter"; and
uncooked meat or yams are known by the same name. I think,
therefore, the Psalmist alludes to that valuable article which
is called "green oil", on account of its being
expressed from the nut or fruit, without the process of
boiling.—Joseph Roberts's Oriental Illustrations.
Verse 10. Anointed with fresh oil. Every kind
of benediction and refreshment I have received, do receive, and
shall receive, like one at a feast, who is welcomed as a friend,
and whose head is copiously anointed with oil or fragrant
balm. In this way, the spirits are gently refreshed, an inner
joyousness excited, the beauty of the face and limbs, according
to the custom of the country, brought to perfection. Or, there
is an allusion to the custom of anointing persons at
their solemn installation in some splendid office. Compare Ps
23:5 "Thou anointest my head with oil, "and Ps
45:7, "God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of
gladness."—Martin Geier.
Verse 10. (last clause). The phrase is not
"I am anointed", hvm; but ytlb, imbutus sum—perfusus
sum; apparently in reference to the abundance of perfume
employed on the occasion, viz., his being elected King over all
the tribes, as indicative of the greater popularity of the act,
or the higher measure of Jehovah's blessing on his people. The
difference, indeed, between the first anointing of David and
that of Saul, as performed by Samuel, is well worthy of notice
on the present occasion. When Samuel was commanded to anoint
Saul, he "took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his
head." in private, 1Sa 16:13. Here we find the horn again
made use of and apparently full to the brim—David was
soaked or imbued with it.—John Mason Good.
Verse 11. Mine enemies.—The word here used
rwv shur—occurs nowhere else. It means, properly, a
lier in wait, one who watches; one who is in ambush; and
refers to persons who watched his conduct; who watched
for his ruin.—A. Barnes.
Verse 12. Like the palm tree. Look now at those
stately palm trees, which stand here and there on the plain,
like military sentinels, with feathery plumes nodding gracefully
on their proud heads. The stem, tall, slender, and erect as
Rectitude herself, suggests to the Arab poets many a symbol for
their lady love; and Solomon, long before them, has sung,
"How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
This thy stature is like a palm tree" (So 7:6-7). Yes; and
Solomon's father says, "The righteous shall flourish
like a palm tree", etc. The royal poet has derived more
than one figure from the customs of men, and the habits of this
noble tree, with which to adorn his sacred ode. The palm grows
slowly, but steadily, from century to century uninfluenced by
those alternations of the seasons which affect other trees. It
does not rejoice over much in winter's copious rain, nor does it
droop under the drought and the burning sun of summer. Neither
heavy weights which men place upon its head, nor the importunate
urgency of the wind, can sway it aside from perfect uprightness.
There it stands, looking calmly down upon the world below, and
patiently yielding its large clusters of golden fruit from
generation to generation. They bring forth fruit in old age.
The allusion to being planted in the house of the Lord is
probably drawn from the custom of planting beautiful and long
lived trees in the courts of temples and palaces, and in all
"high places" used for worship. This is still common;
nearly every palace, and mosque, and convent in the country has
such trees in the courts, and being well protected there, they
flourish exceedingly. Solomon covered all the walls of the
"Holy of Holies" round about with palm trees. They
were thus planted, as it were, within the very house of the
Lord; and their presence there was not only ornamental, but
appropriate and highly suggestive. The very best emblem, not
only of patience in well doing, but of the rewards of the
righteous—a fat and flourishing old age—a peaceful end—a
glorious immortality.—W.M. Thomson.
Verse 12. The palm tree. The palms were
entitled by Linnaeus, "the princes of the vegetable
world"; and Von Martius enthusiastically says, "The
common world atmosphere does not become these vegetable
monarchs: but in those genial climes where nature seems to have
fixed her court, and summons around her of flowers, and fruits,
and trees, and animated beings, a galaxy of beauty,—there they
tower up into the balmy air, rearing their majestic stems
highest and proudest of all. Many of them, at a distance, by
reason of their long perpendicular shafts, have the appearance
of columns, erected by the Divine architect, bearing up the
broad arch of heaven above them, crowned with a capital of
gorgeous green foliage." And Humboldt speaks of them as
"the loftiest and stateliest of all vegetable forms."
