SUBJECT. This is a continuation of the
Paschal Hallel, and therefore must in some measure be
interpreted in connection with the coming out of Egypt. It has
all the appearance of being a personal song in which the
believing soul, reminded by the Passover of its own bondage and
deliverance, speaks thereof with gratitude, and praises the Lord
accordingly. We can conceive the Israelite with a staff in his
hand singing, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul, "as he
remembered the going back of the house of Jacob to the land of
their fathers; and then drinking the cup at the feast using the
words of Ps 116:13, "I will take the cup of
salvation." The pious man evidently remembers both his own
deliverance and that of his people as he sings in the language
of Ps 116:16, "Thou hast loosed my bonds"; but he
rises into sympathy with his nation as he thinks of the courts
of the Lord's house and of the glorious city, and pledges
himself to sing "in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem."
Personal love fostered by a personal experience of redemption is
the theme of this Psalm, and in it we see the redeemed answered
when they pray, preserved in time of trouble, resting in their
God, walking at large, sensible of their obligations, conscious
that they are not their own but bought with a price, and joining
with all the ransomed company to sing hallelujahs unto God.
Since our divine Master sang this hymn, we can hardly err in
seeing here words to which he could set his seal,—words in a
measure descriptive of his own experience; but upon this we will
not enlarge, as in the notes we have indicated how the Psalm has
been understood by those who love to find their Lord in every
line.
DIVISION. David Dickson has a somewhat
singular division of this Psalm, which strikes us as being
exceedingly suggestive. He says, "This Psalm is a threefold
engagement of the Psalmist unto thanksgiving unto God, for his
mercy unto him, and in particular for some notable delivery of
him from death, both bodily and spiritual. The first engagement
is, that he shall out of love have recourse unto God by prayer,
Ps 116:1-2; the reasons and motives whereof are set down,
because of his former deliverances, Ps 116:3-8, the second
engagement is to a holy conversation, Ps 116:9, and the motives
and reasons are given in Ps 116:10-13; the third engagement is
to continual praise and service, and specially to pay those vows
before the church, which he had made in days of sorrow, the
reasons whereof are given in Ps 116:14-19."
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. I love the LORD. A blessed
declaration: every believer ought to be able to declare without
the slightest hesitation, "I love the Lord." It was
required under the law, but was never produced in the heart of
man except by the grace of God, and upon gospel principles. It
is a great thing to say "I love the Lord"; for the
sweetest of all graces and the surest of all evidences of
salvation is love. It is great goodness on the part of God that
he condescends to be loved by such poor creatures as we are, and
it is a sure proof that he has been at work in our heart when we
can say, "Thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love
thee." Because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
The Psalmist not only knows that he loves God, but he knows why
he does so. When love can justify itself with a reason, it is
deep, strong, and abiding. They say that love is blind; but when
we love God our affection has its eyes open and can sustain
itself with the most rigid logic. We have reason, superabundant
reason, for loving the Lord; and so because in this case
principle and passion, reason and emotion go together, they make
up an admirable state of mind. David's reason for his love was
the love of God in hearing his prayers. The Psalmist had used
his "voice" in prayer, and the habit of doing
so is exceedingly helpful to devotion. If we can pray aloud
without being overheard it is well to do so. Sometimes, however,
when the Psalmist had lifted up his voice, his utterance had
been so broken and painful that he scarcely dared to call it
prayer; words failed him, he could only produce a groaning
sound, but the Lord heard his moaning voice. At other times his
prayers were more regular and better formed: these he calls "supplications."
David had praised as best he could, and when one form of
devotion failed him he tried another. He had gone to the Lord
again and again, hence he uses the plural and says "my
supplications, "but as often as he had gone, so often had
he been welcome. Jehovah had heard, that is to say, accepted,
and answered both his broken cries and his more composed and
orderly supplications; hence he loved God with all his heart.
Answered prayers are silken bonds which bind our hearts to God.
When a man's prayers are answered, love is the natural result.
According to Alexander, both verbs may be translated in the
present, and the text may run thus, "I love because Jehovah
hears my voice, my supplications." This also is true in the
case of every pleading believer. Continual love flows out of
daily answers to prayer.
Verse 2. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me:—bowing
down from his grandeur to attend to my prayer; the figure seems
to be that of a tender physician or loving friend leaning over a
sick man whose voice is faint and scarcely audible, so as to
catch every accent and whisper. When our prayer is very feeble,
so that we ourselves can scarcely hear it, and question whether
we do pray or not, yet God bows a listening ear, and regards our
supplications. Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live,
or "in my days." Throughout all the days of my life I
will address my prayer to God alone, and to him I will
unceasingly pray. It is always wise to go where we are welcome
and are well treated. The word "call" may imply praise
as well as prayer: calling upon the name of the Lord is an
expressive name for adoration of all kinds. When prayer is heard
in our feebleness, and answered in the strength and greatness of
God, we are strengthened in the habit of prayer, and confirmed
in the resolve to make ceaseless intercession. We should not
thank a beggar who informed us that because we had granted his
request he would never cease to beg of us, and yet doubtless it
is acceptable to God that his petitioners should form the
resolution to continue in prayer: this shows the greatness of
his goodness, and the abundance of his patience. In all days let
us pray and praise the Ancient of days. He promises that as our
days our strength shall be; let us resolve that as our days our
devotion shall be.
Verse 3. The Psalmist now goes on to describe his
condition at the time when he prayed unto God. The sorrows of
death compassed me. As hunters surround a stag with dogs and
men, so that no way of escape is left, so was David enclosed in
a ring of deadly griefs. The bands of sorrow, weakness, and
terror with which death is accustomed to bind men ere he drags
them away to their long captivity were all around him. Nor were
these things around him in a distant circle, they had come close
home, for he adds, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me.
Horrors such as those which torment the lost seized me, grasped
me, found me out, searched me through and through, and held me a
prisoner. He means by the pains of hell those pangs which belong
to death, those terrors which are connected with the grave;
these were so closely upon him that they fixed their teeth in
him as hounds seize their prey. I found trouble and
sorrow—trouble was around me, and sorrow within me. His griefs
were double, and as he searched into them they increased. A man
rejoices when he finds a hid treasure; but what must be the
anguish of a man who finds, where he least expected it, a vein
of trouble and sorrow? The Psalmist was sought for by trouble
and it found him out, and when he himself became a seeker he
found no relief, but double distress.
Verse 4. Then I called upon the name of the LORD.
Prayer is never out of season, he prayed then, when
things were at their worst. When the good man could not run to
God, he called to him. In his extremity his faith came to
the front: it was useless to call on man, and it may have seemed
almost as useless to appeal to the Lord; but yet he did with his
whole soul invoke all the attributes which make up the sacred
name of Jehovah, and thus he proved the truth of his confidence.
We can some of us remember certain very special times of trial
of which we can now say, "then called I upon the
name of the Lord." The Psalmist appealed to the Lord's
mercy, truth, power, and faithfulness, and this was his
prayer,—O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. This form of
petition is short, comprehensive, to the point, humble, and
earnest. It were well if all our prayers were moulded upon this
model; perhaps they would be if we were in similar circumstances
to those of the Psalmist, for real trouble produces real prayer.
Here we have no multiplicity of words, and no fine arrangement
of sentences; everything is simple and natural; there is not a
redundant syllable, and yet there is not one lacking.
Verse 5. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous.
In hearing prayer the grace and righteousness of Jehovah are
both conspicuous. It is a great favour to hear a sinner's
prayer, and yet since the Lord has promised to do so, he is not
unrighteous to forget his promise and disregard the cries of his
people. The combination of grace and righteousness in the
dealings of God with his servants can only be explained by
remembering the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. At
the cross we see how gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yea,
our God is merciful, or compassionate, tender, pitiful, full of
mercy. We who have accepted him as ours have no doubt as to his
mercy, for he would never have been our God if he had not been
merciful. See how the attribute of righteousness seems to stand
between two guards of love:—gracious, righteous,
merciful. The sword of justice is scabarded in a jewelled sheath
of grace.
Verse 6. The LORD preserveth the simple. Those
who have a great deal of wit may take care of themselves. Those
who have no worldly craft and subtlety and guile, but simply
trust in God, and do the right, may depend upon it that God's
care shall be over them. The worldly wise with all their
prudence shall be taken in their own craftiness, but those who
walk in their integrity with single minded truthfulness before
God shall be protected against the wiles of their enemies, and
enabled to outlive their foes. Though the saints are like sheep
in the midst of wolves, and comparatively defenceless, yet there
are more sheep in the world than wolves, and it is highly
probable that the sheep will feed in safety when not a single
wolf is left upon the face of the earth: even so the meek shall
inherit the earth when the wicked shall be no more. I was
brought low, and he helped me,—simple though I was, the Lord
did not pass me by. Though reduced in circumstances, slandered
in character, depressed in spirit, and sick in body, the Lord
helped me. There are many ways in which the child of God may be
brought low, but the help of God is as various as the need of
his people: he supplies our necessities when impoverished,
restores our character when maligned, raises up friends for us
when deserted, comforts us when desponding, and heals our
diseases when we are sick. There are thousands in the church of
God at this time who can each one of them say for himself,
"I was brought low, and he helped me."
Whenever this can be said it should be said to the praise of the
glory of his grace, and for the comforting of others who may
pass through the like ordeal. Note how David after stating the
general doctrine that the Lord preserveth the simple, proves and
illustrates it from his own personal experience. The habit of
taking home a general truth and testing the power of it in our
own case is an exceedingly blessed one; it is the way in which
the testimony of Christ is confirmed in us, and so we become
witnesses unto the Lord our God.
Verse 7. Return, unto thy rest, O my soul. He
calls the rest still his own, and feels full liberty to return
to it. What a mercy it is that even if our soul has left its
rest for a while we can tell it—"it is thy rest
still." The Psalmist had evidently been somewhat disturbed
in mind, his troubles had ruffled his spirit but now with a
sense of answered prayer upon him he quiets his soul. He had
rested before, for he knew the blessed repose of faith, and
therefore he returns to the God who had been the refuge of his
soul in former days. Even as a bird flies to its nest, so does
his soul fly to his God. Whenever a child of God even for a
moment loses his peace of mind, he should be concerned to find
it again, not by seeking it in the world or in his own
experience, but in the Lord alone. When the believer prays, and
the Lord inclines his ear, the road to the old rest is before
him, let him not be slow to follow it. For the LORD hath dealt
bountifully with thee. Thou hast served a good God, and built
upon a sure foundation; go not about to find any other rest, but
come back to him who in former days hath condescended to enrich
thee by his love. What a text is this! and what an exposition of
it is furnished by the biography of every believing man and
woman! The Lord hath dealt bountifully with us, for he hath
given us his Son, and in him he hath given us all things: he
hath sent us his Spirit, and by him he conveys to us all
spiritual blessings. God dealeth with us like a God; he lays his
fulness open to us, and of that fulness have all we received,
and grace for grace. We have sat at no niggard's table, we have
been clothed by no penurious hand, we have been equipped by no
grudging provider; let us come back to him who has treated us
with such exceeding kindness. More arguments follow.
Verse 8. For thou hast delivered my soul from
death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. The
triune God has given us a trinity of deliverances: our life has
been spared from the grave, our heart has been uplifted from its
griefs, and our course in life has been preserved from dishonour.
