SUBJECT. As the fast Psalm sung the
praises of the Lord in connection with the proclamation of the
gospel among the Gentiles, so this appears to foreshadow the
mighty working of the Holy Ghost in subduing the colossal
systems of error, and casting down the idol gods. Across the sea
to maritime regions a voice cries for rejoicing at the reign of
Jesus (Ps 97:1), the sacred fire descends (Ps 97:3), like
lightning the gospel flames forth (Ps 97:4), difficulties vanish
(Ps 97:5), and all the nations see the glory of God (Ps 97:6).
The idols are confounded (Ps 97:7), the church rejoices (Ps
98:8), the Lord is exalted (Ps 98:9). The Psalm closes with an
exhortation to holy steadfastness under the persecution which
would follow, and bids the saints rejoice that their path is
bright, and their reward glorious and certain. Modern critics,
always intent upon ascribing the psalms to anybody rather than
to David, count themselves successful in dating this song
further on than the captivity, because it contains passages
similar to those which occur in the later prophets; but we
venture to assert theft it is quite as probable that the
prophets adopted the language of David as that some unknown
writer borrowed from them. One psalm in this series is said to
be "in David", and we believe that the rest are in the
same place, and by the same author. The matter is not important,
and we only mention it because it seems to be the pride of
certain critics to set up new theories; and there are readers
who imagine this to be a sure proof of prodigious learning. We
do not believe that their theories are worth the paper they are
written upon.
DIVISION. The psalm divides itself
into four portions, each containing three verses. The coming of
the Lord is described (Ps 97:1-3); its effect upon the earth is
declared (Ps 97:4-6); and then its influence upon the heathen
and the people of God (Ps 97:7-9). The last part contains both
exhortation and encouragement, urging to holiness and
inculcating happiness (Ps 97:10-12).
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. The Lord reigneth. This is the
watchword of the psalm—Jehovah reigns. It is also the essence
of the gospel proclamation, and the foundation of the gospel
kingdom. Jesus has come, and all power is given unto him in
heaven and in earth, therefore men are bidden to yield him their
obedient faith. Saints draw comfort from these words, and only
rebels cavil at them. Let the earth rejoice, for there is cause
for joy. Other reigns have produced injustice, oppression,
bloodshed, terror; the reign of the infinitely gracious Jehovah
is the hope of mankind, and when they all yield to it the race
will have its paradise restored. The very globe itself may well
be glad that its Maker and liege Lord has come to his own, and
the whole race of man may also be glad, since to every willing
subject Jesus brings untold blessings. Let the multitude of
isles be glad thereof. To the ancient Israelites all places
beyond the seas were isles, and the phrase is equivalent to all
lands which are reached by ships. It is remarkable, however,
that upon actual islands some of the greatest victories of the
Cross have been achieved. Our own favoured land is a case in
point, and not less so the islands of Polynesia and the kingdom
of Madagascar. Islands are very numerous; may they all become
Holy Islands, and Isles of Saints, then will they all be
Fortunate Islands, and true Formosas. Many a land owes its peace
to the sea; if it had not been isolated it would have been
desolated, and therefore the inhabitants should praise the Lord
who has moated them about, and given them a defence more
available than bars of brass. Jesus deserves to be Lord of the
Isles, and to have his praises sounded along every sea beaten
shore. Amen, so let it be.
Verse 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him.
So the Lord revealed himself at Sinai, so must he ever surround
his essential Deity when he shows himself to the sons of men, or
his excessive glory would destroy them. Every revelation of God
must also be an obvelation; there must be a veiling of his
infinite splendour if anything is to be seen by finite beings.
It is often thus with the Lord in providence; when working out
designs of unmingled love he conceals the purpose of his grace
that it may be the more clearly discovered at the end. "It
is the glory of God to conceal a thing." Around the history
of his church dark clouds of persecution hover, and an awful
gloom at times settles down, still the Lord is there; and though
men for a while see not the bright light in the clouds, it
bursts forth in due season to the confusion of the adversaries
of the gospel. This passage should teach us the impertinence of
attempting to pry into the essence of the Godhead, the vanity of
all endeavours to understand the mystery of the Trinity in
Unity, the arrogance of arraigning the Most High before the bar
of human reason, the folly of dictating to the Eternal One the
manner in which he should proceed. Wisdom veils her face and
adores the mercy which conceals the divine purpose; folly rushes
in and perishes, blinded first, and by and by consumed by the
blaze of glory. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of
his throne. There he abides, he never departs from strict
justice and right: his throne is fixed upon the rock of eternal
holiness. Righteousness is His immutable attribute, and judgment
marks his every act. What though we cannot see or understand
what he doeth, yet we are sure that he will do no wrong to us or
any of his creatures. Is not this enough to make us rejoice in
him and adore him? Divine sovereignty is never tyrannical.
Jehovah is an autocrat, but not a despot. Absolute power is safe
in the hands of him who cannot err, or act unrighteously. When
the roll of the decrees, and the books of the divine providence
shall be opened, no eye shall there discern one word that should
be blotted out, one syllable of error, one line of injustice,
one letter of unholiness. Of none but the Lord of all can this
be said.
Verse 3. A fire goeth before him. Like an
advance guard clearing the way. So was it at Sinai, so must it
be: the very Being of God is power, consuming all opposition;
omnipotence is a devouring flame which burneth up his enemies
round about. God is longsuffering, but when he comes forth to
judgment he will make short work with the unrighteous, they will
be as chaff before the flame. Reading this verse in reference to
the coming of Jesus, and the descent of the Spirit, we are
reminded of the tongues of fire, and of the power which attended
the gospel, so that all opposition was speedily overcome. Even
now where the gospel is preached in faith, and in the power of
the Spirit, it burns its own way, irresistibly destroying
falsehood, superstition, unbelief, sin, indifference, and
hardness of heart. In it the Lord reigneth, and because of it
let the earth rejoice.
Verse 4. His lightnings enlightened the world.
In times of tempest the whole of nature is lighted up with a
lurid glare, even the light of the sun itself seems dim compared
with the blaze of lightning. If such are the common lights of
nature what must be the glories of the Godhead itself? When God
draws aside the curtain for a moment how astonished are the
nations, the light compels them to cover their eyes and bow
their heads in solemn awe. Jesus in the gospel lights up the
earth with such a blaze of truth and grace as was never seen or
even imagined before. In apostolic times the word flashed from
one end of the heavens to the other, no part of the civilised
globe was left unilluminated. The earth saw, and trembled. In
God's presence the solid earth quakes, astonished by his glory
it is convulsed with fear. To the advent of our Lord and the
setting up of his kingdom among men these words are also most
applicable; nothing ever caused such a shaking and commotion as
the proclamation of the gospel, nothing was more majestic than
its course, it turned the world upside down, levelled the
mountains, and filled up the valleys. Jesus came, he saw, he
conquered. When the Holy Ghost rested upon his servants their
course was like that of a mighty storm, the truth flashed with
the force and speed of a thunderbolt, and philosophers and
priests, princes and people were utterly confounded, and
altogether powerless to withstand it. It shall be so again.
Faith even now sets the world on fire and rocks the nations to
and fro.