To these, above all other trees, the prize of beauty has always
been awarded by every nation, and it was from the Asiatic palm
world, or the adjacent countries, that human civilization sent
forth the first rays of its early dawn. On the northern borders
of the Great Desert, at the foot of the Atlas mountains, the
groves of date palms form the great feature of that parched
region, and few trees besides can maintain an existence. The
excessive dryness of this arid tract, where rain seldom falls,
is such that wheat refuses to grow, and even barley, maize, and
Caffre corn, (Holcus sorghum,)afford the husbandman only a
scanty and uncertain crop. The hot blasts from the south are
scarcely supportable even by the native himself, and yet here
forests of date palms flourish, and form a screen impervious to
the rays of the sun, beneath the shade of which the lemon, the
orange, and the pomegranate, are cherished, and the vine climbs
up by means of its twisted tendrils; and although reared in
constant shade, all these fruits acquire a more delicious
flavour than in what would seem a more favourable climate. How
beautiful a comment do these facts supply to the words of Holy
Writ, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm
tree!" Unmoved by the scorching and withering blasts of
temptations or persecutions, the Christian sustained by the
secret springs of Divine grace, lives and grows in likeness to
his Divine Master, when all others are overcome, and their
professions wither. How striking is the contrast in the psalm.
The wicked and worldlings are compared to grass, which is at
best but of short duration, and which is easily withered; but
the emblem of the Christian is the palm tree, which stands for
centuries. Like the grateful shade of the palm groves, the
Christian extends around him a genial, sanctified, and heavenly
influence; and just as the great value of the date palm lies in
its abundant, wholesome, and delicious fruit, so do those who
are the true disciples of Christ abound in "fruits of
righteousness", for, said our Saviour, "Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my
disciples."—"The Palm Tribes and their
Varieties." R.T. Society's Monthly Volume.
Verse 12. The righteous shall flourish. David
here tells us how he shall flourish. "He shall
flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar
in Lebanon." Of the wicked he had said just before,
"When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the
workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be
destroyed for ever." They flourish as the grass,
which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven. What a
contrast with the worthlessness, the weakness, transitoriness,
and destiny, of grass—in a warm country too—are the palm
tree and cedar of Lebanon! They are evergreens. How beautifully,
how firmly, how largely, they grow! How strong and lofty is the
cedar! How upright, and majestic, and tall, the palm tree. The
palm also bears fruit, called dates, like bunches of grapes. It
sometimes yields a hundredweight at once. He tells us where
he shall flourish. "Those that be planted in the house of
the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." The
allusion is striking. It compares the house of God to a garden,
or fine well watered soil, favourable to the life, and verdure,
and fertility, of the trees fixed there. The reason is, that in
the sanctuary we have the communion of saints. There our
fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. There
are dispensed the ordinances of religion, and the word of truth.
There God commandeth the blessing, even life for
evermore. He also tells us when he shall flourish.
"They shall still bring forth fruit in old age." This
is to show the permanency of their principles, and to
distinguish them from natural productions.
"The plants of grace shall ever live;
Nature decays, but grace must thrive;
Time, that doth all things else impair,
Still makes them flourish strong and fair."
The young Christian is lovely, like a tree in the blossoms of
spring: the aged Christian is valuable, like a tree in autumn,
bending with ripe fruit. We therefore look for something
superior in old disciples. More deadness to the world, the
vanity of which they have had more opportunities to see; more
meekness of wisdom; more disposition to make sacrifices for the
sake of peace; more maturity of judgment in divine things; more
confidence in God; more richness of experience. He also tells us
why he shall flourish. "They shall be fat and
flourishing; to shew that the Lord is upright." We might
rather have supposed that it was necessary to shew that they
were upright. But by the grace of God they are what they
are—not they, but the grace of God which is in them. From him
is their fruit found. Their preservation and fertility,
therefore, are to the praise and glory of God; and as what he
does for them he had engaged to do, it displays his truth
as well as his mercy, and proves that he is upright.—William
Jay.
