TITLE. A Psalm of David. This is just
such a psalm as the man after God's own heart would compose when
he was about to become king in Israel. It is David all over,
straight forward, resolute, devout; there is no trace of policy
or vacillation, the Lord has appointed him to be king, and he
knows it, therefore he purposes in all things to behave as
becomes a monarch who me the Lord himself has chosen. If we call
this THE PSALM or PIOUS RESOLUTIONS, we shall perhaps remember
it all the more readily. After songs of praise a psalm of
practice not only makes variety, but comes in most fittingly. We
never praise the Lord better than when we do those things which
are pleasing in his sight.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. I will sing of mercy and judgment. He
would extol both the love and the severity, the sweets and the
bitters, which the Lord had mingled in Iris experience; he would
admire the justice and the goodness of the Lord. Such a song
would fitly lead up to godly resolutions as to his own conduct,
for that which we admire in our superiors we naturally endeavour
to imitate. Mercy and judgment would temper the administration
of David, because he had adoringly perceived them in the
dispensations of his God. Everything in God's dealings with us
may fittingly become the theme of song, and we have not viewed
it aright until we feel we can sing about it. We ought as much
to bless the Lord for the judgment with which he chastens our
sin, as for the mercy with which he forgives it; there is as
much love in the blows of his hand as in the kisses of his
mouth. Upon a retrospect of their lives instructed saints
scarcely know which to be most grateful for—the comforts which
have, or the afflictions which nave purged them. Unto thee, O
LORD, will I sing. Jehovah shall have all our praise. The
secondary agents of either the mercy or the judgment must hold a
very subordinate place in oue memory, and the Lord alone must be
hymned by our heart. Our soul's sole worship must be the lauding
of the Lord. The psalmist forsakes the minor key, which was soon
to rule him in the one hundred and second psalm, and resolves
that, come what may, he will sing, and sing to the Lord too,
whatever others might do.
Verse 2. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect
way. To be holy is to be wise; a perfect way is a wise way.
David's resolve was excellent, but his practice did not fully
tally with it. Alas! he was not always wise or perfect, but it
was well that it was in his heart. A king had need be both sage
and pure, and, if he be not so in intent, when he comes to the
throne, his after conduct will be a sad example to his people.
He who does not even resolve to do well is likely to do very
ill. Householders, employers, and especially ministers, should
pray for both wisdom and holiness, for they will need them both.
O when wilt thou come unto me?—an ejaculation, but not an
interruption. He feels the need not merely of divine help, but
also of the divine presence, that so he may be instructed, and
sanctified, and made fit for the discharge of his high vocation.
David longed for a more special and effectual visitation from
the Lord before he began his reign. If God be with us we shall
neither err in judgment nor transgress in character; his
presence brings us both wisdom and holiness; away from God we
are away from safety. Good men are so sensible of infirmity that
they cry for help from God, so full of prayer that they cry at
all seasons, so intense in their desires that they cry with
sighs and groanings which cannot be uttered, saying, "O
when wilt thou come unto me?" I will walk within my house
with a perfect heart. Piety must begin at home. Our first duties
are those within our own abode. We must have a perfect heart at
home, or we cannot keep a perfect way abroad. Notice that these
words are a part of a song, and that there is no music like the
harmony of a gracious life, no psalm so sweet as the daily
practice of holiness. Reader, how fares it with your family? Do
you sing in the choir and sin in the chamber Are you a saint
abroad and a devil at home? For shame! What we are at home, that
we are indeed. He cannot be a good king whose palace is the
haunt of vice, nor he a true saint whose habitation is a scene
of strife, nor he a faithful minister whose household dreads his
appearance at the fireside.
Verse 3. I will set no wicked thing before mine
eyes. I will neither delight in it, aim at it or endure it.
If I have wickedness brought before me by others I will turn
away from it, I will not gaze upon it with pleasure. The
psalmist is very sweeping in his resolve, he declines the least,
the most reputable, the most customary form of evil—no wicked
thing; not only shall it not dwell in his heart, but not even
before his eyes, for what fascinates the eye is very apt to gain
admission into the heart, even as Eve's apple first pleased her
sight and then prevailed over her mind and hand. I hate the work
of them that turn aside. He was warmly against it; he did not
view it with indifference, but with utter scorn and abhorrence.