We ought not to be satisfied unless we are conscious of all
three of these deliverance. If our soul has been saved from
death, why do we weep? What cause for sorrow remains? Whence
those tears? And if our tears have been wiped away, can we
endure to fall again into sin? Let us not rest unless with
steady feet we pursue the path of the upright, escaping every
snare and shunning every stumblingblock. Salvation, joy, and
holiness must go together, and they are all provided for us in
the covenant of grace. Death is vanquished, tears are dried, and
fears are banished when the Lord is near. Thus has the Psalmist
explained the reasons of his resolution to call upon God as long
as he lived, and none can question but that he had come to a
most justifiable resolve. When from so great a depth he had been
uplifted by so special an interposition of God, he was
undoubtedly bound to be for ever the hearty worshipper of
Jehovah, to whom he owed so much. Do we not all feel the force
of the reasoning, and will we not carry out the conclusion? May
God the Holy Spirit help us so to pray without ceasing and in
everything to give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning us.
Verse 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of
the living. This is the Psalmist's second resolution, to
live as in the sight of God in the midst of the sons of men. By
a man's walk is understood his way of life: some men live only
as in the sight of their fellow men, having regard to human
judgment and opinion; but the truly gracious man considers the
presence of God, and acts under the influence of his all
observing eye. "Thou God seest me" is a far better
influence than "My master sees me." The life of faith,
hope, holy fear, and true holiness is produced by a sense of
living and walking before the Lord, and he who has been favoured
with divine deliverances in answer to prayer finds his own
experience the best reason for a holy life, and the best
assistance to his endeavours. We know that God in a special
manner is nigh unto his people: what manner of persons ought we
to be in all holy conversation and godliness?
Verse 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken.
I could not have spoken thus if it had not been for my faith: I
should never have spoken unto God in prayer, nor have been able
now to speak to my fellow men in testimony if it had not been
that faith kept me alive, and brought me a deliverance, whereof
I have good reason to boast. Concerning the things of God no man
should speak unless he believes; the speech of the waverer is
mischievous, but the tongue of the believer is profitable; the
most powerful speech which has ever been uttered by the lip of
man has emanated from a heart fully persuaded of the truth of
God. Not only the Psalmist, but such men as Luther, and Calvin,
and other great witnesses for the faith could each one most
heartily say, "I believed, therefore have I spoken." I
was greatly afflicted. There was no mistake about that; the
affliction was as bitter and as terrible as it well could be,
and since I have been delivered from it, I am sure that the
deliverance is no fanatical delusion, but a self evident fact;
therefore am I the more resolved to speak to the honour of God.
Though greatly afflicted, the Psalmist had not ceased to
believe: his faith was tried but not destroyed.
Verse 11. I said in my haste, All men are liars.
In a modified sense the expression will bear justification, even
though hastily uttered, for all men will prove to be liars if we
unduly trust in them; some from want of truthfulness, and others
from want of power. But from the expression, "I said in my
haste, "it is clear that the Psalmist did not justify his
own language, but considered it as the ebullition of a hasty
temper. In the sense in which he spoke his language was
unjustifiable. He had no right to distrust all men, for many of
them are honest, truthful, and conscientious; there are faithful
friends and loyal adherents yet alive; and if sometimes they
disappoint us, we ought not to call them liars for failing when
the failure arises entirely from want of power, and not from
lack of will. Under great affliction our temptation will be to
form hasty judgments of our fellow men, and knowing this to be
the case we ought carefully to watch our spirit, and to keep the
door of our lips. The Psalmist had believed, and therefore he
spoke; he had doubted, and therefore he spoke in haste. He
believed, and therefore he rightly prayed to God; he
disbelieved, and therefore he wrongfully accused mankind.
Speaking is as ill in some cases as it is good in others.
Speaking in haste is generally followed by bitter repentance. It
is much better to be quiet when our spirit is disturbed and
hasty, for it is so much easier to say than to unsay; we may
repent of our words, but we cannot so recall them as to undo the
mischief they have done. If even David had to eat his own words,
when he spoke in a hurry, none of us can trust our tongue
without a bridle.
Verse 12. What shall I render unto the LORD for all
his benefits toward me? He wisely leaves off fretting about
man's falsehood and his own ill humour, and directs himself to
his God. It is of little use to be harping on the string of
man's imperfection and deceitfulness; it is infinitely better to
praise the perfection and faithfulness of God. The question of
the verse is a very proper one: the Lord has rendered so much
mercy to us that we ought to look about us, and look within us,
and see what can be done by us to manifest our gratitude. We
ought not only to do what is plainly before us, but also with
holy ingenuity to search out various ways by which we may render
fresh praises unto our God. His benefits are so many that we
cannot number them, and our ways of acknowledging his
bestowments ought to be varied and numerous in proportion. Each
person should have his own peculiar mode of expressing
gratitude. The Lord sends each one a special benefit, let each
one enquire, "What shall I render? What form of
service would be most becoming in me?"
Verse 13. I will take the cup of salvation.
"I will take" is a strange answer to the question,
"What shall I render?" and yet it is the wisest reply
that could possibly be given.
"The best return for one like me,
So wretched and so poor,
Is from his gifts to draw a plea
And ask him still for more."
To take the cup of salvation was in itself an act of worship,
and it was accompanied with other forms of adoration, hence the
Psalmist says, and call upon the name of the LORD. He means that
he will utter blessings and thanksgivings and prayers, and then
drink of the cup which the Lord had filled with his saving
grace. What a cup this is! Upon the table of infinite love
stands the cup full of blessing; it is ours by faith to take it
in our hand, make it our own, and partake of it, and then with
joyful hearts to laud and magnify the gracious One who has
filled it for our sakes that we may drink and be refreshed. We
can do this figuratively at the sacramental table, we can do it
spiritually every time we grasp the golden chalice of the
covenant, realizing the fulness of blessing which it contains,
and by faith receiving its divine contents into our inmost soul.
Beloved reader, let us pause here and take a long and deep
draught from the cup which Jesus filled, and then with devout
hearts let us worship God.
Verse 14. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in
the presence of all his people. The Psalmist has already
stated his third resolution, to devote himself to the worship of
God evermore, and here he commences the performance of that
resolve. The vows which he had made in anguish, he now
determines to fulfil: "I will pay my vows unto the
Lord." He does so at once, "now, "and that
publicly, "in the presence of all his people." Good
resolutions cannot be carried out too speedily; vows become
debts, and debts should be paid. It is well to have witnesses to
the payment of just debts, and we need not be ashamed to have
witnesses to the fulfilling of holy vows, for this will show
that we are not ashamed of our Lord, and it may be a great
benefit to those who look on and hear us publicly sounding forth
the praises of our prayer hearing God. How can those do this who
have never with their mouth confessed their Saviour? O secret
disciples, what say you to this verse! Be encouraged to come
into the light and own your Redeemer. If, indeed, you have been
saved, come forward and declare it in his own appointed way.
Verse 15. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the
death of his saints, and therefore he did not suffer the
Psalmist to die, but delivered his soul from death. This seems
to indicate that the song was meant to remind Jewish families of
the mercies received by any one of the household, supposing him
to have been sore sick and to have been restored to health, for
the Lord values the lives of his saints, and often spares them
where others perish. They shall not die prematurely; they shall
be immortal till their work is done; and when their time shall
come to die, then their deaths shall be precious. The Lord
watches over their dying beds, smooths their pillows, sustains
their hearts, and receives their souls. Those who are redeemed
with precious blood are so dear to God that even their deaths
are precious to him. The deathbeds of saints are very precious
to the church, she often learns much from them; they are very
precious to all believers, who delight to treasure up the last
words of the departed; but they are most of all precious to the
Lord Jehovah himself, who views the triumphant deaths of his
gracious ones with sacred delight. If we have walked before him
in the land of the living, we need not fear to die before him
when the hour of our departure is at hand.
Verse 16. The man of God in paying his vows
rededicates himself unto God; the offering which he brings is
himself, as he cries, O LORD, truly I am thy servant,
rightfully, really, heartily, constantly, I own that I am thine,
for thou hast delivered and redeemed me. I am thy servant, and
the son of thine handmaid, a servant born in thy house, born of
a servant and so born a servant, and therefore doubly thine. My
mother was thine handmaid, and I, her son, confess that I am
altogether thine by claims arising out of my birth. O that
children of godly parents would thus judge; but, alas, there are
many who are the sons of the Lord's handmaids, but they are not
themselves his servants. They give sad proof that grace does not
run in the blood. David's mother was evidently a gracious woman,
and he is glad to remember that fact, and to see in it a fresh
obligation to devote himself to God. Thou hast loosed my bonds,
freedom from bondage binds me to thy service. He who is loosed
from the bonds of sin, death, and hell should rejoice to wear
the easy yoke of the great Deliverer. Note how the sweet singer
delights to dwell upon his belonging to the Lord; it is
evidently his glory, a thing of which he is proud, a matter
which causes him intense satisfaction. Verily, it ought to
create rapture in our souls if we are able to call Jesus Master,
and are acknowledged by him as his servants.
Verse 17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of
thanksgiving. Being thy servant, I am bound to sacrifice to
thee, and having received spiritual blessings at thy hands I
will not bring bullock or goat, but I will bring that which is
more suitable, namely, the thanksgiving of my heart. My inmost
soul shall adore thee in gratitude. And will call upon the name
of the Lord, that is to say, I will bow before thee reverently,
lift up my heart in love to thee, think upon thy character, and
adore thee as thou dost reveal thyself. He is fond of this
occupation, and several times in this Psalm declares that
"he will call upon the name of the Lord, "while at the
same time he rejoices that he had done so many a time before.
Good feelings and actions bear repeating: the more of hearty
callings upon God the better.
Verse 18. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in
the presence of all his people. He repeats the declaration.
A good thing is worth saying twice. He thus stirs himself up to
greater heartiness, earnestness, and diligence in keeping his
vow,—really paying it at the very moment that he is declaring
his resolution to do so. The mercy came in secret, but the
praise is rendered in public; the company was, however, select;
he did not cast his pearls before swine, but delivered his
testimony before those who could understand and appreciate it.
Verse 19. In the courts of the LORD'S house: in
the proper place, where God had ordained that he should be
worshipped. See how he is stirred up at the remembrance of the
house of the Lord, and must needs speak of the holy city with a
note of joyful exclamation—In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.
The very thought of the beloved Zion touched his heart, and he
writes as if he were actually addressing Jerusalem, whose name
was dear to him. There would he pay his vows, in the abode of
fellowship, in the very heart of Judea, in the place to which
the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord. There is nothing
like witnessing for Jesus, where the report thereof will be
carried into a thousand homes. God's praise is not to be
confined to a closet, nor his name to be whispered in holes and
corners, as if we were afraid that men should hear us; but in
the thick of the throng, and in the very centre of assemblies,
we should lift up heart and voice unto the Lord, and invite
others to join with us in adoring him, saying, Praise ye the
LORD, or Hallelujah. This was a very fit conclusion of a song to
be sung when all the people were gathered together at Jerusalem
to keep the feast. God's Spirit moved the writers of these
Psalms to give them a fitness and suitability which was more
evident in their own day than now; but enough is perceptible to
convince us that every line and word had a peculiar adaptation
to the occasions for which the sacred sonnets were composed.
When we worship the Lord we ought with great care to select the
words of prayer and praise, and not to trust to the opening of a
hymn book, or to the unconsidered extemporizing of the moment.
Let all things be done decently and in order, and let all things
begin and end with Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. A Psalm of Thanksgiving in the Person of
Christ. He is imagined by the prophet to have passed through the
sorrows and afflictions of life. The atonement is passed. He has
risen from the dead. He is on the right hand of the Majesty on
High; and he proclaims to the whole world the mercies he
experienced from God in the day of his incarnation, and the
glories which he has received in the kingdom of his Heavenly
Father. Yet, although the Psalm possesses this power, and, by
its own internal evidence, proves the soundness of the
interpretation, it is yet highly mystic in its mode of
disclosure, and requires careful meditation in bringing out its
real results. Its language, too, is not so exclusively
appropriate to the Messiah, that it shall not be repeated and
applied by the believer to his own trials in the world; so that
while there is much that finds a ready parallel in the
exaltation of Christ in heaven, there is much that would seem to
be restrained to his condition upon earth. It therefore depends
much on the mind of the individual, whether he will
receive it in the higher sense of the Redeemer's glory; or
restrict it solely to a thanksgiving for blessings amidst
those sufferings in life to which all men have been subject in
the same manner, though not to the same extent as Jesus. The
most perfect and the most profitable reading would combine the
two, taking Christ as the exemplar of God's mercies
towards ourselves.