Verse 12. The righteous shall flourish like a palm
tree.
1. The palm tree grows in the desert. Earth is a
desert to the Christian; true believers are ever refreshed in it
as a palm is in the Arabian desert. So Lot amid Sodom's
wickedness, and Enoch who walked with God amongst the
antediluvians.
2. The palm tree grows from the sand, but the sand is not
its food; water from below feeds its tap roots, though the
heavens above be brass. Some Christians grow, not as the lily,
Ho 14:5, by green pastures, or the willow by water courses, Isa
44:4, but as the palm of the desert; so Joseph among the
Cat-worshippers of Egypt, Daniel in voluptuous Babylon.
Faith's penetrating root reaches the fountains of living waters.
3. The palm tree is beautiful, with its tall and
verdant canopy, and the silvery flashes of its waving plumes; so
the Christian virtues are not like the creeper or bramble,
tending downwards, their palm branches shoot upwards, and seek
the things above where Christ dwells, Co 3:1: some trees are
crooked and gnarled, but the Christian is a tall palm as a son
of the light, Mt 3:12; Php 2:15. The Jews were called a crooked
generation, De 32:5, and Satan a crooked serpent, Isa 27:1, but
the Christian is upright like the palm. Its beautiful, unfading
leaves make it an emblem of victory; it was twisted into verdant
booths at the feast of Tabernacles; and the multitude, when
escorting Christ to his coronation in Jerusalem, spread leaves
on the way, Mt 21:8; so victors in heaven are represented as
having palms in their hands, Re 7:9. No dust adheres to the leaf
as it does with the battree; the Christian is in the
world, not of it; the dust of earth's desert adheres not to his
palm leaf. The leaf of the palm is the same—it does not fall
in winter, and even in the summer it has no holiday clothing, it
is an evergreen; the palm trees' rustling is the desert orison.
4. The palm tree is very useful. The Hindus reckon it
has 360 uses. Its shadow shelters, its fruit refreshes the weary
traveller, it points out the place of water, such was Barnabas,
a son of consolation, Ac 4:36; such Lydia, Dorcas, and others,
who on the King's highway showed the way to heaven, as Philip
did to the Ethiopian eunuch, Ac 9:34. Jericho was called the
City of Palms, De 34:3.
5. The palm tree produces even to old age. The best
dates are produced when the tree is from thirty to one hundred
years old; 300 pounds of dates are annually yielded: so the
Christian grows happier and more useful as he becomes older.
Knowing his own faults more, he is more mellow to others: he is
like the sun setting, beautiful, mild, and large, looking like
Elim, where the wearied Jews found twelve wells and seventy palm
trees.—J. Long, in "Scripture Truth in Oriental
Dress", 1871.
Verse 12. Palm trees. The open country moreover
wears a sad aspect now: the soil is rent and dissolves into dust
at every breath of wind; the green of the meadows is almost
entirely gone,—the palm tree alone preserves in the
drought and heat its verdant root of leaves.—Gotthelf H.
von Schubert, 1780-1860.
Verse 12. A cedar in Lebanon. Laying aside
entirely any enquiry as to the palm tree, and laying aside the
difficulty contained in the Ps 92:13, I have only to compare
this description of the cedar in Lebanon with the accounts of
those who have visited them in modern days. Without believing
(as the Maronites or Christian inhabitants of the mountains do),
that the seven very ancient cedars which yet remain in the
neighbourhood of the village of Eden in Lebanon are the remains
of the identical forest which furnished Solomon with timber for
the Temple, full three thousand years ago, they can yet were be
proved to be of very great antiquity. These very cedars were
visited by Belonius in 1550, nearly three hundred years ago, who
found them twenty-eight in number. Rawolf, in 1575, makes them
twenty-four. Dandini, in 1600, and Thevenot about fifty years
after, make them twenty-three. Maundrell, in 1696, found them
reduced to sixteen. Pococke, in 1738, found fifteen standing,
and a sixteenth recently blown down, or (may we not conjecture?)