Verse 5. The hills melted like wax at the presence
of the LORD. Inanimate nature knows its Creator, and
worships him in its own fashion. States and kingdoms which stand
out upon the world like mountains are utterly dissolved when he
decrees their end. Systems as ancient and firmly rooted as the
hills pass away when he does but look upon them. In the
Pentecostal era, and its subsequent age, this was seen on all
hands, heathenism yielded at the glance of Jehovah Jesus, and
the tyrannies based upon it dissolved like melted wax. At the
presence of the Lord of the whole earth. His dominion is
universal, and his power is everywhere felt. Men cannot move the
hills, with difficulty do they climb them, with incredible toil
do they pierce their way through their fastnesses, but it is not
so with the Lord, his presence makes a clear pathway, obstacles
disappear, a highway is made, and that not by his hand as though
it cost him pains, but by his mere presence, for power goes
forth from him with a word or a glance. O for the presence of
the Lord after this sort with his church at this hour! It is our
one and only need. With it the mountains of difficulty would
flee away, and all obstacles would disappear. O that thou
wouldest rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains
might flow down at thy presence, O Lord. In the little world of
our nature the presence of Jesus in reigning power is as a fire
to consume our lusts and melt our souls to obedience. Sometimes
we doubt the presence of the Lord within, for he is concealed
with clouds, but we are again assured that he is within us when
his light shines in and fills us with holy fear, while at the
same time the warmth of grace softens us to penitence,
resignation and obedience, even as wax becomes soft in the
presence of fire.
Verse 6. The heavens declare his righteousness.
It is as conspicuous as if written across the skies, both the
celestial and the terrestrial globes shine in its light. It is
the manner of the inspired poets to picture the whole creation
as in sympathy with the glory of God, and indeed it is not mere
poetry, for a great truth underlies it, the whole creation has
been made to groan through man's sin, and it is yet to share in
the joy of his restoration. And all the people see his glory.
The glorious gospel became so well known and widely promulgated,
that it seemed to be proclaimed by every star, and published by
the very skies themselves, therefore all races of men became
acquainted with it, and were made to see the exceeding glory of
the grace of God which is resplendent therein. May it come to
pass ere long that, by a revival of the old missionary ardour,
the glad tidings may yet be carried to every tribe of Adam's
race, and once again all flesh may see the glory of Jehovah. It
must be so, therefore let us rejoice before the Lord.
Verse 7. Confounded be all they that serve graven
images, that boast themselves of idols. They shall be so;
shame shall cover their faces, they shall blush to think of
their former besotted boastings. When a man gravely worships
what has been engraved by a man's hand, and puts his trust in a
mere nothing and nonentity, he is indeed brutish, and when he is
converted from such absurdity, he may well be ashamed. A man who
worships an image is but the image of a man, his senses must
have left him. He who boasts of an idol makes an idle boast.
Worship him, all ye gods. Bow down yourselves, ye fancied gods.
Let Jove do homage to Jehovah, let Thor lay down his hammer at
the foot of the cross, and Juggernaut remove his blood stained
car out of the road of Immanuel. If the false gods are thus
bidden to worship the coming Lord, how much more shall they
adore him who are godlike creatures in heaven, even the angelic
spirits? Paul quotes this passage as the voice of God to angels
when he sent his Son into the world. All powers are bound to
recognise the chief power; since they derive their only rightful
authority from the Lord, they should be careful to acknowledge
his superiority at all times by the most reverent adoration.
Verse 8. Zion heard, and was glad. While the
heathen are confounded the people of God are made to triumph,
for they love to see their God exalted. The day shall come when
the literal Zion, so long forsaken, shall joy in the common
salvation. It did so at the first when the apostles dwelt at
Jerusalem, and the good days will come back again. And the
daughters of Judah rejoiced. Each individual believer is glad
when he sees false systems broken up and idol gods broken down;
the judgments of the Lord afford unalloyed delight to those who
worship the true God in spirit and in truth. In the first ages
of Christianity the believing Israel rejoiced to see Christ's
kingdom victorious among the heathen, and even yet, though for a
while turning aside, the daughters of Judah will sympathise in
the wide spread reign of Jehovah their God, through the gospel
of his dear Son. As the women of Judah went forth to meet David
in the dance, singing his victory over the Philistine, so shall
they chant the triumphs of David's son and Lord.
Verse 9. For thou, Lord, art high above all the
earth. And therefore do we rejoice to see the idols
abolished and to see all mankind bending at thy throne. There is
but one God, there cannot be another, and he is and ever must be
over all. Thou art exalted far above all gods. As much as ALL is
exalted above nothing, and perfection above folly. Jehovah is
not alone high over Judea, but over all the earth, nor is he
exalted over men only, but over everything that can be called
god: the days are on their way when all men shall discern this
truth, and shall render unto the Lord the glory which is due
alone to him.
Verse 10. Ye that love the Lord, hate evil. For
He hates it, his fire consumes it, his lightnings blast it, his
presence shakes it out of its place, and his glory confounds all
the lovers of it. We cannot love God without hating that which
he hates. We are not only to avoid evil, and to refuse to
countenance it, but we must be in arms against it, and bear
towards it a hearty indignation. He preserveth the souls of his
saints. Therefore they need not be afraid of proclaiming war
with the party which favours sin. The saints are the safe ones:
they have been saved and shall be saved. God keeps those who
keep his law. Those who love the Lord shall see his love
manifested to them in their preservation from their enemies, and
as they keep far from evil so shall evil be kept far from them.
He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. It is not
consistent with the glory of his name to give over to the power
of his foes those whom his grace has made his friends. He may
leave the bodies of his persecuted saints in the hand of the
wicked, but not their souls, these are very dear to him, and he
preserves them safe in his bosom. This foretells for the church
a season of battling with the powers of darkness, but the Lord
will preserve it and bring it forth to the light.
Verse 11. Light is sown for the righteous. All
along their pathway it is strewn. Their night is almost over,
their day is coming, the morning already advancing with rosy
steps is sowing the earth with orient pearls. The full harvest
of delight is not yet ours, but it is sown for us; it is
springing, it will yet appear in fulness. This is only for those
who are light before the Lord in his own righteousness, for all
others the blackness of darkness is reserved. And gladness for
the upright in heart. Gladness is not only for one righteous man
in the singular, but for the whole company of the upright, even
as the apostle, after speaking of the crown of life laid up for
himself, immediately amended his speech by adding, "and not
for me only, but also for all them that love his
appearing." The upright ought to be glad, they have cause
to be glad, yea and they shall be glad. Those who are right
hearted shall also be glad hearted. Right leads to light. In the
furrows of integrity lie the seeds of happiness, which shall
develop into a harvest of bliss. God has lightning for sinners
and light for saints. The gospel of Jesus, wherever it goes,
sows the whole earth with joy for believers, for these are the
men who are righteous before the Lord.
Verse 12. Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous.
The psalmist had bidden the earth rejoice, and here he turns to
the excellent of the earth and bids them lead the song. If all
others fail to praise the Lord, the godly must not. To them God
is peculiarly revealed, by them he should be specially adored.
And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness—which is
the harmony of all his attributes, the superlative wholeness of
his character. This is a terror to the wicked, and a cause of
thankfulness to the gracious. To remember that Jehovah is holy
is becoming in those who dwell in his courts, to give thanks in
consequence of that remembrance is the sure index of their
fitness to abide in his presence. In reference to the triumphs
of the gospel, this text teaches us to rejoice greatly in its
purifying effect; it is the death of sin and the life of virtue.
An unholy gospel is no gospel. The holiness of the religion of
Jesus is its glory, it is that which makes it glad tidings,
since while man is left in his sins no bliss can be his portion.