Hatred of sin is a good sentinel for the door of virtue. There
are persons in courts who walk in a very crooked way, leaving
the high road of integrity; and these, by short cuts, and
twists, and turns, are often supposed to accomplish work for
their masters which simple honest hearts are not competent to
undertake; but David would not employ such, he would pay no
secret service money, he loathed the practices of men who
deviate from righteousness. He was of the same mind as the dying
statesman who said, "Corruption wins not more than
honesty." It is greatly to be deplored that in after years
he did not keep himself clear in this matter in every case,
though, in the main he did; but what would he have been if he
had not commenced with this resolve, but had followed the usual
crooked Policy of Oriental princes? How much do we all need
divine keeping! We are no more perfect than David, nay, we fall
far short of him in many things; and, like him, we shall find
need to write a psalm of penitence very soon after our psalm of
good resolution. It shall not cleave to me. I will disown their
ways, I will not imitate their policy: like dirt it may fall
upon me, but I will wash it off, and never rest till I am rid of
it. Sin, like pitch, is very apt to stick. In the course of our
family history crooked things will turn up, for we are all
imperfect, and some of those around us are far from being what
they should be; it must, therefore, be one great object of our
care to disentangle ourselves, to keep clear of transgression,
and of all that comes of it: this cannot be done unless the Lord
both comes to us, and abides with us evermore.
Verse 4. A froward heart shall depart from me.
He refers both to himself and to those round about him; he would
neither be crooked in heart himself, nor employ persons of evil
character in his house; if he found such in his court he would
chase them away. He who begins with his own heart begins at the
fountain head, and is not likely to tolerate evil compamons. We
cannot turn out of our family all whose hearts are evil, but we
can keep them out of our confidence, and let them see that we do
not approve of their ways. I will not know a wicked person. He
shall not be my intimate, my bosom friend. I must know him as a
man or I could not discern his character, but if I know him to
be wicked, I will not know him any further, and with his evil I
will have no communion. "To know" in Scripture means
more than mere perception, it includes fellowship, and in that
sense it is here used. Princes must disown those who disown
righteousness; if they know the wicked they will soon be known
as wicked themselves.
Verse 5. Whose privily slandereth his neighbor, him
will I cut off. He had known so bitterly the miseries caused
by slanderers that he intended to deal severely with such vipers
when he came into power, not to revenge his own ills, but to
prevent others from suffering as he had done. To give one's
neighbour a stab in the dark is one of the most atrocious of
crimes, and cannot be too heartily reprobated, yet such as are
guilty of it often find patronage in high places, and are
considered to be men of penetration, trusty ones who have a keen
eye, and take care to keep their lords well posted up. King
David would lop the goodly tree of his state of all such
superfluous boughs, Him that hath an high look and a proud heart
him will not I suffer. Proud, domineering, supercilious
gentlemen, who look down upon the poor as though they were so
many worms crawling in the earth beneath their feet, the
psalmist could not bear. The sight of them made him suffer, and
therefore he would not suffer them. Great men often affect
aristocratic airs and haughty manners, David therefore resolved
that none should be great in his palace but those who had more
grace and more sense than to indulge in such abominable vanity,
Proud men are generally hard, and therefore very unfit for
office; persons of high looks provoke enmity and discontent, and
the fewer of such eople about a court the better for the
stability of a throne. If all slanderers were now cut off, and
all the proud banished, it is to be feared that the next census
would declare a very sensible diminution of the population.
Verse 6. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of
the land, that they may dwell with me. He would seek them
out, engage their services, take care of them, and promote them
to honour: this is a noble occupation for a king, and one which
will repay him infinitely better than listening to the soft
nothings of flatterers. It would be greatly for the profit of us
all if we chose our servants rather by their piety than by their
cleverness; he who gets a faithful servant gets a treasure, and
he ought to do anything sooner than part with him. Those who are
not faithful to God will not be likely to be faithful to men; if
we are faithful ourselves, we shall not care to have those about
us who cannot speak the truth or fulfil their promises; we shall
not be satisfied until all the members of our family are upright
in character. He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve
me. What I wish myself to be, that I desire my servant to be.
Employers are to a great degree responsible for their servants,
and it is customary to blame a master if he retains in his
service persons of notorious character; therefore, lest we
become partakers of other men's sins, we shall do well to
decline the services of bad characters. A good master does well
to choose a good servant; he may take a prodigal into his house
for the sinner's good, but if he consults his own he will look
in another quarter. Wicked nurses have great influence for evil
over the minds of little children, and ungodly servants often
injure the morals of the older members of the family, and
therefore great care should be exercised that godly servants
should be employed as far as possible. Even irreligious men have
the sense to perceive the value of Christian servants, and
surely their own Christian brethren ought not to have a lower
appreciation of them.
Verse 7. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell
within my house. He had power to choose his courtiers, and
he meant to exercise it. Deceit among most orientals is reckoned
to be a virtue, and is only censured when it is not sufficiently
cunning, and therefore comes to be found out; it was therefore
all the more remarkable that David should have so determinedly
set his face against it. He could not tell what a deceitful man
might be doing, what plots he might be contriving, what mischief
he might be brewing, and therefore he resolved that he would at
any rate keep him out of his house, that his palace might not
become a den of villainy. Cheats in the market are bad enough,
but deceivers at our own table we cannot bear. He that telleth
lies shall not tarry in my sight. He would not have a liar
within sight or hearing; lie loathed the mention of him. Grace
makes men truthful, and creates in them an utter horror of
everything approaching to falsehood. If David would not have a
liar in his sight, much less will the Lord; neither he that
loves nor he who makes a lie shall be admitted into heaven.