1. (Ps 116:1) Enthroned in eternity, and triumphant over sin
and death—I—Christ—am well pleased that my Heavenly Father
listened to the anxious prayers that I made to him in the day of
my sorrows; when I had neither strength in my own mind, nor
assistance from men; therefore "through my days"—through
the endless ages of my eternal existence—will I call upon him
in my gratitude, and praise him with my whole heart.
2. (Ps 116:3) In the troublous times of my incarnation I was
encircled with snares, and urged onwards towards my death. The
priest and ruler; the Pharisee and the scribe; the rich and the
poor, clamoured fiercely for my destruction. The whole nation
conspired against me. "The bands of the grave"
laid hold of me, and I was hurried to the cross.
3. (Ps 116:4) Then, truly did Christ find heaviness
and affliction. "His soul was exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death." He prayed anxiously to his Heavenly Father,
that "the cup might pass from him." The fate of the
whole world was in the balance; and he supplicated with agony,
that his soul might be delivered.
4. (Ps 116:5) The abrupt breaking off in this verse from the
direct narrative of his own sorrows is wonderfully grand and
beautiful. Nor less so, is the expression "our
God" as applied by Christ to his own disciples and
believers. "I called, "he states, "on
the name of the LORD." But he does not yet state the
answer. He leaves that to be inferred from the assurance that
God is ever gracious to the faithful; yea, "our
God"—the protector of the Christian church, as well as of
myself—"our God is merciful."
5. (Ps 116:6) Instantly, however, he resumes. Mark the energy
of the language, "I was afflicted; and he delivered
me." And how delivered? The soul of Christ hast returned
freely to its tranquillity; for though the body and the frame
perished on the tree, yet the soul burst through the bands of
death. Again in the full stature of a perfect man Christ rose
resplendent in glory to the mansions of eternity. The tears
ceased: the sorrows were hushed; and henceforward, through the
boundless day of immortality, doth lie "walk before
Jehovah, in the land of the living." This last is
one of those expressions in the Psalm which might, without
reflection, seem adapted to the rescued believer's state on
earth, rather than Christ's in heaven. But applying the language
of earthly things to heavenly—which is usual, even in the most
mystic writings of Scripture—nothing can be finer than the
appellation of "the land of the living, "when
assigned to the future residence of the soul. It is the noblest
application of the metaphor, and is singularly appropriate to
those eternal mansions where death and sorrow are alike unknown.
6. (Ps 116:10) This stanza will bear an emendation.
I felt confidence, although I said,
"I am sore afflicted."
I said in my sudden terror,—
"All mankind are false." French.
It alludes to the eve of his crucifixion, when worn down with
long watchfulness and fasting, his spirit almost fainted in the
agony of Gethsemane. Still, oppressed and stricken as he was in
soul, he yet trusted in Jehovah, for he felt assured that he
would not forsake him. But, sustained by God, he was deserted by
men, the disciples with whom he had lived; the multitudes whom
he had taught; the afflicted whom he had healed, "all
forsook him and fled." Not one—not even the
"disciple whom he loved"—remained; and in the
anguish of that desertion he could not refrain from the bitter
thought, that all mankind were alike false and treacherous.
7. (Ps 116:12) But that dread hour has passed. He has risen
from the dead; and stands girt with truth and holiness and
glory. What then is his earliest thought? Hear it, O man, and
blush for thine oft ingratitude! I will lift up "the cup
of deliverance"—the drink offering made to God with
sacrifice after any signal mercies received—and bless the Lord
who has been thus gracious to me. In the sight of the whole
world will I pay my past vows unto Jehovah, and bring nations
from every portion of the earth, reconciled and holy through the
blood of my atonement. The language in these verses, as in the
concluding part of the Psalm, is wholly drawn from earthly
objects and modes of religious service, well recognized by the
Jews. It is in these things that the spiritual sense is
required to be separated from the external emblem. For instance,
the sacramental cup was without a doubt drawn and instituted
from the cup used in commemoration of deliverances by the Jews.
It is used figuratively by Christ in heaven; but the reflective
mind can scarcely fail to see the beauty of imagining it in his
hand in thankfulness for his triumph, because "he
has burst his bonds in sunder": the bonds which held him
fast in death, and confined him to the tomb: the assertion that
"precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of his
saints" specially includes the sacrifice of Christ
within its more general allusion to the blood shed, in such
abundance, by prophets and martyrs to the truth. In the same
manner the worship of Jehovah in the courts of his temple at
Jerusalem is used in figure for the open promulgation of
Christianity to the whole world. The temple services were the
most solemn and most public which were offered by the Jews; and
when Christ is said to "offer his sacrifices of
thanksgiving" to God in the sight of all his people,
the figure is easily separated from the grosser element; and the
conversion of all people intimated under the form of Christ seen
by all. William Hill Tucker.
Verse 1. I love. The expression of the
prophet's affection is in this short abrupt phrase, "I
love, "which is but one word in the original, and
expressed as a full and entire sentence in itself, thus—I
love because the Lord hath heard, etc. Most translators so
turn it, as if, by a trajection, or passing of a word from one
sentence to another, this title Lord were to be joined with the
first clause, thus—(hwhy emvy yk ytbha), "I love the
LORD, because he hath heard, "etc. I deny not but that
thus the sense is made somewhat the more perspicuous, and the
words run the more roundly; yet are they not altogether so
emphatic. For when a man's heart is inflamed, and his soul
lavished with a deep apprehension of some great and
extraordinary favour, his affection will cause interruption in
the expression thereof, and make stops in his speech; and
therefore this concise and abrupt clause, "I love,
"declareth a more entire and ardent affection than a
more full and round phrase would do. Great is the force of true
love, so that it cannot be sufficiently expressed. William
Gouge, 1575-1653.
Verse 1. I love the LORD. Oh that there were
such hearts in us that we could every one say, as David, with
David's spirit, upon his evidence, "I love the
LORD"; that were more worth than all these, viz.;
First, to know all secrets. Secondly, to prophesy. Thirdly, to
move mountains, etc., 1Co 13:1-2, etc. "I love the
LORD"; it is more than I know the Lord; for even
castaways are enlightened, (Heb 6:4); more than I fear the Lord,
for devils fear him unto trembling (Jas 2:19); more than I pray
to God (Isa 1:15). What should I say? More than all services,
than all virtues separate from charity: truly say the schools,
charity is the form of all virtues, because it forms them all to
acceptability, for nothing is accepted but what issues from
charity, or, in other words, from the love of God. William
Slater, 1638.
Verse 1. I love the LORD, because, etc. How
vain and foolish is the talk, "To love God for his benefits
towards us is mercenary, and cannot be pure love!" Whether
pure or impure, there is no other love that can flow from the
heart of the creature to its Creator. "We love him,
"said the holiest of Christ's disciples, "because he
first loved us; "and the increase of our love and filial
obedience is in proportion to the increased sense we have of our
obligation to him. We love him for the benefits bestowed on
us.—Love begets love. Adam Clarke.
Verse 1. He hath heard my voice. But is this
such a benefit to us, that God hears us? Is his hearing our
voice such an argument of his love? Alas! he may hear us, and we
be never the better: he may hear our voice, and yet his love to
us may be but little, for who will not give a man the hearing,
though he love him not at all? With men perhaps it may be so,
but not with God; for his hearing is not only voluntary, but
reserved; non omnibus dormit:his ears are not open to
every one's cry; indeed, to hear us, is in God so great a favour,
that he may well be counted his favourite whom he vouchsafes to
hear: and the rather, for that his hearing is always operative,
and with a purpose of helping; so that if he hear my voice, I
may be sure he means to grant my supplication; or rather perhaps
in David's manner of expressing, and in God's manner of
proceeding, to hear my voice is no less in effect than to grant
my supplication. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 1. Hath heard. By hearing prayer God
giveth evidence of the notice which he taketh of our estates, of
the respect he beareth to our persons, of the pity he hath of
our miseries, of his purpose to supply our wants, and of his
mind to do us good according to our needs. William Gouge.
Verses 1-2. The first emvy is more of an aorist. The
Lord hears always; and then, making a distinction ygwa hjh. He
has done it hitherto: adqa Therefore will I call upon Him as
long as I live, cleaving to Him in love and faith! It should be
noticed, in addition, that adq here is not simply the prayer for
help, but includes also the praising and thanksgiving, according
to the twofold signification of hwhy Mvk arq, in Ps 116:4,13,17;
therefore, Jarchi very excellently says: In the time of my
distress I will call upon Him, and in the time of my deliverance
l will praise Him. Rudolph Stier.
Verses 1-2. I love. Therefore will I call upon him.
It is love that doth open our mouths, that we may praise God
with joyful lips: "I will love the Lord because he hath
heard the voice of my supplications"; and then, Ps 116:2,
"I will call upon him as long as I live." The proper
intent of mercies is to draw us to God. When the heart is full
of a sense of the goodness of the Lord, the tongue cannot hold
its peace. Self love may lead us to prayers, but love to God
excites us to praises: therefore to seek and not to praise, is
to be lovers of ourselves rather than of God. Thomas Manton.
Verses 1, 12. I love. What shall I render? Love
and thankfulness are like the symbolical qualities of the
elements, easily resolved into each other. David begins with, "I
love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice"; and to
enkindle this grace into a greater flame, he records the mercies
of God in some following verses; which done, then he is in the
right mood for praise; and cries, "What shall I render
unto the Loud for all his benefits?" The spouse, when
thoroughly awake, pondering with herself what a friend had been
at her door, and how his sweet company was lost through her
unkindness, shakes off her sloth, riseth, and away she goes
after him; now, when by running after her beloved, she hath put
her soul into a heat of love, she breaks out in praising him
from top to toe. So 5:10. That is the acceptable praising which
comes from a warm heart; and the saint must use some holy
exercise to stir up his habit of love, which like natural heat
in the body, is preserved and increased by motion. William
Gumall.
Verse 2. He hath inclined his ear unto me. How
great a blessing is the inclining of the Divine ear, may be
judged from the conduct of great men, who do not admit a
wretched petitioner to audience; but, if they do anything,
receive the main part of the complaint through the officer
appointed for such matters, or through a servant. But God
himself hears immediately, and inclines his ear, hearing
readily, graciously, constantly, etc. Who would not pray? Wolfgang
Musculus.
Verse 2. And now because he hath inclined his ear unto
me, I will therefore call upon him as long as I live: that if it
be expected I should call upon any other, it must be when I am
dead; for as long as I live, I have vowed to call upon God. But
will this be well done? May I not, in so doing, do more than I
shall have thanks for? Is this the requital that God shall have
for his kindness in hearing me, that now he shall have a
customer of me, and never be quiet because of my continual
running to him, and calling upon him? Doth God get anything by
my calling upon him, that I should make it a vow, as though in
calling upon him I did him a pleasure? O my soul, I would that
God might indeed have a customer of me in praying; although I
confess I should not be so bold to call upon him so continually,
if his own commanding me did not make it a duty; for hath not
God bid me call upon him when I am in trouble? and is there any
time that I am not in trouble, as long as I live in this vale of
misery? and then can there be any time as long as I live, that I
must not call upon him? For shall God bid me, and shall I not do
it? Shall God incline his car, and stand listening to hear, and
shall I hold my peace that he may have nothing to hear? Sir
Richard Baker.