Salvation from sin is the priceless gift of our thrice holy God,
therefore let us magnify him for ever and ever. He will fill the
world with holiness, and so with happiness, therefore let us
glory in his holy name, world without end. Amen.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. The two preceding psalms are songs of joy
and thanksgiving, in which the gladness of Christ's people is
poured forth as they go to meet their triumphant Lord at his
second advent, and to bring him back in glory to assume his
kingdom. The present psalm, in language sufficiently explicit,
describes the completion of this great event, "the Lord
reigneth"; Messiah is on his throne, and now the words of
Ps 2:6, are fulfilled, "I have set my king upon my holy
hill of Sion." Messiah's first act of sovereignty is
judgment. Scriptures bearing upon that event are 2Th 1:7 Jude
1:14 Isa 66:15. The character of these judgments is given in the
psalm: clouds and darkness encircling his throne, where,
however, righteousness and mercy dwell; a fire which burns up
his enemies round about; lightnings flashing upon the world, the
earth trembling, and the hills melting like wax at the presence
of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
Peter, in his second Epistle, and third chapter, evidently
refers to these events as yet future in his day.—R.H.
Ryland.
Verse 1. The LORD reigneth. Here's good news,
glad tidings: "The Lord reigneth." It cannot be
published without praise, without rejoicing,
without singing, without blessing. We should
dishonour this truth if we did not publish it; if we should with
silence suppress it; if we should not speak well of it. It is so
sweet and comfortable, that it fills the whole world with joy;
and calls on every ear, and every tongue, and every heart, to be
glad, to rejoice, and to praise God. Let the earth rejoice; let
the multitude of isles be glad. As though he should say, Let
nothing fear but hell: let nothing be disquieted but devils. Let
the lowest, the poorest of the people of God,
though but earth, yet let them rejoice in this, "The
LORD reigneth"...
Here are two things of very sweet consideration, 1. The reign
of the Lord; and, 2. The reign of the Lord in the
saints.
First, This kingdom that God is now setting up is his
everlasting kingdom. It will not be administered by the weakness
of man, but by the power of God; not by the folly of man, but by
the judgment of God. God will, in this kingdom, nakedly manifest
his own righteousness, his own compassion and pity; his own
love, his own peace: he will do all things immediately by his
own self. And therefore all the pride and ambition, all the
oppression and tyranny, and miscarriages that have been in the
government of men, shall be wholly taken away. Pure
righteousness and judgment and equity shall be infallibly
dispensed; and infinite power, strength, holiness, goodness, and
authority shall shine forth nakedly in the face of God; and that
shall be the judge of all men. We shall no longer be abused and
oppressed by the will of men, by the lusts of men. The poor
people shall no longer groan under the burden of men's lusts,
nor sweat for the pleasure and contents of men; nor their faces
any longer be ground by the hardness of the spirit of men; but
they shall be under the protection of God. The great cry now of
the people is, "Let's have a King!" Ye shall have one,
one that will "reign in righteousness", the LORD
himself.
Secondly, And this reign of the LORD shall be in
his saints; according to that in Da 7:27. "And the
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the
whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the
Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all
dominions shall serve and obey him." As this kingdom shall
be administered in the glory of God; so also in the sweetness
and gentleness of man, by brethren, by friends, by the saints of
the Most High. God lifting up himself in the saints will
administer this reign; and as he will do it by the saints, so he
will do it by the softness and tenderness of the saints;
"The kingdom and dominion under the whole earth shall be
given to the people of the saints of the Most High." It's
now doing; that ye shall obey none but the Lord; ye shall know
no other laws but the law of God; ye shall know no other master
but Jehovah. He hath made us priests and kings, and we shall
reign with him on the earth. This nature of ours, this body of
ours, shall reign with Christ, with God, and that upon earth.
The Lord reigns. The Lord hath served, hath been hitherto
much, yea, mostly, "in the form of a servant." It hath
been, as it were, the business of the Lord, whilst this world
stood, to give supplies to men; to serve men; to give men
strength, and wisdom, and riches, and authority, and power; that
men might be great and happy, with the goodness of God: and (in
this) God hath been King too, but in an under way; as
saith the Lord, "I have served with your sins" and
lusts: now he will no longer serve, but reign; God
will take all the power and authority into his own hands. He
will not be any longer under men, but above all men. It's time
He should be so; it's reason He should be so; it's just He
should be so. Everything now must bow, stoop, and submit to the
law, and rule, and will of God. No man shall any longer say, it
shall be so, because it is my will to have it so: there shall
not be found an heart, or tongue, that shall move against the
dominion of the Lord.
Satan hath been a prince; he hath made laws of your captivity
and misery; he hath kept you to his task, to do him service. He
hath said, Be angry, and then you have been full of rage.
He hath said, Be covetous, and then you have been full of
covetousness. He hath said, Be dark, and then you have
been full of blindness. He hath said, Be proud, and then
ye have been full of haughtiness. And so he hath, as a monstrous
tyrant, tormented the world. The sting of Satan's whips is in
your consciences, I know. Your errors and mistakes have been
through the kingdom of darkness in you, that you do not know
God, or his holy hill. You would come into the enjoyment of God;
Satan will not let you: you would know God; he will not suffer
you: you would be wise unto salvation; he will not permit you.
He hath fettered you with his chains of darkness; he hath
captivated your judgments; he hath made you to grind at his mill
and to drudge in his service; and hath made you to cry out,
"O when will the Lord come!" But now his wicked reign
is at an end: what ye had, ye shall want, and what ye want, ye
shall have; what hath been shall not be; that which shall be,
must be, and cannot choose but be: ye shall have love, because
the law of God is love; and ye shall have peace, because the
kingdom of God is peace; and ye shall have light, because the
inheritance is marvellous light; ye shall have righteousness,
because this state is true holiness; ye shall have liberty,
settledness, stability, and every good thing in this kingdom of
God. It's always ill with us while Satan reigns. It's always
well with us while God reigns; when our Husband is King we shall
have preferment, and honour, and riches, and greatness, and
power, and authority, because our God reigns. "The Lord
reigns", for us; the Lord takes his kingdom, and it is
for us: the Lord hath reigned in himself all this while; now he
reigns by us: the Lord counts himself not to have a kingdom,
till we have it with him: the Lord thinks himself mean and
despised, till we are exalted. He is poor without us. He is
weak, while absent from us. He is not himself unless he enjoys
us. "Thou art my excellency, my firstborn." The power
of God is in weakness, till we become mighty. The kingdom of God
is in darkness, till we shine forth. The treasures of God were
of no worth to him, if we were not his richest jewels.
The Lord doth reign. This is not to be passed by; it's in the
present tense. This is the song that we hear and see angels
sing. The elders and saints in heaven sing it perpetually; we
daily hear it. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, the Lord reigneth! There
is administered into our hearts and ears an hallelujah; the Lord
reigneth; indeed every creature speaks it, all in heaven and
earth. "THE LORD doth reign", and saith,
"I am upon my throne. I am great; none is great but myself.
I am King; I have the sceptre in my hand. I am powerful; none is
powerful but I." All the power of men is broken. All the
thrones of men are shattered into dust. All the wisdom of men is
turned into folly. All the strength of men s melted into
weakness and water. The melting and mouldering away of the
powers and dignities of the world, speak it aloud, The
LORD reigns.—William Sedgwick, in "Some Flashes
of Lightnings of the Son of Man," 1648.