Liars are obnoxious enough on earth; the saints shall not be
worried with them in another world.
Verse 8. I will early destroy all the wicked of the
land. At the very outset of his government he would promptly
deal out justice to the worthless, he would leave them no rest,
but make them leave their wickedness or feel the lash of the
law. The righteous magistrate "beareth not the sword in
vain." To favour sin is to discourage virtue; undue
leniency to the bad is unkindness to the good. When our Lord
comes in judgment, this verse will be fulfilled on a large
scale; till then he sinks the judge in the Saviour, and bids men
leave their sins and find pardon. Under the gospel we also are
bidden to suffer long, and to be kind, even to the unthankful
and the evil; but the office of the magistrate is of another
kind, and he must have a sterner eye to justice than would be
proper in private persons. Is he not to be a terror to evil
doers? That I may cut off all the wicked doers from the city of
the Lord. Jerusalem was to be a holy city, and the psalmist
meant to be doubly careful in purging it from ungodly men.
Judgment must begin at the house of God. Jesus reserves his
scourge of small cords for sinners inside the temple. How pure
ought the church to be, and how diligently should all those who
hold office therein labour to keep out and chase out men of
unclean lives. Honourable offices involve serious
responsibilities; to trifle with them will bring our own souls
into guilt, and injure beyond calculation the souls of others.
Lord, come to us, that we, in our several positions in life, may
walk before thee with perfect hearts.
Verse 8. That I may cut off all wicked doers from
the city of the LORD. As the kingdom of David was only a
faint image of the kingdom of Christ, we ought to set Christ
before our view; who, although he may bear with many hypocrites,
yet as he will be the judge of the world, will at length call
them all to on account, and separate the sheep from the goats.
And if it seems to us that he tarries too long, we should think
of that morning which will suddenly dawn, that all filthiness
being purged away, true purity may shine forth.—John
Calvin.
Verse 8. Early. From some incidental notices of
Scripture (2Sa 15:2 Ps 101:8 Je 21:12), it has been inferred
that judges ordinarily held their sessions in the morning. In a
climate like that of Palestine, such a custom would be natural
and convenient. It is doubtful, however, whether this passage
expresses anything more than the promptness and zeal which a
righteous judge exercises in the discharge of his duty.—E.P.
Barrows, in "Biblical Geography and
Antiquities".
Verse 8. The holy vow "to destroy all the wicked
of the lands": and to "cut off all wicked doers from
the city of the Lord, "must begin at our own hearts as his
sanctuary, the temple of the Holy Ghost.—Alfred Edersheim.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. The contents of this psalm show that it
was written at some remarkable period of David's life. Three
different times have been fixed upon as respectively giving
occasion for the solemn resolutions which are announced in it.
The first is supposed to be when David, immediately after the
death of Saul, succeeded to the government of a part of the
kingdom; the second, when the whole kingdom was united under the
dominion of David; and the third, when he removed the ark from
the house of Obededom to Zion, and placed it in the vicinity of
his own abode. It is certainly of little importance which of
these periods we select, but the second verse of the psalm has
some appearance of relating to the last mentioned. The psalmist
here says, When wilt thou come to me? which seems to intimate
that when he was to have the symbols of God's presence so near
to him, he experienced a solemn sentiment respecting the
holiness that was now more than ever incumbent upon him—a
sentiment which induced him to form the sacred purposes and
resolutions which he has specified. These purposes relate to the
character of the persons whom he would select for his household,
and those whom he would employ in carrying on his government,
which appeared to be more firmly established by the divine
condescension that was manifested to him, in having the earthly
residence of God placed so near to himself. It was quite in
agreement with David's character to form purposes of more
fervent and steadfast obedience, in proportion to the advantages
and favours which the divine goodness bestowed upon him.—William
Walford.
Whole Psalm. This psalm has been appropriately called "The
House-holder's Psalm"; and assuredly if every master of
a family would regulate his household by these rules of the
conscientious psalmist, there would be a far greater amount, not
merely of domestic happiness and comfort, but of fulfilment of
the serious and responsible duties which devolve on the
respective members of a household. David in some measure may be
supposed to speak of the regulation of a royal court and
household; and of course with such we in our humbler sphere can
have but little in common; yet though there may not be the same
duties and the same requirements, yet the same principles should
actuate all alike, and the same virtues that adorn the lowlier
station may shed a radiance even on the highest.—Barton
Bouchier.