Verse 2. Therefore will I call upon him. If the
hypocrite speed in prayer, and get what he asks, then also he
throws up prayer, and will ask no more. If from a sick bed he be
raised to health, he leaves prayer behind him, as it were, sick
abed; he grows weak in calling upon God, when at his call God
hath given him strength. And thus it is in other instances. When
he hath got what he hath a mind to in prayer, he hath no more
mind to pray. Whereas a godly man prays after he hath sped, as
he did before, and though he fall not into those troubles again,
and so is not occasioned to urge those petitions again which he
did in trouble, yet he cannot live without prayer, because he
cannot live out of communion with God. The creature is as the
white of an egg, tasteless to him, unless he enjoy God. David
saith, "I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice
and my supplications"; that is, because he hath granted
me that which I supplicated to him for. But did this grant of
what he had asked take him off from asking more? The next words
show us what his resolution was upon that grant. "Because
he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him
as long as I live";as if he had said, I will never give
over praying, forasmuch as I have been heard in prayer. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 2. As long as I live.—Not on some few
days, but every day of my life; for to pray on certain days, and
not on all, is the mark of one who loathes and not of one who
loves. Ambrose.
Verse 3. Here begins the exemplification of God's
kindness to his servant; the first branch whereof is a
description of the danger wherein he was and out of which he was
delivered. Now, to magnify the kindness of God the more in
delivering him out of the same, he setteth it out with much
variety of words and phrases.
The first word ylbx, "sorrows, "is diversely
translated. Some expound it snares, some cords, some sorrows.
The reason of this difference is because the word itself is
metaphorical. It is taken from cruel creditors, who will be sure
to tie their debtors fast, as with cords, so that they shall not
easily get loose and free again. The pledge which the debtor
leaveth with his creditor as a pawn, hath this name in Hebrew;
so also a cord wherewith things are fast tied; and the mast of a
ship fast fixed, and tied on every side with cords; and bands or
troops of men combined together; and the pain of a woman in
travail, which is very great; and destruction with pain and
anguish. Thus we see that such a word is used here as setteth
out a most lamentable and inextricable case.
The next word, "of death" twm, sheweth that
his case was deadly; death was before his eyes; death was as it
were threatened. He is said to be "compassed"
herewith in two respects: (1) To show that these sorrows were
not far off, but even upon him, as waters that compass a man
when he is in the midst of them, or as enemies that begird a
place. (2) To show that they were not few, but many sorrows, as
bees that swarm together.
The word translated "pains, "yrum, in the
original is put for sacks fast bound together, and flint stones,
and fierce enemies, and hard straits; so that this word also
aggravates his misery.
The word translated "hell, "lwav, is usually
taken in the Old Testament for the grave; it is derived from lav,
a verb that signifieth to crave, because the grave is ever
craving, and never satisfied.
The word translated "gat hold on me, "ygwaum,
and "I found, "auma, are both the same verb;
they differ only in circumstances of tense, number, and person.
The former sheweth that these miseries found him, and as a
serjeant they seized on him; he did not seek them, he would
wittingly and willingly have escaped them, if he could. The
latter sheweth that indeed he found them; he felt the tartness
and bitterness, the smart and pain of them.
The word translated trouble, hru of dwu, hath a near
affinity with the former word translated pain, dum of dwu, and
is used to set out as great misery as that; and yet further to
aggravate the same, another word is added thereto, "sorrow."
The last word, "sorrow, "Nwgy of hgy,
imports such a kind of calamity as maketh them that lie under it
much to grieve, and also moveth others that behold it much to
pity them. It is often used in the Lamentations of Jeremiah.
Either of these two last words, trouble and sorrow, do declare a
very perplexed and distressed estate; what then both of them
joined together? For the Holy Ghost doth not multiply words in
vain. William Gouge.
Verse 3. Gat hold upon me. The original word is, found
me, as we put in the margin. They found him, as an officer
or serjeant finds a person that he is sent to arrest; who no
sooner finds him, but he takes hold of him, or takes him into
custody. When warrants are sent out to take a man who keeps out
of the way, the return is, Non est inventus, the man is
not found, he cannot be met with, or taken hold of. David's
pains quickly found him, and having found him they gat hold of
him. Such finding is so certainly and suddenly followed With
taking hold, and holding what is taken, that one word in the
Hebrew serves to express both acts. When God sends out troubles
and afflictions as officers to attack any man, they will find
him, and finding him, they will take hold of him. The days of
affliction will take hold; there's no striving, no struggling
with them, no getting out of their hands. These divine
pursuivants will neither be persuaded nor bribed to let you go,
till God speak the word, till God say, Deliver him, release him.
I found trouble and sorrow. I found trouble which I
looked not for. I was not searching after sorrow, but I found
it. There's an elegancy in the original. The Hebrew is, "The
pains of hell found me." They found me, I did not find
them; but no sooner had the pains of hell found me, than I found
trouble and sorrow, enough, and soon enough. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 3. See how the saints instead of lessening the
dangers and tribulations, with which they are exercised by God,
magnify them in figurative phraseology; neither do they conceal
their distress of soul, but clearly and willingly set it forth.
Far otherwise are the minds of those who regard their own glory
and not the glory of God. The saints, that they may make more
illustrious the glory of the help of God, declare things
concerning themselves which make but little for their own glory.
Wolfgang Musculus.
Verses 3-7. Those usually have most of heaven upon
earth, that formerly have met with most of hell upon earth. The
sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold
upon me: I found trouble and sorrow: (as Jonas crying in the
belly of hell). But look upon him within two or three verses
after, and you may see him in an ecstasy, as if he were in
heaven; Ps 116:7: Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the
LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. Matthew Lawrence.
Verse 4. The name of the LORD. God's name, as
it is set out in the word, is both a glorious name, full of
majesty; and also a gracious name, full of mercy. His majesty
worketh fear and reverence, his mercy faith and confidence. By
these graces man's heart is kept within such a compass, that he
will neither presume above that which is meet, nor despond more
than there is cause. But where God's name is not rightly known,
it cannot be avoided but that they who come before him must
needs rush upon the rock of presumption, or sink into the gulf
of desperation. Necessary, therefore, it is that God be known of
them that pray to him, that in truth they may say, "We
have called upon the name of the LORD." Be persuaded
hereby so to offer up your spiritual sacrifice of supplication
to God, that he may have respect to your persons and prayers, as
he had respect to Abel and his offering. Learn to know the name
of God, as in his word it is made known; and then, especially
when you draw near to him, meditate on his name. Assuredly God
will take good notice of them that take due notice of him, and
will open his ears to them by name who rightly call upon his
name. William Gouge.
Verse 4. O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
A short prayer for so great a suit, and yet as short as it was,
it prevailed. If we wondered before at the power of God, we may
wonder now at the power of prayer, that can prevail with God,
for obtaining of that which in nature is impossible, and to
reason is incredible. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 4. We learn here that there is nothing better
and more effectual in distressing agonies than assiduous
prayer—Then called I upon the name of the LORD; but in
such prayers the first care ought to be for the salvation of the
soul—I beseech thee, deliver my soul; for, this being
done, God also either removes or mitigates the bodily disease. Solomon
Gesner.
Verse 5. Gracious is the Lord, etc. He is gracious
in hearing, he is "righteous" in judging, he is
"merciful" in pardoning, and how, then, can I
doubt of his will to help me? He is righteous to reward
according to deserts; he is gracious to reward above deserts;
yea, he is merciful to reward without deserts; and how, then,
can I doubt of his will to help me? He is gracious, and this
shows his bounty; he is righteous, and this shows his justice;
yea, he is merciful, and this shows his love; and how, then, can
I doubt of his will to help me? If he were not gracious I could
not hope he would hear me; if he were not righteous, I could not
depend upon his promise; if he were not merciful, I could not
expect his pardon; but now that he is gracious and righteous and
merciful too, how can I doubt of his will to help me? Sir
Richard Baker.
Verse 5. The first attribute, "gracious,
"(Nwgx) hath especial respect to that goodness which is
in God himself. The root (Ngx) whence it cometh signifieth to do
a thing gratis, freely, of one's own mind and goodwill. This is
that word which is used to set out the free grace and mere
goodwill of God, thus (Nxa ddva ta ytgxw) "I will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious, "Ex 33:19. There is
also an adverb (Mgh) derived thence, which signifieth gratis,
freely, as where Laban thus speaketh to Jacob, "Shouldest
thou serve me for nought?" Thus is the word opposed to
merit. And hereby the prophet acknowledged that the deliverance
which God gave was for the Lord's own sake, upon no desert of
him that was delivered.
The second attribute, "righteous" or just, (qydu),
hath particular relation to the promise of God. God's
righteousness largely taken is the integrity or equity of all
his counsels, words, and actions... Particularly is God's
righteousness manifested in giving reward and taking vengeance.
Thus it is said to be "a righteous thing with God to
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who
are troubled rest, "2Th 1:6-7... But the occasion of
mentioning God's righteousness here in this place being to show
the ground of his calling on God, and of God's delivering him,
it must needs have respect to God's word and promise, and to
God's truth in performing what he hath promised. William
Gouge.
Verse 5. The Lord; our God. The first
title, "Lord, "sets out the excellency of God.
Fit mention is here made thereof, to shew the blessed
concurrence of greatness and goodness in God. Though he be
Jehovah the Lord, yet is he gracious, and righteous, and
merciful. The second title, "our God, "manifests
a peculiar relation betwixt him and the faithful that believe in
him, and depend on him, as this prophet did. And to them in an
especial manner the Lord is gracious, which moved him thus to
change the person; for where he had said in the third person
"the Lord is gracious, "here, in the first person, he
says, "our God, "yet so that he appropriates
not this privilege to himself, but acknowledgeth it to be common
to all of like character by using the plural number, "our."
William Gouge.
Verse 5. The "Berlenburger Bibelwerk" says,
"The righteousness is very significantly placed between the
grace and the mercy: for it is still necessary, that the evil
should be mortified and driven out. Grace lays, as it were, the
foundation for salvation, and mercy perfects the work; but not
till righteousness has finished its intermediary work." Rudolph
Stier.
Verse 5. Our God is merciful. Mercy is God's
darling attribute; and by his infinite wisdom he has enabled
mercy to triumph over justice without in any degree violating
his honour or his truth. The character of merciful is that by
which our God seems to delight in being known. When he
proclaimed himself amid terrific grandeur to the children of
Israel, it was as "the Lord, the Lord God merciful and
gracious, pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin." And
such was the impression of this his character on the mind of
Jonah that he says to him, "I knew that thou wert a
merciful God." These, however, are not mere
assertions—claims made to the character by God on the one
hand, and extorted without evidence from man on the other; for
in whatever way we look upon God, and examine into his conduct
towards his creatures, we perceive it to bear the impression of
mercy. Nor can we more exalt the Lord our God than by speaking
of his mercy and confiding in it; for our "Lord's delight
is in them that fear him, and put their trust in his
mercy." John Gwyther, 1833.
Verse 6. The Lord preserveth the simple. God
taketh most care of them that, being otherwise least cared for,
wholly depend on him. These are in a good sense simple ones;
simple in the world's account, and simple in their own eyes.