Verse 1. The LORD reigneth. He who stood before
the judge, he who received the blows, he who was scourged, he
who was spit upon, he who was crowned with thorns, he who was
struck with fists, he who hung upon the cross, he who as he hung
upon the wood was mocked, he who died upon the cross, he who was
pierced with the spear, he who was buried, himself arose from
the dead. "The Lord reigneth." Let kingdoms
rage as much as they can; what can they do to the King of
kingdoms, the Lord of all kings, the Creator of all worlds?—Augustine.
Verse 1. The LORD reigneth. I am glad that
Christ is Lord of all, for otherwise I should utterly have been
out of hope, saith Miconius in an epistle to Calvin,
upon a view of the church's enemies.—John Trapp.
Verse 1. The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice.
Consider the divine government in various views, as legislative,
providential, mediatorial, and judicial, and in each of these
views the divine government is matter of universal joy.
1. The Lord reigneth upon a throne of legislation,
"let the earth rejoice." He is the one supreme law
giver and is perfectly qualified for that important trust.
Nothing tends more to the advantage of civil society than to
have good laws established, according to which mankind are to
conduct themselves, and according to which their rulers will
deal with them. Now the supreme and universal King has enacted
and published the best laws for the government of the moral
world, and of the human race in particular. Let the earth then
rejoice that God has clearly revealed his will to us and not
left us in inextricable perplexities about our duty to him and
mankind... Again, "Let the earth rejoice" that these
laws are suitably enforced with proper sanctions. The sanctions
are such as become a God of infinite wisdom, almighty power,
inexorable justice, untainted holiness, and unbounded goodness
and grace, and such as are agreeable to the nature of reasonable
creatures formed for an immortal duration. Let the earth rejoice
that the divine laws reach the inner man, and have power upon
the hearts and consciences of men. Human laws can only smooth
our external conduct at best, but the heart in the mean time may
be disloyal and wicked. Now this defect is supplied by the laws
of the King of Heaven, which are spiritual. They require a
complete uniformity and self consistency in us that heart and
life may agree, and therefore they are wisely framed to make us
entirely good.
2. The Lord reigneth by his providence, "let the
earth rejoice." The providence of God is well described in
our shorter catechism, "It is his most holy, wise, and
powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all
their actions." "The Lord reigneth" over the
kingdoms of the earth, and manages all their affairs according
to his sovereign and wise pleasure, and he doth the same for his
church. He can reduce confusion into order, make the wrath of
man to praise him, and restrain the remainder of it.
3. "The Lord reigneth" upon a throne of grace!
"let the earth rejoice." It is the mediatorial
government of the Messiah which the Psalmist had more
immediately in view, and this is the principal cause of joy to
the earth and its guilty inhabitants.
4. And, lastly, the Lord will reign ere long upon a throne
of universal judgment conspicuous to the assembled universe,
"let the earth therefore rejoice, and the multitude of the
isles be glad."—Condensed from a Sermon by Samuel
Davies, 1724-1761.
Verse 1. Let the earth rejoice. The earth is
called upon to rejoice because the Lord reigneth; and well it
may, on the day of its enlargement and final emancipation from
evil, which seems to be here set forth—a day of judgment, and
so also a day of terror and destruction to the enemies of God
and goodness—a day when at his presence "the elements
shall melt with fervent heat"; but his own righteousness
and glory shall be manifested in the sight of all people. Then
will the worldly, who serve idols in loving the creature more
than the Creator, be confounded and overthrown; but then, too,
will the righteous lift up their heads and rejoice because of
God's judgments.—Thomas Chalmers.
Verse 1. The multitude of the isles. In Poole's
Synopsis we find from the various interpretations of different
authors that the word may mean maritime regions, places beyond
sea usually reached in ships, and all countries bordering on the
ocean.—C.H.S.
Verse 1. The isles. Figuratively the isles may
be taken for all the churches. Why isles? because the waves of
all temptations roar around them. But as an isle may be beaten
by the waves which on every side dash around it, yet cannot be
broken, and rather itself doth break the advancing waves, than
by them is broken: so also the churches of God, springing up
throughout the world, have suffered the persecutions of the
ungodly, who roar around them on every side; and behold the
isles stand fixed, and at last the sea is calmed.—Augustine.
Verse 1. When Bulstrode Whitelock was embarked as
Cromwell's envoy to Sweden, in 1653, he was much disturbed in
mind, as he rested at Harwich the preceding night, which was
very stormy, as he thought upon the distracted state of the
nation. It happened that a confidential servant slept in an
adjacent bed, who, finding that his master could not sleep, at
length said:
"Pray, sir, will you give me leave to ask you a
question?"
"Certainly."
"Pray, sir, do you think God governed the world very
well before you came into it?"
"Undoubtedly."
"And pray, sir, do you think that He will govern it
quite as well when you are gone out of it?"
"Certainly."
"Then pray, sir, excuse me, but do not you think you may
trust him to govern it quite as well as long as you live?"
To this question Whitelock had nothing to reply; but turning
about, soon fell fast asleep, till he was summoned to embark.—G.S.
Bowes, in "Illustrative Gatherings." 1862.
Verse 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him.
The figurative language in the poetical parts of the Old
Testament is frequently taken from the historical books, and
refers to the facts therein recorded: thus the appearances of
God to the saints and patriarchs in old times is the origin of
the figure in our text. If you look at the history of these
appearances, you will find they were all accompanied with clouds
and darkness. The cloud of the Lord went before the children of
Israel when they departed from the land of bondage. This cloud
had a dark and bright side, and was a symbol of the divine
presence. Thus it preceded the people in all their marches, as a
pillar of fire by night, and of a cloud by day. When Solomon
dedicated the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the house,
and the priest could not enter into the house of the Lord,
because the glory of the Lord filled the house. When God
descended upon Mount Sinai, "there were thunders and
lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of
the trumpet exceeding loud. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a
smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke
thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount
quaked greatly. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, upon
the top of the mount" (Ex 19:16,18,20). When our Saviour
was transfigured before three of his disciples, "a bright
cloud overshadowed them", from which proceeded the voice of
the Father, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased; hear ye him." And Peter, who was present
there, afterwards referring to the fact, says that the voice
proceeded "from the excellent glory." Thus, in all the
symbols of the divine presence, there was a mixture of splendour
with darkness and obscurity. So it is in the operations of
Providence: in a moral and figurative sense, we may say that
clouds and darkness surround all the operations of divine power
and wisdom. Clouds are emblems of obscurity; darkness, of
distress. The works of God's providence are often obscure and
productive of distress to mankind, though righteousness and
judgment are the habitation of his throne.—Robert Hall.
Verse 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him.
God doth govern the world mysteriously. As there are mysteries
in the word, so in the works of God; dusnohta, "things hard
to be understood", (2Pe 3:16), many riddles which nonplus
and puzzle men of the largest and most piercing intellectuals:
"Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward,
but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he doth work,
but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand,
that I cannot see him: but he knoweth the way that I take."