Whole Psalm. This is the psalm which the old
expositors used to designate "The Mirror for
Magistrates"; and an excellent mirror it is. It would
mightily accelerate the coming of the time when every nation
shall be Christ's possession, and every capital a "City of
the Lord", if all magistrates could be persuaded to dress
themselves by it every time they go forth to perform the
functions of their godlike office. When Sir George Villiers
became the favourite and prime minister of King James, Lord
Bacon, in a beautiful Letter of Advice, counselled him to take
this psalm for his rule in the promotion of courtiers. "In
those the choice had need be of holiest and faithful servants,
as well as of comely outsides who can bow the knee and kiss the
hand. King David (Ps 101:6-7) propounded a rule to himself for
the choice of his courtiers. He was a wise and a good king; and
a wise and a good king shall do well to follow such a good
example; and if he find any to be faulty, which perhaps cannot
suddenly be discovered, let him take on him this resolution as
King David did, `There shall no deceitful person dwell in my
house.'"It would have been well both for the
Philosopher and the Favourite if they had been careful to walk
by this rule.—William Binnie.
Whole Psalm. Eyring, in his "Life of Ernest the
Pious" (Duke of Saxe Gotha), relates that he sent an
unfaithful minister a copy of Ps 101:1-8, and that it became a
proverb in the country when an official had done anything wrong:
He will certainly soon receive the prince's psalm to read.—F.
Delitzseh.
Whole Psalm. Ps 101:1-8 was one beloved by the noblest
of Russian princes, Vladimir Monomachos; and by the gentlest of
English reformers, Nicholas Ridley. But it was its first leap
into life that has carried it so far into the future. It is full
of a stern exclusiveness, of a noble intolerance, not against
theological error, not against uncourtly manners, not against
political insubordination, but against the proud heart, the high
look, the secret slanderer, the deceitful worker, the teller of
lies. These are the outlaws from king David's court; these are
the rebels and heretics whom he would not suffer to dwell in his
house or tarry in his sight.—Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, in
"Lectures on the History the Jewish Church", 1870.
Whole Psalm. Such a hymn of praise as the grand
doxology of Ps 99:1-9 could not die away without an echo.
Accordingly Ps 100:1-5 may be regarded as forming the chorus of
the church, and this as taking up and applying that part of the
doxology which celebrated the present manifestation of
the "King in his beauty."—Alfred Edersheim.
Whole Psalm. Mr. Fox reports that Bishop Ridley often
read and expounded this psalm to his household, hiring them with
money to get it by heart.—Thomas Lye, in "The Morning
Exercises."
Verse 1. I will sing. If thou bestowest mercies
upon me; or if thou bringest any judgment upon me; before thee,
O Lord, will I sing my hymn for all.—Chaldee Paraphrase.
Verse 1. I will sing. The manner of expression
imports a cordial resolution; heart and will are engaged
in it; there is twice I will in the text. The manner of
expression imports a humble resolution; I cannot sing of
merit; but I will sing of mercy, and through mercy I will sing
of mercy. To sing of mercy must be a humble song, for mercy
towards a miserable sinner is a melting word; and to sing of
judgment must be a humble song, for judgment in every sense is
an awful word. The manner of the expression imports a skilful
harper, a dexterous musician, even in a spiritual sense; he knew
what should be the subject of the song, and he says, "I
will sing of mercy and judgment"; and he knew what should
be the object of the song, or to whom it should be sung, and
therefore says, "To thee, O Lord, I will sing"; he
knew who should be the singer, and therefore says, "I
will" do it; he knew what should be the manner; and
therefore says, "I will sing of mercy and judgment; to
thee, O Lord, will I sing." It is before the Lord he
resolves to sing, as he did before the ark, which was a type of
Christ; and so is it s song to the praise of God in Christ. The
manner of the expression imports a firm, fixed, and constant
resolution; so the redoubling of it seems to import; "I
will sing, I will sing." He had a mind this exercise of
singing should not go down, but be his continual trade, "I
will sing, I will sing"; I will sing on earth and I will
sing in heaven; I will sing in time and I will sing in eternity.
And, indeed, all on whom the spirit of praise and gratitude is
poured out resolve never to give over singing... David had heard
once, yea, twice, that mercy as well as power belongs to the
Lord; and therefore not only once, but twice in a breath he
resolves to sing unto the Lord. The word hath a great deal of
elegancy and emphasis in it; I will sing of mercy, I will sing
of judgment; O, I will sing, O Lord, I will sing; and I will
sing unto thee.—Ralph Erskine.