Such as he that said, "I am a worm, and no man; a reproach
of men, and despised of the people." Ps 22:6. And again,
"I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh on me." Ps
40:17. These are those poor ones of a contrite spirit on whom
the Lord looketh. Isa 66:2. Of such fatherless is God a father;
and of such widows a judge. Read Ps 68:5, and Ps 146:7-9. Yea,
read observantly the histories of the Gospel, and well weigh who
they were to whom Christ in the days of his flesh afforded
succour, and you shall find them to be such simple ones as are
here intended. By such objects the free grace and merciful mind
of the Lord is best manifested. Their case being most miserable,
in reference to human helps, the greater doth God's mercy appear
to be; and since there is nothing in them to procure favour or
succour from God, for in their own and others' eyes they are
nothing, what God doth for them evidently appeareth to be freely
done. Behold here how of all others they who seem to have least
cause to trust on God have most cause to trust on him. Simple
persons, silly wretches, despicable fools in the world's
account, who have not subtle brains, or crafty wits to search
after indirect means, have, notwithstanding, enough to support
them, in the grand fact that they are such as the Lord
preserveth. Now, who knoweth not that "It is better to
trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man; it is better
to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes"?
Ps 118:8-9. William Gouge.
Verse 6. The Lord preserveth the simple. How
delightful it is to be able to reflect on the character of God
as preserving the soul. The word properly signifies to
defend us at any season of danger. The Hebrew word which is
translated "simple, "signifies one who has no
control over himself, one that cannot resist the power and
influence of those around, and one, therefore, subject to the
greatest peril from which he has naturally no deliverance.
"The Lord preserveth": his eye is upon them, his hand
is over them, and they cannot fall. The word "simple"
signifies likewise those that are ignorant of their condition,
and not watching over their foes. Delightful thought, that
though we may be thus ignorant, yet we are blessed with the
means of escape! We may be simple to the last extent, and our
simplicity may be such as to involve our mind in the greatest
doubt: the Lord preserveth us, and let us rest in him. It is
delightful to reflect, that it is the simple in whom the Lord
delights, whom he loves to bless. We are sometimes especially in
the condition in which we may be inclined to make the inquiry,
how we may be saved. We suppose there are many truths to be
apprehended, many principles to be realized before we can be
saved. No; "the Lord preserveth the simple." We may be
able to reconcile scarcely any of the doctrines of Christianity
with each other; we may find ourselves in the greatest
perplexity when we examine the evidences on which they rest; we
may be exposed to great difficulty when we seek to apply them to
practical usefulness; but still we may adopt the language before
us: The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he
helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. R. S. M'All,
1834.
Verse 6. The LORD preserveth the simple. The
term simple equals the "simplicity" of the New
Testament, namely, that pure mind towards God, which, without
looking out for help from any other quarter, and free from ali
dissimulation, expects salvation from him alone. Augustus F.
Tholuck.
Verse 6. The simple. They are such as honestly
keep the plain way of God's commandments, without those slights,
or creeks of carnal policy, for which men are m the world
esteemed wise; see Ge 25:27, where Jacob is called a plain man.
Simple or foolish he calls them, because they are generally so
esteemed amongst the wise of the world; not that they are so
silly as they are esteemed; for if the Lord can judge of wisdom
or folly, the only fool is the Atheist and profane person (Ps
14:1); the only wise man in the world is the plain, downright
Christian (De 4:6), who keeps himself precisely in all states to
that plain, honest course the Lord hath prescribed him. To such
simple ones, God's fools, who in their misery and affliction
keep them only to the means of deliverance and comfort which the
Lord hath prescribed them, belongs this blessing of preservation
from mischief, or destruction: so Solomon (Pr 16:17), "The
highway of the upright is to depart from evil." "He
that keepeth his way preserveth his soul"; see also Pr
19:16,23; for exemplification see in Asa, 2Ch 14:9-12 16:7-9,
read the excellent speech of Hanani the seer. William Slater,
1638.
Verse 6. I was brought low. By affliction and
trial. The Hebrew literally means to hang down, to be pendulous,
to swing, to wave—as a bucket in a well, or as the slender
branches of the palm, the willow, etc. Then it means to be
slack, feeble, weak, as in sickness, etc. It probably refers to
the prostration of strength by disease. And he helped me.
He gave me strength; he restored me. Albert Barnes.
Verse 6. I was brought low, and he helped me.
The word translated "brought low, "ygtld a tld,
properly signifieth to be drawn dry. The metaphor is taken from
ponds, or brooks, or rivers that are clean exhausted and dried
up, where water utterly faileth. Thus doth Isaiah use this word,
"The brooks shall be emptied and dried up, " Isa 19:6,
yray wkrhw wlld. Being applied to man, it setteth out such an
one as is spent, utterly wasted, for, as we use to speak, clean
gone, who hath no ability to help himself, no means of help, no
hope of help from others. The other word whereby the succour
which God afforded is expressed, and translated "helped"
eyvwhy ab evy, signifies such help as frees out of
danger. It is usually translated "to save." William
Gouge.
Verse 6. I was brought low, and he helped me.
Then is the time of help, when men are brought low: and
therefore God who does all things in due time when I was brought
low, then helped me. Wherefore, O my soul, let it never trouble
thee how low soever thou be brought, for when thy state is at
the lowest, then is God's assistance at the nearest. We may
truly say, God's ways are not as the ways of the world; for in
the world when a man is once brought low, he is commonly
trampled upon, and nothing is heard then but, "down with
him, down to the ground": but with God it is otherwise; for
his delight is to raise up them that fall, and when they are
brought low, then to help them. Hence it is no such hard case
for a man to be brought low, may I not rather say his case is
happy? For is it not better to be brought low, and have God to
help him, than to be set aloft and left to help himself? At
least, O my body, this may be a comfort to thee: for thou art
sure to be brought low, as low as the grave, which is low
indeed; yet there thou mayest rest in hope; for even there the
Lord will not fail to help thee. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 6. He helped me. Helped me both to bear
the worst and to hope the best; helped me to pray, else desire
had failed helped me to wait, else faith had failed. Matthew
Henry.
Verse 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. The
Psalmist had been at a great deal of unrest, and much off the
hooks, as we say; now, having prayed (for prayer hath vim
pacativam, a pacifying property), he calls his soul to rest;
and rocks it asleep in a spiritual security. Oh, learn this holy
art; acquaint thyself with God, acquiesce in him, and be at
peace; so shall good be done unto thee. Job 22:21. Sis
Sabbathum Christi. Luther. John Trapp.
Verse 7. Gracious souls rest in God; they and none
else. Whatever others may speak of a rest in God, only holy
souls know what it means. Return unto thy rest, O my soul,
to thy rest in calm and cheerful submission to God's will,
delight in his service, satisfaction in his presence, and joy in
communion begun with him here below, which is to be perfected
above in its full fruition. Holy souls rest in God, and in his
will; in his will of precept as their sovereign Lord, whose
commands concerning all things are right, and in the keeping of
which there is great reward; in his will of providence as their
absolute owner, and who does all things well; in himself as
their God, their portion, and their chief good, in whom they
shall have all that they can need, or are capable of enjoying to
complete their blessedness for ever. Daniel Wilcox.
Verse 7. Return unto thy rest. Return to that
rest which Christ gives to the weary and heavy laden, Mt 11:28.
Return to thy Noah, his name signifies rest, as the dove when
she found no rest returned to the ark. I know no word more
proper to close our eyes with at night when we go to sleep, nor
to close them with at death, that long sleep, than this, "Return
unto thy rest, O my soul." Matthew Henry.
Verse 7. Return unto thy rest. Consider the
variety of aspects of that rest which a good man seeks, and the
ground upon which he will endeavour to realize it. It consists
in,
1. Rest from the perplexities of ignorance, and the
wanderings of error.
2. Rest from the vain efforts of self righteousness, and the
disquietude of a proud and legal spirit.
3. Rest from the alarms of conscience, and the apprehensions
of punishment hereafter.
4. Rest from the fruitless struggles of our degenerate
nature, and unaided conflicts with indwelling sin.
5. Rest from the fear of temporal suffering and solicitude
arising from the prospect of danger and trial.
6. Rest from the distraction of uncertainty and indecision of
mind, and from the fluctuations of undetermined choice. R. S.
M'All.
Verse 7. Return, ykwv. This is the very word
which the angel used to Hagar when she fled from her mistress,
"Return, "Ge 16:9. As Hagar through her mistress'
rough dealing with her fled from her; so the soul of this
prophet by reason of affliction fell from its former quiet
confidence in God. As the angel therefore biddeth Hagar
"return to her mistress, "so the understanding of this
prophet biddeth his soul return to its rest. William Gouge.
Verse 7. Rest. The word "rest"
is put in the plural, as indicating complete and entire rest, at
all times, and under all circumstances. A. Edersheim.
Verses 7-8. For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with
thee. He hath dealt indeed most bountifully with thee, for where
thou didst make suit but for one thing, he hath granted thee
three. Thou didst ask but to have my soul delivered, and he hath
delivered mine eyes and my feet besides; and with a deliverance
in each of them the greatest that could be: for what greater
deliverance to my soul than to be delivered from death? What
greater deliverance to my eyes than to be delivered from tears?
What to my feet than to be delivered from falling? That if now,
O my soul, thou return not to thy rest, thou wilt show thyself
to be most insatiable; seeing thou hast not only more than thou
didst ask, but as much indeed as was possible to be asked. But
can my soul die? and if not, what bounty is it to deliver my
soul from that to which it is not subject? The soul indeed,
though immortal, hath yet her ways of dying. It is one kind of
death to the soul to be parted from the body, but the truest
kind is to be parted from God; and from both these kinds of
death he hath delivered my soul. From the first, by delivering
me from a dangerous sickness that threatened a dissolution of my
soul and body; from the other, by delivering me from the guilt
of sin, which threatened a separation from the favour of God;
and are not these bounties so great as to give my soul just
cause of returning to her rest? Sir Richard Baker.
Verses 7, 9. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. . . . I
will walk. How can these two stand together? Motus et
quies private opponuntur, saith the philosopher, motion and
rest are opposite; now walking is a motion, as
being an act of the locomotive faculty. How then could David return
to his rest and yet walk? You must know that walking
and rest here mentioned, being of a divine nature,
do not oppose each other; spiritual rest maketh no man idle,
and therefore it is no enemy to walking; spiritual walking
maketh no man weary, and therefore it is no enemy to
rest. Indeed, they are so far from being opposite that they are
subservient to each other, and it is hard to say whether that rest
be the cause of this walking, or this walking
a cause of that rest. Indeed, both are true, since
he that rests in God cannot but walk before him,
and by walking before, we come to rest in God.
Returning to rest is an act of confidence, since
there is no rest to be had but in God, nor in God but by
believing affiance in, and reliance on him. Walking before
God is an act of obedience;when we disobey we wander
and go astray, only by obedience we walk. Now these two are so
far from being enemies, that they are companions and ever go
together; confidence being a means to quicken obedience, and
obedience to strengthen confidence. Nathaniel Hardy.
Verse 8. Thou hast delivered my soul from death,
mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Lo, here a
deliverance, not from one, but many dangers, to wit, "death,
""tears, ""falling." Single
deliverances are as threads; but when multiplied, they become as
a cord twisted of many threads, more potent to draw us to God.
Any one mercy is as a link, but many favours are as a chain
consisting of several links, to bind us the closer to our duty; vis
unita fortior. Frequent droppings of the rain cannot but
make an impression even on the stone, and renewed mercies may
well prevail with the stony heart. Parisiensis relates a story
of a man whom (notwithstanding his notorious and vicious
courses) God was pleased to accumulate favours upon, so that at
last he cried out, "Vicisti, benignissime Deus,
indefatigabili sua bonitate, Most gracious God, thy
unwearied goodness hath overcome my obstinate wickedness";
and from that time devoted himself to God's service. No wonder,
then, if David upon deliverance from such numerous and grievous
afflictions, maketh this his resolve, to "walk before
the Lord in the land of the living." Nathanael Hardy
Verse 8. As an humble and sensible soul will pack up
many troubles in one, so a thankful soul will divide one mercy
into sundry particular branches, as here the Psalmist
distinguishes, the delivery of his soul from death, of his eyes
from tears, and of his feet from falling. David Dickson.