shivered by the voice of God. In 1810, Burckhardt counted eleven
or twelve; and Dr. Richardson, in 1818, states them to be no
more than seven. There cannot be a doubt, then, that these
cedars which were esteemed ancient nearly three hundred years
ago, must be of a very great antiquity; and yet they are
described by the last of these travellers as "large, and
tall, and beautiful, the most picturesque productions of the
vegetable world that we had seen." The oldest are large and
massy, rearing their heads to an enormous height, and spreading
their branches afar. Pococke also remarks, that "the young
cedars are not easily known from pines. I observed, they bear a greater
quantity of fruit than the large ones." This shows that
the old ones still bear fruit, though not so abundantly as the
young cedars, which, according to Richardson, are very
productive, and cast many seeds annually. How appropriate, then,
and full of meaning, is the imagery of the Psalmist: "The
righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like
a cedar in Lebanon. They shall still bring forth fruit in old
age; they shall be fat and flourishing."—R.M. Macheyne.
Verses 12-15. The life and greenness of the branches
in an honour to the root by which they live. Spiritual greenness
and fruitfulness is in a believer an honour to Jesus Christ who
is his life. The fulness of Christ is manifested by the
fruitfulness of a Christian.—Ralph Robinson.
Verse 13. Those that be planted in the house of the
Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God, are not
distinctive of some from others, as though some only of the
flourishing righteous were so planted; but they are descriptive
of them all, with an addition of the way and means whereby they
are caused so to grow and flourish. And this is their
implantation in the house of the Lord,—that is, in the church,
which is the seat of all the means of spiritual life, both as
unto growth and flourishing, which God is pleased to grant unto
believers. To be planted in the house of the Lord, is to be
fixed and rooted in the grace communicated by the ordinances of
divine worship. Unless we are planted in the house of the Lord,
we cannot flourish in his courts. See Ps 1:3. Unless we are
partakers of the grace administered in the ordinances, we cannot
flourish in a fruitful profession.—John Owen.
Verse 13. Those that be planted in, the house of
the Lord, etc. Saints are planted in the house of God; they
have a kind of rooting there: but though the tabernacle be a
good rooting place, yet we cannot root firmly there, unless we
are rooted in Jesus Christ. To root in tabernacle work, or in
the bare use of ordinances, as if that would carry it, and
commend us to God, when there is no heart work, when there is no
looking to the power of godliness, and to communion with Christ,
what is this but building upon the sand? Many come often to the
tabernacle, who are more strangers to Christ; they use pure
ordinances, but are themselves impure. These may have a great
name in the tabernacle for a while, but God blots their names,
and roots their hopes out of the tabernacle; yea, he puts them
from the horns of the altar, or slays them there, as Solomon
gave commandment concerning Joab.—Abraham Wright.
Verse 13. In the house of the Lord. As if in a
most select viridarium or as if in a park, abounding in trees
dedicated to God. And as in Ps 5:12 he had made mention of
Lebanon, where the cedars attain their highest perfection, so
now he tacitly opposes to Lebanon the house of God, or
church, wherein we bloom, grow, and bring forth fruit pleasing
to God.—Martin Geier.
Verse 14. They shall still bring forth fruit in,
old age. The point on which the Psalmist in this passage
fixes, as he contemplates the blessedness of God's own children,
is the beauty and happiness of their old age. The court or open
area in the centre of an eastern dwelling, and especially the
court of any great and stately dwelling, was often adorned with
a tree, or sometimes with more than one, for beauty, for shade,
and, as it might be, for fruit. There sometimes the palm tree,
planted by the cool fountain, shot up its tall trunk toward the
sky, and waved its green top, far above the roof, in the
sunlight and the breeze. There sometimes the olive, transplanted
from the rocky hill side, may have flourished under the
protection and culture of the household, and may have rewarded
their care with the rich abundance of its nutritious berries.