Verse 1. This song of the sweet singer of Israel is
peculiar to earth; they do not sing of judgment in
heaven, for there is no sin there; they do not sing of mercy
in hell, for there is no propitiation for sin there. Time was
when the song was not heard even on earth; for in Paradise man
walked in innocence, and walking in innocence he walked in the
light of his Father's face.—Hugh Stowell, 1856.
Verse 1. I will sing of mercy and judgment. It
comes all to this, as if the psalmist should say, "I will
sing of merciful judgements"; for judgment is mercy,
as it is the matter of the song: or, to take them separately,
"I will sing of mercy in mercies, and, I will sing
of mercy in judgment"; and so I will sing of my
blinks and of my showers; I will sing both of my cloudy and my
clear day; both of my ups and downs.—Ralph Erskine.
Verse 1. Mercy and judgment. As the pedge of
the ship S.Paul sailed in was Castor and Pollux, twin
brothers, so the badge of this Psalm is Mercy and Judgment,
inseparable companions; of whom it may be said, as our prophet
sometimes spake of Saul and Jonathan, "They were lovely and
pleasant in their lives, and in their deaths they were not
divided." These are the two brightest stars in the
firmament of majesty; the two fairest flowers, and choicest
jewels in the imperial crown; like the carnation and the lily,
the ruby and the sapphire, or the carbuncle and the diamond,
yielding a mutual and interchangeable lustre each to other. They
resemble not unfitly the two supporters of the king's arms, or
the two seraphim stretching out their golden wings over the
propitiatory, or the white and red rose in the same escutcheon.
We read that Solomon set up two goodly pillars in the porch
of the temple, the one called Jachin, the other Boaz,
which signify stability and strength; such pillars of the state
are mercy and judgment. The throne of the King is borne
up by them, as Solomen's was with lions of ivory on each side.
Therefore I as in one place it is said that "the throne
is established by justice" (Pr 16:12); so in another
that it is "upheld by mercy" (Pr 20:28);
justice being as the bones and sinews in the body politic, and
mercy as the veins and arteries. They are the two hands of
action, the two eyes of virtue, and the two wings of honour. And
as the eyes, if they be rightly set, do both look one way; so do
mercy and judgment, however in the apprehension of the vulgar
they seem to look contrary ways. And as the treble and the bass
accord best music; so do they in managing the commonwealth.
Wherefore David promiseth to make them both sound tunable in his
song without jar or discord: "I will sing of mercy and
judgment." ...
As mercy is here set in the first place; so shall the
sentence of mercy and absolution be first pronounced at the last
day. And it is a laudable custom of princes, at their first
entrance to their kingdoms, to shew mercy, by hearing the
mourning of the prisoner, and delivering the children of death,
by loosing the bands of wickedness, by taking off the heavy
burdens, by letting the oppressed go free, and by breaking every
yoke of former extortions. Thus, our prophet himself, as soon as
the crown was settled on his head, made inquiry if there
remained yet alive any of the house of Saul, on whom he might
shew mercy (2Sa 9:1). O how fair a thing is this mercy in the
time of anguish and trouble! It is like a cloud of rain that
cometh in the time of drought. But this mercy, here
spoken of in the first part of our prophet's song, stretcheth
further; unfolding itself in clemency, in courtesy,
and in compassion. In clemency, by pardoning
malefactors; in compassion, by relieving the afflicted;
in courtesy, towards all.—George Hakewill, or Hakewell,
1579-1649.
Verse 1. Mercy and judgment. What is the
history of every poor sinner, plucked as a brand from the fire
and brought to heaven in peace at last, but a history of
"mercy and judgment"? Judgment first awakes to terror
and to fear; mercy meets the poor, trembling, returning
prodigal, and falls on his neck, and kisses, and forgives. Then,
through all his chequered course, God hems up his way with
judgment, that he may not wander, and yet brightens his path
with mercy, that he may not faint. Is there a child of God that
can look into the varied record of his heart or of his outward
history, and not see goodness and severity, severity and
goodness, tracking him all his journey through? Has he ever had
a cup so bitter that he could say, "There is no mercy
here"? Has he ever had a lot so bright that he could say,
"There is no chastisement or correction here"? Has he
ever had any bad tidings, and there have been no good tidings
set over against them to relieve them? Has he ever had a sky so
dark that he could see in it no star, or a cloud so unchequered
that he could trace no rainbow of promise there? . . . What a
beautifully woven web of judgment and mercy does every man's
secret history, in his way through the wilderness of life to the
land of promise, present! and how good, and how wholesome, and
how kindly, and how gracious is this blessed intermingling of
both! How do we need the judgment, to keep us humble and
watchful and pure! and how do we need the mercy to keep us
hopeful, and to nerve our efforts, and to stir our hearts, and
to sustain us in patience, amid life's battle and struggle, and
disappointment and vexation! Oh, how good it is for us, that we
should thus, therefore, have the rod and staff together—the
rod to chasten, and the staff to solace and sustain! How good it
is for us, that we should have to "sing of mercy and
judgment!" And yet, what is judgment itself, but mercy
with a sterner aspect? And what are the chidings of judgment,
but the sterner tones of the voice of a Father's love? For even
judgment is one of the "all things" that "work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are the
called according to his purpose."—Hugh Stowell.