Job 23:8-10. God knoweth our ways, and counteth our steps; but
the wisest of men do not know all God's ways. His way is
frequently in the sea, and his chariots in the clouds; so that
he is invisible, not only in his essence, but also in the design
and tendence of his operations. Those that behold him with an
eye of faith, do not yet see him with an eye of understanding,
so as to discern his way, and whither he is going. Paul assures
us, "His judgments are unsearchable, and his ways past
finding out." Ro 11:33. Some of them, indeed, are obvious,
plain, and easy; we may upon the first view give a satisfactory
account of them; we may read righteousness, equity, mercy,
goodness, love, in them, because written in capital letters, and
with such beams of light as he that runs may read them. But
others of God's ways are dark and obscure, so that they are out
of our reach and above our sight. He that goes about in them to
trace God, may quickly lose himself. They are like that hand
writing upon the wall, which none of Belshazzar's wise men could
read or give the interpretation of (Da 5:8). There are arcana
imperii, "secrets of state and government", which
are not fit to be made common. But this may be our
comfort:—though God doth not now give any account of his
matters, nor is he obliged thereunto, yet he can give a very
good and satisfactory account; and one day his people shall be
led into the mystery; and, though many things which God doeth
they know not now, yet they shall know them afterward; and when
they know, they shall approve and admire both the things, and
the reason, and the end. They shall then be perfectly reconciled
to all providence, and see that all were worthy of God, and that
in all he acted yeoprepwv, "as did highly become
himself."—Samuel Slater (1704) in "The Morning
Exercises."
Verse 2. How despicable soever Christ's kingdom may
seem to the world, yet it is full of heavenly majesty: clouds
and darkness are round about him. The glory of Christ's
kingdom is unsearchable, and hid from the eyes of the world, who
cannot take up the things of God, except he reveal himself to
them, and do open the eyes of the understanding: "clouds
and darkness are round about him."—David Dickson.
Verse 2. Darkness. This and the four following
verses have a striking resemblance to the awful pomp of the
march of God, as described Ps 18:8-9 Ps 68:8. All the dread
phenomena and meteoric array of nature are in attendance;
thunder and lightning, and earthquakes and volcanoes, with
streams of melting lava, like streams of melting wax. Yet all is
justice and equity, joy, exultation, and glory; and the wicked
alone—the adversaries of Jehovah—feel his judgments—the
host of idols and their brutish worshippers.—John Mason
Good.
Verse 2. Righteousness and judgment. Righteousness
is the essential perfection of the Divine Being. It is his
nature: if there had been no creatures for him to govern, he
would have had an unchangeable and invincible love of rectitude.
Judgment is the application of the principle of
righteousness in his government of his creatures and their
actions; it is a development of his rectitude in the management
of the affairs of his great empire; it is that super intendance
over all, whereby the operations of all things are directed, to
some vast and important end. Judgment implies measure and
equity, in opposition to what is done without rule and
consideration. All the divine conduct is equitable, regulated by
rectitude, and everything is directed by a judgment that cannot
err.—Robert Hall.
Verse 2. Righteousness and judgment, etc. When
the mercy and grace of our heavenly King are to be described, he
is likened to the sun shining in a clear firmament, and
gladdening universal nature with his beneficent ray. But when we
are to conceive an idea of him, as going forth, in justice and
judgment, to discomfit and punish his adversaries, the imagery
is then borrowed from a troubled sky; he is pictured as
surrounded by clouds and darkness; from whence issue lightnings
and thunders, storms and tempests, fear and confounding the
wicked and the impenitent.—Samuel Burder.
Verse 2. The Lord manages his kingdom and government
with perfect equity. Righteousness and judgment are the
habitation of his throne. Righteousness, whereby he
preserves, saves, and rewards the good; judgment, whereby
he punishes, confounds, and destroys the wicked: these are the
habitation of his throne, his tribunal, his seat of
judicature. These are the basis or foundation, which give unto
his throne rectitudinem et stabilitatem, "rectitude
and establishment." His throne is established in
righteousness, and "the sceptre of his kingdom is a right
sceptre:" though there be clouds, yet no blemishes; though
darkness, yet no deformities: Ps 92:15. Ever since the creation,
all things have been done with that unreproveable exactness,
that if the world were to begin again, and the affairs of it to
be acted over again, there should not be an alteration in a
tittle. All hath been so well, that nothing can be mended. Those
dark and obscure passages of Providence, at which good men are
startled, and by which all men are posed, are most excellent and
curious strokes, and as so many well placed shades, which
commend the work and admirably set off the beauty of
Providence.—Samuel Slater.
Verse 2.
Jove's firm decree, tho' wrapped in night,
Beams midst the gloom a constant light;
Man's fate obscure in darkness lies,
Not to be pierced by mortal eyes:
The just resolves of his high mind
A glorious consummation find;
Though in majestic state enthroned
Thick clouds and dark enclose him round,
As from the tower of heaven his eye
Surveys man's bold impiety;
Till his ripe wrath on vengeance bent,
He arms each god for punishment,
And from his high and holy throne
Sends all his awful judgments down.
—Aeschylus (R. Potter's translation, 1808.)
Verse 3. A fire goeth before him. Like a
marshall or advance guard before a royal presence, or as the
javelin men who precede a judge. Fire is the sign both of grace
and wrath (Ex 3:2 Ps 18:9.) Majesty marches forth in both
displays of Deity.—C.H.S. from Poli Synopsis.
Verse 3. A fire goeth before him. That fire
which Christ came to send upon the earth, the kindling blaze of
the Holy Ghost, which came down in tongues of fire at Pentecost,
to burn freely throughout the world, for the destruction of
obstinate unbelievers, and the purifying of those who gladly
received the Word. And of this the prophet spake, saying,
"I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell
carelessly its the isles: and they shall know that I am the
LORD." (Eze 39:6.) This divine flame goes still before the
face of the Lord in his coming to every faithful soul, as it
kindles with longing for him, and burns up all its sins
therewith, as he heaps his coals of fire upon its head, to
soften and purify it. "It must needs be", teaches a
great saint, (S. Bernard.) "that the fervour of holy desire
must go before his face to every soul to which he means to come,
a flame which will burn up all the mildew of sin, and make ready
a place for the Lord. And then the soul knows that the Lord is
at hand, when it feels itself kindled with that fire, and it
saith with the prophet, `My heart was hot within me; then spake
I with my tongue.'"(Ps 39:3).—Augustine, and others,
quoted by Neale and Littledale.
Verse 3. A fire goeth before him. There is no
less, but rather more wrath attending the despisers of the
Gospel, than did attend the giving out of the law. Heb 12:29.—David
Dickson.
Verse 4. His lightnings enlightened the world.
This passage is applied by Munster to the rapid increase of the
kingdom of Christ: for the sound of the Gospel sped through all
the world like lightning. There is a prediction almost to this
effect in Zec 9:14: "His arrow shall go forth as the
lightning, and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet."—Martin
Geier.
Verse 4. The earth saw and trembled. The bare
sight of thee caused the earth to tremble (Ps 77:16).—A.R.
Faussett.
Verse 5. The hills melted like wax at the presence
of the LORD. For a parallel passage see Mic 1:4. There the
words are applied to the judgment of God about to fall on the
people of the covenant: here they are applied to the judgment on
the God opposing world. The fact that judgment has begun at the
house of God is a token that judgments of a far more destructive
kind will overtake the (openly) ungodly and sinners (1Pe 4:7). "The
hills" symbolize the heights or man's self exalting
pride of intellect, wealth, and power.—A.R. Faussett.
Verse 5. The Lord of the whole earth. In this
title lies concealed the reason for the liquefaction of the
hills, for the God who here manifests himself is he who created
the earth, and is able therefore to reduce it to nothing.—Martin
Geier.
Verse 6. The heavens declare, etc. He does not
say, the heavens exercise, but they declare his righteousness.
To the eyes of the wicked the righteousness of God is hidden,
until it is made manifest by an astonishing miracle.
"The heavens." This phrase is not, God
declares, but the heavens declare his righteousness. The
creature is the servant and revealer of the righteousness of
God.