Verse 8. Some distinguish the three particulars thus: He
hath delivered my soul from death, by giving me a good
conscience; mine eyes from tears, by giving a quiet
conscience; my feet from falling, by giving an
enlightened and assured conscience. William Gouge.
Verse 8. My feet from falling. Whether means
he, into penal misery and mischief, or into sin? There is a lapsus
moralis, as 1Co 10:12. Err I? or would David here be
understood of sinning? So Ps 73:2: "My feet were almost
gone; my steps had well nigh slipped." And if I be not
deceived, the text leans to that meaning, rising still from the
less to the greater. First. It is more bounty to be kept from
grief than from death, for there is a greater enlargement from
misery. It is not more bounty to be kept from the sense of
affliction than to be kept from death, which is the greatest of
temporal evils; but it is more bounty in a gracious eye to be
kept from sin than from death. Secondly. How his eyes from
tears? If not kept from sin? That had surely cost him many a
tear, as Peter (Mt 26:75). But understand it de lapsu morali,
so the gradation still riseth to enlarge God's bounty: yea,
which I count the greatest blessing, in these afflictions he
kept me steady in my course of piety, and suffered not
afflictions to sway my heart from him. Still, in a gracious eye,
the benefit seems greater to be delivered from sinning than from
the greatest outward affliction. This is the reason Paul (Ro
8:37) triumphs over all afflictions. 2Co 11:22-33 and 2Co
12:1-10. He counts them his glory, his crown; but speaking of
the prevailing of corruption in particular, he bemoans himself
as the most miserable man alive. Ro 7:24. William Slater.
Verse 9. I will walk, etc. It is a holy
resolution which this verse records. The previous verse had
mentioned among the mercies vouchsafed, "Thou hast
delivered my feet from falling"; and the first use of the
restored limb is, I will walk before the LORD. It reminds
me of the crippled beggar at the Beautiful Gate of the temple,
to whom Peter had said, "In the name of Jesus Christ rise
up and walk"; and "immediately his ankle bones
received strength, and he leaping up stood and walked, and
entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and
praising God." It is a very sure mark of a grateful heart
to employ the gift to the praise of the giver, in such a manner
as he would most wish it to be employed. Barton Bouchier.
Verse 9. When you, my soul, return to this rest, thou
shalt walk in order that thou mayest have some exercise in thy
rest, that thy resting may not make thee restive. I will walk
before the Lord in the land of the living. For now that my
feet are delivered from falling, how can I better employ them
than in walking? Were they delivered from falling that they
should stand still and be idle? No, my soul, but to encourage me
to walk: and where is so good walking as in the land of the
living Alas! what walking is it in the winter, when all things
are dead, when the very grass lies buried under ground, and
scarce anything that has life in it is to be seen? But then is
the pleasant walking, when nature spreads her green carpet to
walk upon, and then it is the land of the living, when the trees
shew they live, by bringing forth, if not fruits, at least
leaves; when the valleys shew they live, by bringing forth sweet
flowers to delight the smell, at least fresh grass to please the
eyes. But is this the walking in the land of the living that
David means? O my soul, to walk in the land of the living is to
walk in the paths of righteousness: for there is no such death
to the soul as sin, no such cause of tears to the eyes as
guiltiness of conscience, no such falling of the feet as to fall
from God: and therefore, to say the truth, the soul can never
return to its rest if we walk not within in the paths of
righteousness; and we cannot well say whether this rest be a
cause of the walk, or the walking be a cause of the resting: but
this we may say, they are certainly companions the one to the
other, which is in effect but this—that justification can
never be without sanctification. Peace of conscience, and
godliness of life, can never be one without the other. Or is it
perhaps that David means that land of the living where Enoch and
Elias are living, with the living God? But if he mean so, how
can he speak so confidently, and say, "I will walk in
the land of the living"? as though he could come to
walk there by his own strength, or at his own pleasure? He
therefore gives his reason: "I believed, and therefore I
spake, "for the voice of faith is strong, and speaks
with confidence; and because in faith he believes that he should
come to walk in the land of the living, therefore with
confidence lie speaks it, I will walk in the land of the
living. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 9. I will walk before the LORD in the land of
the living, i.e., I shall pass the whole of my life under
his fatherly care and protection. The prophet has regard to the
custom of men, and chiefly of parents: for those who ardently
love their children have them always in their thoughts and carry
them there, never ceasing from care and anxiety about them, but
being always attentive to their safety. Omnis enim in natis
chari stat cura parentis. Children are, therefore, said to
walk before and in the sight of their parents, because they have
them as constant guardians of their health and safety. Thus also
the godly in this life walk before God, that is to say, are
defended by his care and protection. Mollerus.
Verse 9. I will walk before the LORD. According
to a different reading of the first word, "I shall,
"and, "I will, "the clause puts on
several senses; if read "I shall walk, "they
are words of confident expectation;if "I will,
"they are words of obedient resolution.
According to the former, the Psalmist promises somewhat to
himself from God; according to the latter, he promises somewhat
of himself to God. Both these constructions are probable and
profitable. "Before God"; that is, in his
service; or, "before God, "that is, under his
care. Let us consider both senses.
1. I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living;
that is, by continuing in this world, I shall have opportunity
of doing God service. It was not because those holy men had less
assurance of God's love than we, but because they had greater
affections to God's service than we, that this life was so
amiable in their eyes. To this purpose the reasonings of David
and Hezekiah concerning death and the grave are very observable.
"Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy
truth"? so David, Ps 30:9. "The grave cannot praise
thee, death cannot celebrate thee"; so Hezekiah, Isa 38:18.
They saw death would render them useless for God's honour, and
therefore they prayed for life. It lets us see why a religious
man may desire life, that he may walk before the LORD,
and minister to him in the place wherein he hath set him.
Indeed, that joy, hope, and desire of life which is founded upon
this consideration is not only lawful, but commendable; and
truly herein is a vast difference between the wicked and the
godly. To walk in the land of the living is the wicked man's
desire, yea, were it possible he would walk here for ever; but
for what end? only to enjoy his lusts, have his fill of
pleasure, and increase his wealth: whereas the godly man's aim
in desiring to live is that he may "walk before God,
"advance his glory, and perform his service. Upon this
account it is that one hath fitly taken notice how David doth
not say, I shall now satiate myself with delights in my royal
city, but, I shall walk before the LORD in the land of the
living.
2. And most suitably to this interpretation, this "before
the LORD, "means under the Lord's careful eye.
The words according to the Hebrew may be read, before the
face of the LORD, by which is meant his presence, and that
not general, before which all men walk, but special, before
which only good men walk. Indeed, in this sense God's face
is as much as his favour; and as to be cast out of his sight is
to be under his anger, so to walk before his face is to be in
favour with him: so that the meaning is, as the Psalmist had
said, I shall live securely and safely in this world under the
careful protection of the Almighty; and this is the confidence
which he here seemeth to utter with so much joy, that God's
gracious providence should watch over him the remainder of his
days. Nathanael Hardy, in a Sermon entitled "Thankfulness
in Grain," 1654.
Verse 9. In the land of the living. These words
admit of a threefold interpretation, being understood by some,
especially for the land of Judea. By others, erroneously for the
Jerusalem which is above. By the most, and most probably, for
this habitable earth, the present world.
1. That exposition which Cajetan, Lorinus, with others, give
of the words, would not be rejected, who conceive that by the
land of the living David here meaneth Judea, in which, or
rather over which being constituted king, he resolves to walk
before God, and do him service. This is not improbably that "land
of the living" in which the Psalmist when an exile
"believed to see the goodness of the Lord"; this is
certainly that "land of the living" wherein God
promises to "set his glory"; nor was this title
without just reason appropriated to that country. (a) Partly,
because it was a "land" which afforded the most
plentiful supports and comforts of natural life, in regard of
the wholesomeness of the climate, the goodness of the soil, the
overflowing of milk and honey, with other conveniences both for
food and delight. (b) Chiefly, because it was the "land"
in which the living God was worshipped, and where he vouchsafed
to place his name; whereas the other parts of the world
worshipped lifeless things, of which the Psalmist saith,
"They have mouths, and speak not; eyes, and see not; ears,
and hear not."
2. The land of the living is construed by the ancients
to be that heavenly country, the place of the blessed.
Indeed, this appellation does most fitly agree with heaven: this
world is desertum mortuorum, a desert of dead, at least,
dying men; that only is regio virorum, a region of living
saints. "He who is our life" is in heaven, yea,
"our life is hid with him in God, "and therefore we
cannot be said to live till we come thither. In this sense no
doubt that devout bishop and martyr, Babilas, used the words,
who being condemned by Numerianus, the emperor, to an unjust
death, a little before his execution repeated this and the two
preceding verses, with a loud voice. Nor is it unfit for any
dying saint to comfort himself with the like application of
these words, and say in a confident hope of that blessed sight, I
shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
3. But doubtless the literal and proper meaning of these
words is of David's abode in the world;during which time,
wheresoever he should be, he would "walk before
God"; for that seems to be the emphasis of the plural
number, lands, according to the original. The world consists of
many countries, several lands, and it is possible for men either
by force, or unwillingly, to remove from one country to another:
but a good man when he changeth his country, yet altereth not
his religion, yea, wherever he is he resolves to serve his God. Nathaniel
Hardy.
Verse 9. Land of the living. How unmeet, how
shameful, how odious a thing is it that dead men should be here
on the face of the earth, which is "the land of the
living." That there are such is too true. "She
that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth, "1Ti 5:6;
Sardis had a name that she lived, but was dead, Re 3:1;
"The dead bury their dead, "Mt 8:22; all natural men
are "dead in sins, " Eph 2:1 2Co 5:14. William
Gouge.
Verses 9, 12, etc. The Hebrew word that is rendered walk,
signifies a continued action, or the reiteration of an action.
David resolves that he will not only take a turn or two with
God, or walk a pretty way with God, as Orpah did with Ruth, and
then take his leave of God, as Orpah did of her mother, Ru
1:10-15; but he resolves, whatever comes on it, that he will
walk constantly, resolutely, and perpetually before God; or
before the face of the Lord. Now, walking before the face of the
Lord doth imply a very exact, circumspect, accurate, and precise
walking before God; and indeed, no other walking is either
suitable or pleasing to the eye of God. But is this all that he
will do upon the receipt of such signal mercies? Oh no! for he
resolves to take the cup of salvation, and to call upon the name
of the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, Ps
116:13, 17. But is this all that he will do? Oh, no! for he
resolves that he will presently pay his vows unto the Lord in
the presence of all his people, Ps 116:14, 18. But is this all
that he will do? Oh, no! for he resolves that he will love the
Lord better than ever and more than ever, Ps 116:1-2. He loved
God before with a real love, but having now received such rare
mercies from God, he is resolved to love God with a more raised
love, and with a more inflamed love, and with a more active and
stirring love, and with a more growing and increasing love than
ever. Thomas Brooks.
Verse 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken.
It is not sufficient to believe, unless you also openly confess
before unbelievers, tyrants, and all others. Next to believing
follows confession; and therefore, those who do not make a
confession ought to fear; as, on the contrary, those should hope
who speak out what they have believed. Paulus Palanterius.
Verse 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken.
That is to say, I firmly believe what I say, therefore I make no
scruple of saying it. This should be connected with the
preceding verse, and the full stop should be placed at
"spoken." Samuel Horsley.