Verse 1. Mercy and judgment. God intermixeth
mercy with affliction: he steeps his sword of justice in the oil
of mercy; there was no night so dark, but Israel had a pillar of
fire in it; there is no condition so dismal, but we may see a
pillar of fire to give light. If the body be in pain, conscience
is in peace,—there is mercy: affliction is for the prevention
of sin,—there is mercy. In the ark there was a rod and a pot
of manna, the emblem of a Christian's condition, mercy
interlined with judgment.—Thomas Watson.
Verse 2. I will behave myself wisely. The first
thing he vows touching himself, is wise behaviour; prudence, not
sapience; not wise contemplation, but wise action. It is not
wise thoughts, or wise speaking, or wise writing, or wise
gesture and countenance, will serve the turn, but wise behaviour:
the former are graceful, but the other needful. For as the
apostle saith of godliness, "Having a show of godliness,
but denying the power thereof"; so certainly there are
those who in point of wisdom and sufficiency that do little or
nothing thoroughly, but magno conatu nugas, they make
much ado about small matters; using all the perspectives of
shifting they can devise to make an empty superficies
seem a body that hath depth and bulk.—George Hakewill.
Verse 2. I will walk. Walking is a word often
used in Holy Scripture, and especially by our prophet in this
book of the Psalms; yet more often figuratively than properly.
It shall not be amiss, then, out of the property and nature of
it, to consider the duties included and implied in it. The
natural acts of it, then, are three; motion, progress,
and moderations. As it includes motion, so is it opposed
to lying, or standing, or sitting; as it includes progress in
motion, so is it opposed to jumping or capering up and down
in the same place; as it includes moderation, in a progressive
motion, so is it opposed to violent running.—George
Hakewill.
Verse 2. I will walk within my house. Much,
though not all of the power of godliness, lies within doors. It
is in vain to talk of holiness if we can bring no letters
testimonial from our holy walking with our relations. Oh, it is
sad when they that have reason to know us best, by their daily
converse with us, do speak least for our godliness! Few so
impudent as to come naked into the streets: if men have anything
to cover their haughtiness they will put it on when they come
abroad. But witat art thou within doors? What care and
conscience to discharge thy duty to thy near relations? He is a
bad husband that hath money to spend among company abroad, but
none to lay in provisions to keep his family at home. And can he
be a good Christian that spends all his religion abroad, and
leaves none for his nearest relations at home? That is, a great
zealot among strangers, and little or nothing of God comes from
him in his family? Yea, it were well if some that gain the
reputation of Christians abroad, did not fall short of others
that pretend not to profession in those moral duties which they
should perform to their relations. There are some who are great
strangers to profession, who yet are loving and kind in their
way to their wives. What kind of professors then are they who
are dogged and currish to the wife of their bosom? Who by their
tyrannical lording it over them embitter their spirit, and make
them cover the Lord's altar with tears and weeping? There are
wives to be found that are not clamorous, peevish, and froward
to their husbands, who yet are far from a true work of grace in
their hearts; do they then walk as becomes holiness who trouble
the whole house with their violent passions? There are servants
who from the authority of a natural conscience, are kept from
railing and reviling language, when reproved by their masters,
and shall not grace keep pace with nature? Holy David knew very
well how near this part of a saint's duty lies to the very heart
of godliness; and therefore, when he makes his solemn vow to
walk holily before God, he instanceth this, as one stage wherein
he might eminently discover the graciousness of his spirit; "I
will walk within my house with a perfect heart."—William
Gurnall.
Verse 2. Within my house. It is easier for most
men to walk with a perfect heart in the church, or even
in the world, than in their own families. How many
are as meek as lambs among others, when at home they are wasps
or tigers.—Adam Clarke.
Verse 2. Within my house with a perfect heart.