"His righteousness." He says not, the heavens
declare our righteousness, but his righteousness.
They testify that God is the righteous judge, rather than that
the saints themselves are righteous.
"All the people." Not only do the wicked, those
oppressive monsters, see, but "all the people." God so
reveals his glory that not only the wicked who are punished may
see it, but also other mortals to their edification.
"And shall see." They shall not simply hear or
know, but they shall see. This at last is a powerful and
convincing demonstration of the righteousness of God, which is
put before their eyes.
"His glory." Not merely the destruction of the
wicked and vengeance on the enemies of God, but his glory; for
in the destruction of the wicked, and the deliverance of the
innocent, the glory of God is declared. Thus the prophet
rejoices not so much concerning the destruction of the wicked as
concerning the glory of God.—Musculus.
Verse 7. Confounded be all they that serve graven
images. etc. Albeit such as are lovers of imagery not only
do serve images, but also will defend the use of images in the
exercise of religion, and glory in them; yet shall they at
length be ashamed of their boasting.—David Dickson.
Verse 7. Worship him, all ye gods, or Let
all the angels of God worship him. The matter of the psalm
itself makes it manifest that the Holy Ghost treats in it about
God's bringing in the firstborn into the world, and the setting
up of his kingdom in him. A kingdom is described wherein God
would reign, which should destroy idolatry and false worship; a
kingdom wherein the isles of the Gentiles should rejoice, being
called to an interest therein; a kingdom that was to be
preached, proclaimed, declared, unto the increase of light and
holiness in the world, with the manifestation of the glory of
God unto the ends of all the earth: every part whereof declareth
the kingdom of Christ to be intended in the psalm, and
consequently that it is a prophecy of the bringing in of the
first begotten into the world. Our inquiry is, whether the
angels be intended in these words. They are Myhla-lk omnes
dii; and are so rendered by Jerome, Adorate eum, omnes
dii; and by our authorised version, "Worship him,
all ye gods." The preceding words are, "Confounded
be all they that serve graven images", Mylylab Myllhtmh,
that boast themselves in or of "idols",
"vanities, nothings", as the word signifies,
wherein ensues this apostrophe, "Worship him, Myhla-lb,
all ye gods." And who they are is our present
inquiry. Some, as all the modern Jews, say that it is the gods
of the Gentiles, those whom they worship, that are intended; so
making Myhla and owlyla, "gods", and "vain
idols", to be the same in this place. But
1. It cannot be that the psalmist should exhort the idols
of the heathen, some whereof were devils, some dead
men, some inanimate parts of the creations, unto a
reverential worshipping of God reigning over all. Hence the
Targumist, seeing the vanity of that interpretation, perverts
the words, and renders them, "Worship before Him, all ye
nations which serve idols."
2. Myhla, "Elohim", is so far in this place from
being exegetical of Mylyla "gods", or "vain
idols"; that it is put in direct opposition to it, as
is evident from the words themselves.
3. The word Elohim, which most frequently denotes the true
God, doth never alone, and absolutely taken, signify false
gods or idols, but only when it is joined with some other
word discovering its application, as his god, or their
gods, or the gods of this or that people, in which
case it is rendered by the LXX., (Septuagint) sometimes eidwlon
an "idol"; sometimes ceiropoihton, an "idol made
with hands"; sometimes bdelugma an "abomination."
But here it hath no such limitation or restriction.
Whereas, therefore, there are some creatures who, by reason
of some peculiar excellency and likeness unto God, or
subordination unto him in their work, are called gods, it must
be those, or some of them, that are intended in the expression.
Now these are either magistrates or angels.
1. Magistrates are somewhere called elohim, because of
the representation they make of God in his power, and their
peculiar subordination unto him in their working. The Jews,
indeed, contend that no other magistrates but those only of the
great Sanhedrim are anywhere called gods; but that concerns not
our present inquiry. Some magistrates are so called, but none of
them are intended by the psalmist, there being no occasion
administered unto him of any such apostrophe unto them.
2. Angels are called elohim: Degomenoi yeoi, 1Co 8:5. They
have the name of God attributed unto them, and these are they
whom the psalmist speaks unto. Having called on the whole
creation to rejoice in the bringing forth of the kingdom of God,
and pressed his exhortation upon things on the earth, he turns
unto the ministering angels, and calls on them to the discharge
of their duty unto the King of that kingdom. Hence the Targamist,
in the beginning of Ps 96:1-13 expressly mentioned "his
high angels", joining in his praise and worship, using the
Greek word aggelov, for distinction's sake, as on the same
account it often occurs in the Targum.
We have thus evinced that the psalm treats about the bringing
in of the firstborn into the world; as also that they are the
ministering angels who are here commanded to worship him.—John
Owen.
Verse 8. Zion heard, etc. But why, it may be
asked, does he speak of those things being heard, rather
than seen? Two reasons may be given for this. First, he
would have God's believing people anticipate the blessing by
hope, ere the consummation of it arrived; and, again, the
language intimates, that the glory of the Gospel would be spread
to such distant quarters, that the Jews would rather hear of it
by report, than witness it with their own eyes.—John
Calvin.
Verse 8. The daughters of Judah rejoiced. David
alludes to a custom familiar in Judea, of forming choral bands
of maidens after a victory or some happy circumstance. Thus
after the passage of the Red Sea, when the Egyptians were
drowned and the people of God brought in safety to the farthest
shore, Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a
timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her with
timbrels and dancing, saying, Let us sing unto the Lord, for he
hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he
thrown into the sea. When Goliath was slain by David, it is said
1Sa 18:6-7, "When David returned from the slaughter of the
Philistine, the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing
and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with
instruments of music. And the women sang as they played, and
said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten
thousands."—Le Blanc.
Verse 10. Ye that love the LORD, hate evil. It
is evident that our conversion is sound when we loathe and hate
sin from the heart: a man may know his hatred of evil to be
true, first, if it be universal: he that hates sin truly, hates
all sin. Secondly, true hatred is fixed; there is no appeasing
it but by abolishing the thing hated. Thirdly, hatred is a more
rooted affection than anger: anger may be appeased, but hatred
remains and sets itself against the whole kind. Fourthly, if our
hatred be true, we hate all evil, in ourselves first, and then
in others; he that hates a toad, would hate it most in his own
bosom. Many, like Judah, are severe in censuring others (Ge
38:24), but partial to themselves. Fifthly, he that hates sin
truly, hates the greatest sin in the greatest measure; he hates
all evil in a just proportion. Sixthly, our hatred is right if
we can endure admonition and reproof for sin, and not be
enraged; therefore, those that swell against reproof do not
appear to hate sin.—Richard Sibbes.
Verse 10. Hate evil. Sin seemeth to have its
name of sana, anv (the word here used) because it is most
of all to be hated, as the greatest evil; as that which setteth
us furthest from God the greatest good.—John Trapp.
Verse 10. Get mortifying graces, especially love to
God, for those that love the Lord, will hate evil. And
the more they love him, the more they will hate it.—David
Clarkson.
Verse 10. God is a Spirit, and he looks to our very
spirits; and what we are in our spirits, in our hearts and
affections, that we are to him. Therefore, what ill we shun, let
us do it from the heart, by hating it first. A man may avoid an
evil action from fear, or out of other respects, but that is not
sincerity. Therefore look to thy heart, see that thou hate evil,
and let it come from sincere looking to God. Ye that love the
LORD, hate evil, saith David: not only avoid it, but hate
it; and not only hate it, but hate it out of love to God.—Richard
Sibbes.