Verse 10. I believed, etc. Some translate the
words thus: "I believed when I said, I am greatly
afflicted: I believed when I said in my haste, all men
are liars"; q.d., Though I have had my offs and
my ons, though I have passed through several frames of
heart and tempers of soul in my trials, yet I believed still, I
never let go my hold, my grip of God, in my perturbation. John
Trapp.
Verse 10. The heart and tongue should go together. The
tongue should always be the heart's interpreter, and the heart
should always be the tongue's suggester; what is spoken with the
tongue should be first stamped upon the heart and wrought off
from it. Thus it should be in all our communications and
exhortations, especially when we speak or exhort about the
things of God, and dispense the mysteries of heaven. David spake
froth his heart when he spake from his faith. I believed,
therefore have I spoken. Believing is an act of the heart,
"with the heart man believeth"; so that to say, "I
believed, therefore have I spoken, "is as if he had
said, I would never have spoken these things, if my heart had
not been clear and upright in them. The apostle takes up that
very protestation from David (2Co 4:13): "According as it
is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also
believe, and therefore speak"; that is, we move others to
believe nothing but what we believe, and are fully assured of
ourselves. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 10. I was greatly afflicted. After that
our minstrel hath made mention of faith and of speaking the word
of God, whereby are to be understood all good works that proceed
and come forth out of faith, he now singeth of the cross, and
sheweth that he was very sore troubled, grievously threatened,
uncharitably blasphemed, evil reported, maliciously persecuted,
cruelly troubled, and made to suffer all kinds of torments for
uttering and declaring the word of God. "I believed,
"saith he, "therefore have I spoken; but I was
very sore troubled." Christ's word and the cross are
companions inseparable. As the shadow followeth the body, so
doth the cross follow the word of Christ: and as fire and heat
cannot be separated, so cannot the gospel of Christ and the
cross be plucked asunder. Thomas Becon (1511-1567 or
1570).
Verses 10-11. The meaning seems to be this—I spake
as I have declared (Ps 116:4) because I trusted in God. I was
greatly afflicted, I was in extreme distress, I was in great
astonishment and trembling (as the word rendered "haste"
signifies trembling as well as haste, as it is rendered in De
20:3;)and in these circumstances I did not trust in man; I said,
"all men are liars"—i.e., not fit to
be trusted in; those that will fail and deceive the hopes of
those who trust in them, agreeable to Ps 62:8-9. Jonathan
Edwards.
Verse 11. I said in my haste, All men are liars,
Rather, in an ecstasy of despair, I said, the whole race of man
is a delusion. Samuel Horsley.
Verse 11. All men are liars. That is to say,
every man who speaks in the ordinary manner of men concerning
happiness, and sets great value on the frail and perishable
things of this world, is a liar; for true and solid happiness is
not to be found in the country of the living. This explanation
solves the sophism proposed by St. Basil. If every man be a
liar, then David was a liar; therefore he lies when he says,
every man is a liar—thus contradicting himself, and destroying
his own position. This is answered easily; for when David spoke
he did so not as man, but from an Inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Robert Bellantoine.
Verse 11. All men are liars. Juvenal said,
"Dare to do something worthy of transportation and
imprisonment, if you mean to be of consequence. Honesty is
praised, but starves." A pamphlet was published some time
ago with the title, "Whom shall we hang?" A
very appropriate one might now be written with a slight
change in the title—"Whom shall we trust?" From
"A New Dictionary of Quotations, "1872.
Verses 11-15. It seems that to give the lie was not so
heinous an offence in David's time as it is in these days; for
else how durst he have spoken such words, That all men are
liars, which is no less than to give the lie to the whole
world? and yet no man, I think, will challenge him for saying
so; no more than challenge St. John for saying that all men are
sinners, and indeed how should any man avoid being a liar,
seeing the very being of man is itself a lie? not only is it a
vanity, and put in the balance less than vanity; but a very lie,
promising great matters, and able to do just nothing, as Christ
saith, "without me ye can do nothing": and so Christ
seems to come in, to be David's second, and to make his word
good, that all men are liars. And now let the world do
its worst, and take the lie how it will, for David having Christ
on his side, will always be able to make his part good against
all the world, for Christ hath overcome the world.
But though all men may be said to be liars, yet not all men
in all things; for then David himself should be a liar in this:
but all men perhaps in something or other, at some time or
other, in some kind or other. Absolute truth is not found in any
man, but in that man only who was not man only; for if he had
been but so, it had not perhaps been found in him neither,
seeing absolute truth and deity are as relatives, never found to
be asunder.
But in what thing is it that all men should be liars? Indeed,
in this for one; to think that God regards not, and loves not
them whom he suffers to be afflicted; for we may rather think he
loves them most whom he suffers to be most afflicted; and we may
truly say he would never have suffered his servant Job to be
afflicted so exceeding cruelly, if he had not loved him
exceeding tenderly; for there is nothing lost by suffering
afflictions. No, my soul, they do but serve to make up the
greater weight of glory, when it shall be revealed.
But let God's afflictions be what they can be, yet I will
always acknowledge they can never be in any degree so great as
his benefits: and oh, that I could think of something that I
might render to him for all his benefits:for shall I receive
such great, such infinite benefits from him, and shall I render
nothing to him by way of gratefulness? But, alas, what have I to
render? All my rendering to him will be but taking more from
him: for all I can do is but to take the cup of salvation,
and call upon his name, and what rendering is there in this
taking? If I could take the cup of tribulation, and drink it off
for his sake, this might be a rendering of some value; but this,
God knows, is no work for me to do. It was his work, who said,
"Can ye drink of the cup, of which I shall drink?"
Indeed, he drank of the cup of tribulation, to the end that we
might take the cup of salvation; but then in taking it we must
call upon his name; upon his name and upon no other; for else we
shall make it a cup of condemnation, seeing there is no name
under heaven, in which we may be saved, but only the name of
Jesus.
Yet it may be some rendering to the Lord if I pay my vows,
and do, as it were, my penance openly; I will therefore pay
my vows to the Lord, in the presence of all his people. But
might he not pay his vows as well in his closet, between God and
himself, as to do it publicly? No, my soul, it serves not his
turn, but he must pay them in the presence of all his people;
yet not to the end he should be applauded for a just payer; for
though he pay them, yet he can never pay them to the full; but
to the end, that men seeing his good works, may glorify God by
his example. And the rather perhaps, for that David was a king,
and the king's example prevails much with the people, to make
them pay their vows to God: but most of all, that by this means
David's piety may not be barren, but may make a breed of piety
in the people also: which may be one mystical reason why it was
counted a curse in Israel to be barren; for he that pays not his
vows to God in the presence of his people may well be said to be
barren in Israel, seeing he begets no children to God by his
example. And perhaps, also, the vows which David means here were
the doing of some mean things, unfit in show for the dignity of
a king; as when it was thought a base thing in him to dance
before the ark; he then vowed he would be baser yet: and in this
case, to pay his vows before the people becomes a matter of
necessity: for as there is no honour to a man whilst he is by
himself alone, so there is no shame to a man but before the
people: and therefore to shew that he is not ashamed to do any
thing how mean soever, so it may tend to the glorifying of God; "he
will pay his vows in the presence of all his people."
And he will do it though it cost him his life, for if he die for
it he knows that Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints. But that which is precious is commonly
desired: and doth God then desire the death of his saints? He
desires, no doubt, that death of his saints which is to die to
sin: but for any other death of his saints, it is therefore said
to be precious in his sight, because he lays it up with the
greater carefulness. And for this it is there are such several
mansions in God's house, that to them whose death is precious in
his sight he may assign the most glorious mansions. This indeed
is the reward of martyrdom, and the encouragement of martyrs,
though their sufferings be most insufferable, their troubles
most intolerable; yet this makes amends for all; that "Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."
For if it be so great a happiness to be acceptable in his sight,
how great a happiness must it be to be precious in his sight?
When God, at the creation looked upon all his works, it is said
he saw them to be all exceeding good: but it is not said that
any of them were precious in his sight. How then comes death to
be precious in his sight, that was none of his works, but is a
destroyer of his works? Is it possible that a thing which
destroys his creatures should have a title of more value in his
sight, than his creatures themselves? O, my soul, this is one of
the miracles of his saints, and perhaps one of those which
Christ meant, when he said to his apostles, that greater
miracles than he did they should do themselves: for what greater
miracle than this, that death, which of itself is a thing most
vile in the sight of God, yet once embraced by his saints, as it
were by their touch only, becomes precious in his sight? To
alter a thing from being vile to be precious, is it not a
greater miracle than to turn water into wine? Indeed so it is;
death doth not damnify his saints, but his saints do dignify
death. Death takes nothing away from his saints' happiness, but
his saints add lustre to death's vileness. It is happy for death
that ever it met with any of God's saints; for there was no way
for it else in the world, to be ever had in any account: but why
say I, in the world? For it is of no account in the world for
all this: it is but only in the sight of God; but indeed this
only is all in all; for to be precious in God's sight is more to
be prized than the world itself. For when the world shall pass
away, and all the glory of it be laid in the dust; then shall
trophies be erected for the death of his saints: and when all
monuments of the world shall be utterly defaced, and all records
quite rased out; yet the death of his saints shall stand
registered still, in fair red letters in the calendar of heaven.
If there be glory laid up for them that die in the Lord; much
more shall they be glorified that die for the Lord.
I have wondered oftentimes, why God will suffer his saints to
die; I mean not the death natural, for I know statutum est
omnibus semel mori;but the death that is by violence, and
with torture: for who could endure to see them he loves so
cruelly handled? But now I see the reason of it; for, Precious
in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. And
what marvel then if he suffer his saints to die; when by dying
they are wrought, and made fit jewels to be set in his cabinet;
for as God has a bottle which he fills up with the tears of his
saints, so I may say he hath a cabinet which he decks up with
the deaths of his saints: and, O my soul, if thou couldest but
comprehend what a glory it is to serve for a jewel in the
decking up of God's cabinet, thou wouldest never wonder why he
suffers his saints to be put to death, though with never so
great torments, for it is but the same which Saint Paul saith:
"The afflictions of this life are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that shall be revealed." Sir Richard
Baker.
Verse 12. What shall I render unto the LORD?
Rendering to the true God, in a true and right manner, is the
sum of true religion. This notion is consonant to the
scriptures: thus: "Render unto God the things that are
God's." Mt 22:21. As true loyalty is a giving to Caesar the
things that are Caesar's, so true piety is the giving to God the
things that are God's. And so, in that parable of the vineyard
let out to husbandmen, all we owe to God is expressed by the rendering
the fruit of the vineyard;Mt 21:41. Particular acts of
religion are so expressed in the Scriptures, Ps 56:12; Ho 14:2
2Ch 34:31. Let this, then, be the import of David's xwhyl kyva
xm, "What shall I render unto the LORD?"
"In what things, and by what means, shall I promote
religion in the exercise thereof? How shall I show myself duly
religious towards him who hath been constantly and abundantly
munificent in his benefits towards me?" Henry Hurst.
Verse 12. All his benefits toward me. What
reward shall we give unto the Lord, for all the benefits he hath
bestowed? From the cheerless gloom of nonexistence he waked us
into being; he ennobled us with understanding; he taught us arts
to promote the means of life; he commanded the prolific earth to
yield its nurture; he bade the animals to own us as their lords.
For us the rains descend; for us the sun sheddeth abroad its
creative beams; the mountains rise, the valleys bloom, affording
us grateful habitation and a sheltering retreat. For us the
rivers flow; for us the fountains murmur; the sea opens its
bosom to admit our commerce; the earth exhausts its stores; each
new object presents a new enjoyment; all nature pouring her
treasures at our feet, through the bounteous grace of him who
wills that all be ours. Basil, 326-379.