Even in our best directed establishments, as well as in private
families, cultivation is still in a great measure confined to
intellect alone; and the direct exercise and training of the
moral and religious sentiments and affections are rarely thought
of as essential to their full and vigorous development. Moral
precepts are, no doubt, offered in abundance; but these address
thelnselves chiefly to the intellect. We must not be satisfied
with merely exclaiming, "Be kind, just, and
affectionate", when perhaps at the very moment we are
counteracting the effect of the advice by our own opposite
conduct. "She told me not to lie", said Guy Rivers in
speaking of his mother, "and she set me the example herself
by frequently deceiving my father, and teaching me to disobey
and deceive him." Conduct like this is more common in real
life than is supposed, although generally less flagrant in
degree. Parents and teachers indeed too often forget that the
sentiments feel and do not reason, and that,
consequently, even a stupid child may, by the instinctive
operation of its moral nature at once detect and revolt at the
immorality of practices, the true character of which its reason
is unable to penetrate or expose. It is one of the most
effectual methods of cultivating and exciting the moral
sentiments in children, to set before them the manifestations of
these in our habitual conduct. . . . What kind of moral duties
does the parent encourage, who, recommending kindness, openness,
and justice, tricks the child into the confession of a
fault, and then basely punishes it, having previously promised
forgiveness? And how is openness best encouraged—by practising
it in conduct, or by neglecting it in practice, and prescribing
in words. Is it to be cultivated by thrusting suspicions in the
face of honest intentions? And how is justice to be cultivated
by a guardian who speaks about it, recommends it, and in
practice charges each of four pupils the whole fare of a
hackney-coach? Or what kind of moral education is that which
says, "Do as I bid you, and I will give you sweet-meats or
money, or I will tell your mama how good you were", holding
out the lowest and most selfish propensities as the motives to
moral conduct? Did space permit, I might indeed pursue the whole
round of moral and religious duties, and ask similar questions
at each. But it is needless. These examples will suffice; and I
give them, not as applicable generally either to parents or
teachers, but simply as individual instances from among both,
which have come within the sphere of my own knowledge, and which
bear directly upon the principle under discussion.—Andrew
Combe, in "The Principles of Physiology", 1836.
Verse 3. Wicked thing. The original hath it, if
we will render it word for word, "I will set no word of
Belial before mine eyes." But word is
figuratively there put for thing; as likewise Ps 41:8;
and so is it rendered both by Montanus in the margin, and
in the text by Junius; howbeit, in his comment upon this
psalm, he precisely follows the original, applying it against
sycophants and flatterers, the mice and moths of court.—George
Hakewill.
Verse 3. I hate the work of them that turn aside.
Mr. Schultens hath shown in his commentary on Pr 7:25 that hjv
hath a much stronger and more significant meaning than that of
mere turning aside; and that it is used of an unruly
horse, that champs upon the bit through his fiery impatience;
and when applied to a bad man, denotes one impatient of all
restraint, of unbridled passions, and that is headstrong and
ungovernable in the gratification of them, trampling on all the
obligations of religion and virtue. Such as these are the
deserved objects of the hatred of all good men, whose criminal
deviations and presumptuous crimes they detest; none of which shall
cleave to them; they will not harbour the love of, or
inclination to them, nor habitually commit them, or encourage
the practice of them. Persons of this character are too
frequently about the courts of princes, but it is their honour
and interest, as far as ever they can, to discountenance
them.—Samuel Chandler.
Verse 3. It shall not cleave to me. A bird may
light upon a man's house; but he may choose whether she shall
nestle or breed there, or no: and the devil or his instruments
may represent a wicked object to a man's sight; but he may
choose whether he will entertain or embrace it or no. For a man
to set wicked things before his eyes is nothing else but to sin
of set purpose, to set himself to sin, or to sell himself to
sin, as Ahab did, 1Ki 21:1-29.—George Hakewill.
Verse 3. It shall not cleave to me. A wicked
plan or purpose is thus represented as having a tendency to
fasten itself on a man, or to "stick to him"—as
pitch, or wax, or a burr does.—Albert Barnes.
Verse 4. A froward heart. The original sense of
vqe is torsit, contorsit, to twist together, and denotes,
when applied to men, persons of a perverse, subtle disposition,
that can twist and twine themselves into all manner of shapes,
and who have no truth and honour to be depended on.—Samuel
Chandler.
Verse 4. A froward heart. By which I understand
"from-wardness"—giving way to sudden impulses
of anger, or quick conception, and casting it forth in words or
deeds of impetuous violence.—Thomas Chalmers.
Verse 5. Privily slandereth—literally, he
that tongueth his neighbour secretly. Will I not
suffer, is properly, "him I cannot", i.e.,
cannot live with, cannot bear about me, as the same verb is used
in Isa 1:13.—Henry Cowles.
Verse 5. Him that hath an high look. Pride will
sit and show itself in the eyes as soon as anywhere. A man is
seen what he is in oculis, in poculis, in loculis (in his
eyes, his cups, and his resorts) say the Rabbins. See Pr
6:17.—John Trapp.
Verse 5. Proud heart. From bxr latus or dilatatus
est, is the noun bxr, here, broad, or wide, or
large; and being applied to the heart or soul,
it notes largeness of desires.—Henry Hammond.