Verse 10. Hate evil.
LUCIAN. I am the declared enemy of all false pretence, all
quackery, all lies, and all puffing. I am a lover of truth, of
beauty, of undisguised nature; in short, of everything that is
lovely.
PHILOSOPHY. To love and to hate, they say, spring from one
and the same source.
LUCIAN. That, O philosophy, must be best known to you. My
business is to hate the bad, and to love and commend the good;
and that I stick to.—Lucian. Piscat. c, 8.
Verse 10. He preserveth the souls of his saints.
Let us observe that there are two parts of divine
protection—preservation and deliverance. Preservation is
keeping lest we should be imperilled: deliverance has reference
to those already involved in perils. The shepherd keeps his
sheep lest they should fall among wolves; but if perchance they
should fall into the clutches of the wolf he pursues and
delivers. Both parts the Prophet exhibits, persuading us that it
is the Lord who keeps the souls of his saints lest they fall
into the hands of the wicked; and if they should fall, He will
deliver them.—Musculus.
Verse 11. Light is sown. erz does not here
signify sown strewn into the earth, but strewn along his life's
way, so that he, the righteous one, advances step by step in the
light. Hitzig rightly compares kidnatai skidnatai, used of the
dawn and of the sun. Of the former Virgil also says, Et jam
prima novo spargebat lumine terras.—Franz Delitzsch.
Verse 11. Light is sown.
And now Aurora, from the saffron bed
Of her Tithonus rising, sowed the earth
With dewy light.
—C.R. Kennedy's Translation of Virgil.
Verse 11. Light is sown.
Now Morn, her rosy steps in the eastern clime
Advancing, sowed the earth with orient pearl.
—John Milton.
Verse 11. Light is sown for the righteous. Most
thoughtful men increase in faith and spiritual discernment by
often doubting, and by having their doubts cleared up. Religious
thought in this way grows into a personal feeling; and the solid
rock of truer conviction and deeper trust as a firm foundation
for the soul to build upon for eternity, remains behind after
all the abrasion of loose and more perishable materials through
speculation. A different if not a truer revelation of heavenly
realities is given to us through the dark distressing process of
doubting, than through the bright joyful exercise of
unhesitating faith; just as our knowledge of the chemistry of
the sun and stars, of the physical constitution of distant
worlds, is derived not from the bright bands of their spectrum,
which reveal only their size and shape, but from Fraunhofer's
wonderful lines—those black blank spaces breaking up the
spectrum bands—which tell us of rays arrested in their path
and prevented from bearing their message to us by particular
metallic vapours. Unto the upright, just because of the purity
and singleness of their motives and the earnestness of their
quest after truth, there ariseth light in the darkness. We must
remember that "light is sown for the
righteous"; that its more or less rapid germination and
development depend upon the nature of the soil on which it falls
and the circumstances that influence it; that, like seed, it at
first lies concealed in the dark furrow, under the cheerless
clod, in the cold ungenial winter; but that even then, while
shining in the darkness, while struggling with doubts and
difficulties of the mind and heart, it is nevertheless the
source of much comfort, and in its slow, quickening, and hidden
growth the cause of lively hope, and of bright anticipation of
that time when it shall blossom and ripen in the summer time of
heaven—shine more and more unto the perfect day.—Hugh
Macmillan, in "The Ministry of Nature", 1871.
Verse 11. Light is sows for the righteous: sown
in these two fields,
1. Of God's eternal decree, in his power, promise,
grace and love. These are the "upper springs."
2. In the field of their graces, and holy duties;
these are the "nether springs"; both which fall into
one river, and "make glad the city of God"; both these
fields yield a plentiful harvest of comfort to the godly.—John
Sheffield, in "The Rising Sun," 1654.
Verse 11. Sown. The righteous man's harvest is
secret and hidden. It lieth, like the corn covered in the
ground; "their life is hid"; and "it is not
manifest what they shall be"; "no eye hath seen, or
ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what
the Lord hath laid up for them that love him" (Col 3:3 1Jo
3:2 1Co 2:9). Name what you can, and it will be a mystery, a
secret thing, that belongs to the upright in heart. First, is
not the decree of God a hidden thing? a depth unsearchable? and
able to make a man astonished? Did not Paul cry out, "O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding
out!" (Ro 12:33). And is not the incarnation of Christ a
secret too? what more to be admired than that God should become
man, and be manifested in the flesh? The very angels desired to
peep into this mystery. 1Ti 3:16 1Pe 1:12 Isa 7:14. Again, the
conversion and regeneration of a sinner is admirable; it's a
noble, yet a secret work: Nicodemus a great doctor could not see
it. And if natural births be so strange, what shall we judge of
this? Moreover, peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost is
no open matter; none knoweth it, but he that hath it. So is the
earnest of the Spirit, and true seal of salvation; the power,
life and sweetness of the word; the remission and pardon of sin,
with certainty of salvation. And in the fifth place, the harvest
is secret, if we consider where it is growing. One close is, the
secret purpose of God; and who can understand it? A second
is, his word; and how hardly is that to be searched into?
A third is, a man's own heart; and is not that both
secret and deceitful? And last of all, the very principal part
of the harvest is hid with Christ in heaven; and when he
appears, it will appear what it shall be.—John Barlow.
Verses 11-12., are both most savoury and precious
notanda.—Give me to experience, O Lord, those revelations
which follow in the train of obedience; and O that I felt the
charm and enjoyment of holiness, so as to give thanks, in the
reflection that with a holy God holiness is an indispensable
requisite for our appearing in his presence. We should further
be grateful because of this essential attribute in the Godhead;
for it is in virtue of his holiness that evil cannot dwell with
him, and that the world will at length be delivered, and this
conclusively, from the wickedness and malice and vile
sensualities by which it is now so disquieted and deformed.
Hasten this consummation, O Lord.—Thomas Chalmers.
Verse 12. Rejoice in the LORD. We must
"rejoice evermore"; for even holy mourning hath the
seed of joy in it, which the soul finds by that time it is over,
if not in it.—William Cooper, in the "Morning
Exercises."
Verse 12. Rejoice in the Lord.
1. Our rejoicing in the Lord denotes our taking a very
sincere and cordial pleasure in whatever relates to the ever
blessed God, particularly his existence, perfections, and
providence; the discoveries of his will to us, especially in his
word; the interest we have in him, and the relations wherein we
stand to him; his continual protection, guidance and influence;
his gracious intercourse with us in the duties of religious
worship; and, finally, the hope he has given us of fulness of
joy, in his beatific and most glorious presence above.
2. Rejoicing in the Lord signifies that our joy in God is
superior to all our other joys, otherwise it is a joy unworthy
of him, and no way, or not savingly, profitable to us.
3. Whatever else we rejoice in, we are to rejoice in such a
manner, that we may be properly said to rejoice in the Lord,
even when other things are the immediate occasions of our joy.
The God we serve is not an envious and a malevolent Being, but
exceeding liberal and kind; he has created us with an
inextinguishable desire after happiness, as a secret intimation
that he intends to make us happy, if we do not make ourselves
miserable; and while our principal happiness is lodged in
himself, and to be found nowhere else, (in which he has shown
the singular regard he has to our nature), he feeds our hearts
with a thousand little rivulets of joy and satisfaction from
created objects: our bodies are endowed with a variety of senses
and appetites, and our souls with powers and faculties of their
own; nor was any one sense or faculty made in vain, or to lie
always idle and useless; but every sense, and much more every
mental faculty, has not one, but a great number of things
provided to entertain it. But then the soul is not to lose
itself in this maze and labyrinth of delight; it is not by this
variety to be diverted from that one infinite good, who
eminently contains in himself all the various kinds and degrees
of true joy.—Henry Grove, 1683-1737/8.