With such images in his mind, the Psalmist, having spoken of the
brief prosperity of the wicked, and having compared it with the
springing and flourishing of the grass, which grows to its
little height only to be immediately cut down, naturally and
beautifully compares the righteous, not with the deciduous
herbage, but with the hardy tree that lives on through the
summer's drought and the winter's storms, and from season to
season still renews its growth. These trees of righteousness, as
the poet conceives of them, are "planted in the house of
the Lord"; they stand fair and "flowering in the
courts of our God"—even "in old age they bring forth
fruit"—they are "full of sap and
flourishing"—they are living memorials "to show that
the Lord is faithful", and that those who trust in him
shall never be confounded.—Leonard Bacon, 1845.
Verse 14.—There be three things which constitute a
spiritual state, or belong to the life of God.
1. That believers be fat; that is, by the heavenly juice,
sap, or fatness of the true olive, of Christ himself, as Ro
11:17. This is the principle of spiritual life and grace derived
from him. When this abounds in them, so as to give them strength
and rigour in the exercise of grace, to keep them from decays
and withering, they are said to be fat; which, in the Scripture
phrase, is strong and healthy.
2. That they flourish in the greenness (as the word is) and
verdure of profession; for vigorous grace will produce a
flourishing profession.
3. That they still bring forth fruit in all duties of holy
obedience. All these are promised unto them even in old age.
Even trees, when they grow old (the palm and the cedar), are
apt to lose a part of their juice and verdure: and men in old
age are subject unto all sorts of decays, both outward and
inward. It is a rare thing to see a man in old age naturally
vigorous, healthy, and strong; and would it were not more rare
to see any spiritually so at the same season! But this is here
promised unto believers as an especial grace and privilege,
beyond what can be represented in the growth or fruit bearing of
plants and trees. The grace intended is, that when believers are
under all sorts of bodily and natural decays, and, it may be,
have been overtaken with spiritual decays also, there is
provision made in the covenant to render them fat, flourishing,
and fruitful,—vigorous in the power of internal grace, and
flourishing in the expression of it in all duties of obedience;
which is that which we now inquire after. Blessed be God for
this good word of his grace, that he hath given us such
encouragement against all the decays and temptations of old age
which we have to conflict withal! And the Psalmist, in the next
words, declares the greatness of the privilege: "To shew
that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in him." Consider the oppositions that lie
against the flourishing of believers in old age, the
difficulties of it, the temptations that must be conquered, the
acting of the mind above its natural abilities which are
decayed, the weariness that is apt to befall us in a long
spiritual conflict, the cries of the flesh to be spared, and we
shall see it to be an evidence of the faithfulness, power, and
righteousness of God in covenant; nothing else could produce
this mighty effect. So the prophet, treating of the same
promise, Ho 14:4-8, closes his discourse with that blessed
remark, Ho 14:9, "Who is wise, and he shall understand
these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of
the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them."
Spiritual wisdom will make us to see that the faithfulness and
power of God are exerted in this work of preserving believers
flourishing and fruitful unto the end.—John Owen.
Verse 14. Constancy is an ingredient in the obedience
Christ requires. His trees bring forth fruit in old age. Age
makes other things decay, but makes a Christian flourish. Some
are like hot horses, mettlesome at the beginning of a journey,
and tired a long time before they come to their journey's end. A
good disciple, as he would not have from God a temporary
happiness, so he would not give to God a temporary obedience; as
he would have his glory last as long as God lives, so he would
have his obedience last as long as he lives. Judas had a fair
beginning, but destroyed all in the end by betraying his
Master.—Stephen Charnook.