Verse 5. Detraction, ambition, and avarice are three
weeds which spring and flourish in the rich soil of a court. The
psalmist declareth his resolution to undertake the difficult
task of eradicating them for the benefit of his people, that
Israelites might not be harassed by informers, or repressed by
insolent and rapacious ministers. Shall we imagine these vices
less odious in the eyes of that King whose character was
composed of humilty and charity; or will Christ admit those
tempers into the court of heaven, which David determined to
exclude from his court upon earth?—George Horne.
Verses 5-10. Perfect, as prophetic of Christ, is the
delineation of his associates and disciples. The perverse; the
evil-doers; the slanderers, and the proud found no fellowship
with him. There were no common principles; no bond of union
between them. There was "a gulph" interposed, as in
the parable, which they could not pass; and what they saw of
Christ, they beheld only from a distance. Nor even now, as then,
can "the deceitful" dwell in Christ's
"house"—his holy temple; nor the man of "lies
be established" by his love and favour. They must renounce
their vices before they can be admitted to his covenant; or,
however they may claim communion with Him, he in return
can have no sympathy with them.—William Hill Tucker.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Whole Psalm. This is a psalm of wills and shalls.
There are nine wills and five shalls. Resolutions should be
made,
1. With deliberation; not, therefore, upon trifling matters.
2. With reservation. "If the Lord will, "etc.
3. With dependence upon divine strength for their fulfilment.
—G.R.
Verse 1.—
1. The sweet work that is resolved upon is to
"sing."
2. The sweet singer that thus resolves, namely, David,
"l will sing."
3. The sweet subject of the song, "mercy and
judgment."
4. The sweet object of this praise, and the manner in which
he would sing it—"Unto three, 0 Lord, will I sing."
—Ralph Ershikine.
Verse 1. What there is in mercy that affords ground of
singing.
1. The freeness and undeservedhess of mercy.
2. The unexpectedness of mercy. When I was expecting a frown
I got a smile; when I was expecting nothing but wrath, I got a
glance of love; instead of a stroke of vengeance, I got a view
of glory.
3. The seasonablehess of mercy is a ground of singing—grace
to help in time of need.
4. The greatness and riches of mercy make the recipiants
there of sing.
5. The sweetness of mercy makes them sing.
6. The sureness and firmness of mercy make them
sing—"The sure mercies of David."
—From Ralph Erskine's Sermon, entitled "The
Militant's Song".
Verse 1.—
1. The different conditions of the righteous man in this
life. Not all mercy, nor all judgment, but mercy and judgment.
2. His one duty and privilege in reference to them: "I
will sing, "etc.
(a) Because they are both from God.
(b) Because they are both from love.
(c) Because they are both for present good.
(d) Because they are both preparative for the heavenly rest.
—G.R.
Verse 1. The blending of song with holy living. The
bell of praise and the pomegranate of holy fruitfulness should
both adorn the Lord's priests.
Verse 2.
1. The end desired: "To behave wisely, "etc.;
consistency of conduct.
2. The means employed: "When wilt thou come, "etc.;
only when God is with us we walk in a perfect way.
3. The test proposed: "Within my house, "where I am
most myself and am best known.
—G.R.
Verse 2.—The wisdom of holiness.
1. In selecting our sphere of duty.
2. In timing, :arranging, and balancing duties.
3. In managing others according to their tempers.
4. In avoiding disputes with adversaries.
5. In administering rebuke, giving alms, rendering advice,
etc.; the blending of the serpent with the dove.
Verse 2. —O when wilt thou come unto me? A
devout ejaculation.
1. Revealing the psalmist's need of the divine presence in
order to holiness.
2. His intense longing.
3. His full expectation.
4. His the rough appreciation of the condescending visit.
Verse 2 (last clause). Home piety. Its duty,
excellence, influence, sphere, and reward. Note also the change
of heart and firmness of purpose necessary to it.
Verse 3.
1. The sight of wickedness is to be avoided: "I will set
no wicked thing, "etc.
2. When seen it is to be loathed: "I Hate, "etc.
3. When felt it is to be repudiated. It may touch me, but
"it shall not cleave to me."
Verse 4. The need of extreme care in the choice of our
intimates.
Verse 5. The detestable nature of slander, hurting
three persons at once—the speaker, hearer, and person
slandered.
Verse 6. The duty of believers who are wealthy to
encourage and employ persons of pious character.
Verse 8. The work of the great King when he comes in
judgment.
WORKS UPON THE HUNDRED AND FIRST PSALM
In CHANDLER's "Life of David",
Vol. II, pp. 16-20, there is an Exposition of this Psalm.
"King David's Vow for Reformation of Himselfe, his Family,
his Kingdome. Delivered in twelve sermons before the Prince his
Highhesse vpon Psalme 101. By GEORGE HAKEWlLL, Dr. in Diuinity.
London 1622."