Verse 12. Rejoice...and give thanks. Two things
are to be observed: One, that he unites joy in the Lord and
praise of God. Rightly: for it is not possible for a man to
praise the Lord truly and from the soul, unless he rejoices in
Him. Another, that he connects the praise of God with the
remembrance of his holiness. And with good reason: for it is the
chief use of divine praise, that by the exercise thereof, we
should keep fresh in our souls the remembrance of God and of all
the blessings received from Him. Thus this verse contains the
root and fruit of divine praise. The root is joy in God; the
fruit is the remembrance of God and his goodness.—Musculus.
Verse 12. Ye righteous...all ye that are upright in
heart. Some may say the just or the righteous
man may thus rejoice; but where are any such? "Who can
say", saith Solomon, "I have made my heart clean, I am
pure from my sin?" No; "There is not a just man upon
earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." A vain thing may
as seem then to exhort men to rejoice, when the condition
annexed is such as excludes all from rejoicing To what end is it
to incite the just to rejoice when there are none such
that may rejoice? The answer is ready at hand in the latter part
of the verse. By just are meant all such as are "upright
in heart", which clause is added partly to exclude the
hypocrite, and partly to temper and qualify the rigour of the
term before used, if it were strictly and exactly taken. So that
it is a note as well of extent, as of restraint.
1. Of restraint, to exclude from this joy, and all
right therein, all dissemblers, all counterfeit Christians, all
hollow hearted hypocrites, that repent in the face but not in
the heart; that make a sour face that they may seem to fast,
saith our Saviour, that justify themselves in the sight of men,
but God seeth their hearts what they are, and seeth them to be
far other than either they should be, or they pretend themselves
to be.
2. Of extent, to extend and enlarge this joy, the
ground of it and the right to it, to all that are single and
sincere hearted; and so to give and afford a share and a portion
in it as well to those that are sincerely righteous on earth, as
to those that are perfectly righteous in heaven. It is as a key
to let in the one. It is as a bolt to bar out the
other.—Thomas Gataker.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. The sovereignty of God a theme for joy in
many respects and to many persons, especially when exhibited in
a reign of grace.
Verses 3-6. The accompaniments of Christ's gospel
advent.
1. The fire of his Spirit.
2. The light of the word.
3. The commotion in the world.
4. The removal of obstacles.
5. The display of the divine glory.
Verses 4-5.
1. The terrors which accompanied the giving of the law:
"his lightnings", etc.
2. The reasons for those terrors. (a) To show the guilt of
man. (b) His inability to keep the law. (c) To show his need of
a law fulfiller on his behalf.—G.R.
Verses 4-6. A description of the giving of the law.
1. The lawgiver's heralds, or, conviction, Ps 97:4.
2. The effect of his presence, or, contrition, Ps
97:5.
3. The proclamation of the law, or, instruction (as by
a voice from heaven, Ps 97:6).
4. The effect of the lawgiving, or, divine manifestation
(Ps 97:6, latter clause).—C.D.
Verse 5. The presence of God in the church her
invincible power.
Verse 6. The confusion of heart which will ensue from
idolatrous worship, even if it be only spiritual. Breaking of
the idol, disappointment in it, injury by it, removal from it,
etc.
Verse 8.
1. The world is terrified at the divine judgments.
2. The church rejoices in them, "Zion heard", etc.;
or,
1. When the world is glad the church is sad.
2. When the world is sad the church is glad.—G.R.
Verse 10.
1. What you do now: "Love the Lord." Reciprocally,
personally, supremely, habitually, progressively.
2. What you must do: "Hate evil." Evil working,
evil writing, evil speaking, evil thinking; renounce evil,
master it, supplant it.—W.J.
Verse 10.
1. The distinguishing peculiarity of the people of God:
"Ye that love the Lord."
2. Its manifestation: "Hate evil."
3. Its reward: "The Lord preserveth", etc.;
"He delivereth", etc.—G.R.
Verses 10-11. David notes in God three characteristics
of a true friend: First with fidelity and good will He keepeth
the souls of the pious. Secondly, with his power and majesty He
delivereth them from their enemies. Thirdly, with his wisdom and
holiness He enlightens and refreshes them.—Le Blanc.
Verse 11.
1. Where is it sown? The answer to this will come
under the following heads, viz. In the purpose of God, In the
purchase of Christ, In the office of the Spirit, In the promises
of the Word, In the work of Grace wrought in the heart, and, In
the preparations made above in glory.
2. When is the season of reaping? And to this, the
answer is, The season of reaping the first fruits, of reaping in
part, is at certain times in the present life; the season of
reaping more fully is at death; and of reaping most fully and
perfectly commences at the day of judgment and is continued
throughout eternity.
(a) The season of reaping in part falls out at some times
within the course of this present life. Particularly
(1) Times of affliction have been to the upright, seasons of
reaping the joy sown. By this they have been prepared for
sufferings, supported under them, and made afterwards to forget
their sorrows, by reason of the gladness breaking in from the
affecting discovery of what God has done for them, and wrought
in them. Thus God causeth light to arise in darkness, and in a
rainy day refresheth them with a beam from heaven, brightening
the drops that fall; brings his people into the wilderness, and
there speaks comfortably unto them.
(2) Seasons of suffering for the sake of Christ and the
gospel, have been seasons wherein the upright have begun to reap
the joy sown. When called to resist unto blood, striving against
sin, they have need of more than ordinary comfort, to enable
them to meet, and hold firm through the fiery trial: and they
have found that then encouragement hath been yielded them in a
degree they never before experienced (Joh 16:33).
(3) Seasons wherein God has called the righteous to great and
difficult service, have been seasons of reaping the beginnings
of joys sown. When their heavenly Father has lifted up the light
of his countenance upon them, and shed abroad the sense of his
love within them, they are prepared to go whither he sends them,
and to do whatever he bids them.
(4) After sore conflicts with Satan, the upright have been
revived by the springing of the joy sown. After Christ was
tempted came an angel to comfort him. And for the encouragement
of his followers he declares, Re 2:17, "To him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will
give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
(5) In waiting upon God in the sanctuary the upright have met
with him, and so have had the beginnings of joy sown.
(b) A fuller reaping time will be at death; with some as the
soul is going; but with all immediately after its release from
the body.
(c) The season in which the righteous shall reap their joy
sown, to the full, and in perfection, shall be at the last day.
Then Christ shall come to be glorified in his saints, and
admired in all them that believe, and lead them all in a body,
and all of them perfected, into that presence of God, where
there is fulness of joy, and where there are pleasures for
evermore.—Daniel Wilcox.
Verse 12. Give thanks at the remembrance of his
holiness. Be thankful for—
1. Its unsullied perfection.
2. Its wondrous forbearance.
3. Its place in our salvation.
4. Its approachableness through Christ.
5. Its predicted triumphs.—W.J.
Verse 12.
1. A remembrance at which the world does not give thanks.
2. Reasons which make it a matter of thanksgiving with the
righteous. Its bearing on the way of salvation; on the doctrines
of the gospel; on the law of the Christian life.—C.D.