Verse 14. Flourishing. Here is not only mention
of growing but of flourishing, and here's flourishing
three times mentioned, and it is growing and flourishing not
only like a tree, but like a palm tree, (which
flourisheth under oppression), and like a cedar (not
growing in ordinary places, but) "in Lebanon",
where were the goodliest cedars. Nor doth the Spirit promise
here a flourishing in boughs and leaves only (as some trees do,
and do no more), but in fruit; and this not only fruit for once
in a year, or one year, but they still bring forth fruit,
and that not only in the years of their youth, or beginnings in
grace, but in old age, and that not only in the entrance
of that state which is called old age, threescore years,
but that which the Scripture calls the perfection of old age,
threescore years and ten, as the learned Hebrews observe upon
the word used in the psalm. What a divine climax doth the
Spirit of God make in this Scripture, to show that the godly man
as to his state, is so far from declining, that he is still
climbing higher and higher.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse 15. He is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in, him. Implying that God can no more be
moved or removed from doing righteously, than a rock can be
removed out of its place.—Joseph Caryl.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1.
1. It is a good thing to have cause for gratitude. Every one
has this.
2. It is a good thing to have the principle of gratitude.
This is the gift of God.
3. It is a good thing to give expression to gratitude. This
may excite gratitude in others.
—G.R.
Verses 1-3. The blessedness of praise,
Ps 92:1. The theme of praise,
Ps 92:2. The ingenuity of praise,
Ps 92:3. Inanimate nature enlisted in the holy work.
—C.A. Davis.
Verse 2.
1. Our praises of God should be intelligent, declaring
his varied attributes.
2. Seasonable, declaring each attribute in appropriate
time.
3. Continual, every night, and every day.
Verse 3.
1. All the powers of the soul shall be praise. "Upon an
instrument of ten strings", all the chords of the mind,
affections, will, etc.
2. All the utterances of the lips should be praise.
2. All the actions of the life should be praise.
Verse 3. In our praise of God there should be,
1. Preparation—for instruments should be tuned.
2. Breadth of thought—"upon an instrument of ten
strings."
3. Absorption of the whole nature—"ten
strings."
4. Variety—psaltery, harp, etc.
5. Deep reverence—"solemn sound."
Verse 4. (first sentence).
1. My state—"glad."
2. How I arrived at it—"thou hast made me glad."
3. What is the ground of it?—"through thy work."
4. What, then, shall I do?—ascribe it all to God, and bless
him for it.
Verse 4.
1. The most divine gladness—of God's creation, having God's
work for its argument.
2. The most divine triumph—caused by the varied works of
God in creation, providence, redemption, & c. The first is
for our own hearts, the second is for the convincing of those
around us.
Verse 5. The unscalable mountains and the fathomless
sea: or the divine works and the divine thoughts (God revealed
and hidden) equally beyond human apprehension.—C.A. Davis.
Verse 7. Great prosperity the frequent forerunner of
destruction to wicked men, for it leads them to provoke divine
wrath—
1. By hardness of heart, as Pharaoh.
2. By pride, as Nebuchadnezzar.
3. By haughty hatred of the saints, as Haman.
4. By carnal security, as the rich fool.
5. By self exaltation, as Herod.
Verses 7-10. Contrasts. Between the wicked and God, Ps
92:7-8. Between God's enemies and his friends, Ps 92:9-10.—C.A.
Davis.
Verses 7, 12-14. The wicked and the righteous
pourtrayed.—C.A. Davis.
Verse 10. (last clause). Christian
illumination, consecration, gladness, and graces, are all of
them the anointing of the Spirit.—William Garrett Lewis,
1872.
Verse 10. (last clause). The subject of David's
confidence was—
1. Very comprehensive, including renewed strength, fresh
tokens of favour, confirmation in office, qualification for it,
and new joys.
2. Well grounded, since it rested in God, and his promises.
3. Calming all fears.
4. Exciting hopes.
5. Causing pity for those who have no such confidence.
Verse 12.
1. The righteous flourish in all places. Palm in the valley,
cedar on the mountain.
2. In all seasons. Both trees are evergreen.
3. Under all circumstances. Palm in drought, cedar in storm
and frost.—G.R.
Verses 14-16.
1. Regeneration—"planted."
2. Growth in grace—"flourish."
3. Usefulness—"fruit."
4. Perseverance—"old age."
5. The reason of it all—"to shew that the Lord",
etc.
Verse 15-16. The reason and the pledge of final
perseverance.—C.A. Davis.