Verse 12. All his benefits. As partial
obedience is not good, so partial thanks is worthless: not that
any saint is able to keep all the commands, or reckon up all the
mercies of God, much less return particular acknowledgment for
every single mercy; but as he "hath respect unto all the
commandments" (Ps 119:6), so he desires to value highly
every mercy, and to his utmost power give God the praise of all.
An honest soul would not conceal any debt he owes to God, but
calls upon itself to give an account for all his benefits. The
skipping over one note in a lesson may spoil the grace of the
music; unthankfulness for one mercy disparages our thanks for
the rest. William Gurnall.
Verse 13. I will take the cup of salvation.—It
may probably allude to the libation offering, Nu 28:7; for the
three last verses seem to intimate that the Psalmist was now at
the temple, offering the meat offering, drink offering, and
sacrifices to the Lord. "Cup" is often used by
the Hebrews to denote plenty or abundance. So, "the cup of
trembling, "an abundance of misery; "the cup of
salvation, "an abundance of happiness. Adam Clarke.
Verse 13. Cup of salvation. In holy Scripture
there is mention made of drink offerings, Ge 25:14 Le 23:13 Nu
15:5; which were a certain quantity of wine that used to be
poured out before the Lord; as the very notation of the word
imports, coming from a root dmg, effudit, that signifieth
to pour out. As the meat offerings, so the drink offerings, were
brought to the Lord in way of gratulation and thanksgiving. Some
therefore in allusion hereunto so expound the text, as a promise
and vow of the Psalmist, to testify his public gratitude by such
an external and solemn rite as in the law was prescribed. This
he terms a cup, because that drink offering was contained
in a cup and poured out thereof; and he adds this epithet,
"salvation, "because that rite was an acknowledgment
of salvation, preservation and deliverance from the Lord. After
their solemn gratulatory sacrifices they were wont to have a
feast. When David had brought the ark of God into the
tabernacle, they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings,
which being finished, "he dealt to every one of Israel,
both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good
piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine." 1Ch 16:8. Hereby is
implied that he made so beautiful a feast, as he had to give
thereof to all the people there assembled. In this feast the
master thereof was wont to take a great cup, and in lifting it
up to declare the occasion of that feast, and then in testimony
of thankfulness to drink thereof to the guests, that they in
order might pledge him. This was called a cup of salvation, or
deliverance, because they acknowledged by the use thereof that
God had saved and delivered them. Almost in a like sense the
apostle styles the sacramental cup, the cup of blessing. Here
the prophet useth the plural number, thus, "cup of salvations,
"whereby, after the Hebrew elegancy, he meaneth many
deliverances, one after another; or some great and extraordinary
deliverance which was instead of many, or which comprised many
under it. The word translated take (ava a avg) properly
signifieth to lift up, and in that respect may the more fitly be
applied to the aforementioned taking of the festival cup and
lifting it up before the guests. Most of our later expositors of
this Psalm apply this phrase, "I will take the cup of
salvation, "to the forenamed gratulatory drink offering, or
to the taking and lifting up of the cup of blessing in the
feast, after the solemn sacrifice. Both of these import one and
the same thing, which is, that saints of old were wont to
testify their gratefulness for great deliverances with some
outward solemn rite. William Gouge.
Verse 13. Cup of salvation. Yeshuoth:Ps 18:50
28:8 53:6. The cup of salvation, symbolized by the eucharistic
cup of the Passover Supper.—Zion that had drunk of the
"cup of trembling" (Isa 51:17, 22) might now rise and
drink of the cup of salvation. To the church these words have
had a yet deeper significance added to them by Mt 26:27. Jesus,
on that Passover night, drank of the bitter wine of God's wrath,
that he might refill the cup with joy and health for his people.
William Kay.
Verses 13-14, 17-19. A fit mode of expressing our
thanks to God is by solemn acts of worship, secret, social, and
public. "The closet will be the first place where the heart
will delight in pouring forth its lively joys; thence the
feeling will extend to the family altar: and thence again it
will proceed to the sanctuary of the Most High." (J.
Morison). To every man God has sent a large supply of
benefits, and nothing but perverseness can deny to him the
praise of our lips. William, S. Plumer.
Verse 14. A man that would have his credit as to the
truth of his word kept up, would choose those to be witnesses of
his performing who were witnesses of his promising. I think
David took this heed in his rendering and paying his vows: "I
will do it, "saith he, "now in the presence of
all his people." The people were witnesses to his
straits, prayers, and vows; and he will honour religion by
performing in their sight what he sealed, signed, and delivered
as his vow to the Lord. Seek not more witnesses than providence
makes conscious of thy vows, lest this be interpreted
ostentation and vain self glorying: take so many, lest the good
example be lost, or thou suspected of falsifying thy vow.
Briefly and plainly: Didst thou on a sick bed make thy vow
before thy family, and before the neighbourhood? Be careful to
perform it before them; let them see thou art what thou vowedst
to be. This care in thy vow will be a means to make it most to
the advantage of religion, whilst all that heard or knew thy vow
bear thee testimony that thou art thankful, and thus thou givest
others occasion to glorify thy Father who is in heaven. Henry
Hurst (1690) in "The Morning Exercises."
Verse 14. I will pay my vows, etc. Foxe, in his
Acts and Monuments, relates the following concerning the martyr,
John Philpot:—"He went with the sheriffs to the place of
execution; and when he was entering into Smithfield the way was
foul, and two officers took him up to bear him to the stake.
Then he said merrily, What, will ye make me a pope? I am content
to go to my journey's end on foot. But first coming into
Smithfield, he kneeled down there, saying these words, I will
pay my vows in thee, O Smithfield."
Verse 15. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the
death of his saints. It is of value or importance in such
respects as the following:—(1) As it is the removal of another
of the redeemed to glory—the addition of one more to the happy
hosts above; (2) as it is a new triumph of the work of
redemption,—allowing the power and the value of that work; (3)
as it often furnishes a more direct proof of the reality of
religion than any abstract argument could do. How much has the
cause of religion been promoted by the patient deaths of
Ignatius, Polycarp, and Latimer, and Ridley, and Huss, and
Jerome of Prague, and the hosts of martyrs! What does not the
world owe, and the cause of religion owe, to such scenes as
occurred on the deathbeds of Baxter, and Thomas Scott, and
Halyburton, and Payson! What an argument for the truth of
religion,—what an illustration of its sustaining power,—what
a source of comfort to those who are about to die,—to reflect
that religion does not leave the believer when he most needs its
support and consolation; that it can sustain us in the severest
trial of our condition here; that it can illuminate what seems
to us of all places most dark, cheerless, dismal,
repulsive—"the valley of the shadow of death." Albert
Barnes.
Verse 15. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the
death of his saints. The death of the saints is precious in
the Lord's sight. First, because he "seeth not as man
seeth." He judgeth not according to the appearance; he
sees all things as they really are, not partially: he traces the
duration of his people, not upon the map of time, but upon the
infinite scale of eternity; he weighs their happiness, not in
the little balance of earthly enjoyment, but in the even and
equipoised balance of the sanctuary. In the next place, I think
the death of the saints is precious in the Lord's sight, because
they are taken from the evil to come;they are delivered
from the burden of the flesh; ransomed by the blood of the
Redeemer, they are his purchased possession, and now he receives
them to himself. Sin and sorrow for ever cease; there is no more
death, the death of Christ is their redemption; by death he
overcame him that had the power of death; therefore, they in him
are enabled to say, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory?" Again, the death of the saints is
precious in the Lord's sight, for in it he often sees the
very finest evidences of the work of his own Spirit upon the
soul;he sees faith in opposition to sense, leaning upon the
promises of God. Reposing upon him who is mighty to save, he
sees hope even against hope, anchoring the soul secure and
steadfast on him who is passed within the veil; he sees patience
acquiescing in a Father's will—humility bending beneath his
sovereign hand—love issuing from a grateful heart. Again, the
death of the saints is precious in the Lord's sight, as it
draws out the tenderness of surviving Christian friends, and
is abundant in the thanksgivings of many an anxious heart; it
elicits the sympathies of Christian charity, and realises that
communion of saints, of which the Apostle speaks, when he says,
"if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; if
one rejoice they all joy."... The death of saints is
precious, because the sympathy of prayer is poured forth from
many a kindly Christian heart... Nor is this all—the death of
saints is precious, for that is their day of seeing Jesus
face to face. Patrick Pounden's Sermon in "The Irish
Pulpit," 1831.
Verse 15. Precious. Their death is precious (jakar);
the word of the text is, in pretio fuit, magni estimatum est.
See how the word is translated in other texts.
1. Honourable, Isa 43:4 (jakarta); "thou was
precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable."
2. Much set by, 1Sa 18:80: "His name was much set
by."
3. Dear, Jer 31:20. An filius (jakkir) pretiosus mihi
Ephraim:"Is Ephraim my dear son?"
4. Splendid, clear, or glorious, Job 31:10. Si vidi lunam
(jaker) pretiosam et abeuntem: "the moon walking in
brightness."
Put all these expressions together, and then we have the
strength of David's word, "The death of the saints is
precious"; that is, (1) honourable; (2) much set by;
(3) dear; (4) splendid and glorious in the sight of the Lord. Samuel
Totshell, in "The House of Mourning, "1660.
Verse 15. Precious. It is proper to advert, in
the first place, to the apparent primary import of the phrase,
namely, Almighty God watches over, and sets a high value upon
the holy and useful lives of his people, and will not
lightly allow these lives to be abbreviated or destroyed. In the
second place, the words lead us to advert to the control
which he exercises over the circumstances of their death.
These are under his special arrangement. They are too important
in his estimation to be left to accident. In fact, chance has no
existence. In the intervention of second causes, he takes care
always to overrule and control them for good. Let the weakest
believer among you be quite sure, be "confident of this
very thing, "that he will never suffer your great enemy to
take advantage of anything in the manner of your death, to do
you spiritual harm. No, on the contrary, he takes all its
circumstances under his immediate and especial disposal. This
sentiment will admit, perhaps, of a third illustration; when
the saints are dying, the Lord looks upon them, and is merciful
unto them. Who can say how often he answers prayer, even in
the cases of dying believers? Never does he fail to support,
even where he does not see good to spare. By the whispers of his
love, by the witness of his Spirit, by the assurance of his
presence, by the preparatory revelation of heavenly glory, he
strengthens his afflicted ones, he makes all their bed in their
sickness. Ah! and when, perhaps, they scarcely possess a bed to
languish upon, when poverty or other calamitous circumstances
leave them, in the sorrow of sickness, no place of repose but
the bare ground for their restless bodies, and his bosom for
their spirits, do they ever find God fail them? No; many a holy
man has slept the sleep of death with the missionary Martyr, in
a strange and inhospitable land, or with the missionary Smith,
upon the floor of a dungeon, and yet
"Jesus has made their dying bed
As soft as downy pillows are."
When no other eye saw, when no other heart felt, for these
two never to be forgotten martyrs, murdered men of God, and
apostles of Jesus, then were they precious in God's sight, and
he was present with them. And so it is with all his saints, who
are faithful unto death. Fourthly, we are warranted by the text
and the tenor of Scripture, in affirming that the Lord
attaches great importance to the deathbed itself. This is in
his estimate—whatever it may be in ours—too precious, too
important, to be overlooked; and hence it is often with
emphasis, though always with a practical bearing, recorded in
Scripture. It is possible, certainly, to make too much of it, by
substituting, as a criterion of character, that which may be
professed under the excitement of dying sufferings, for the
testimony of a uniform, conspicuous career of holy living. But
it is equally indefensible, and even ungrateful to God, to make
too little of it, to make too little account of a good end, when
connected with a good beginning and with a patient continuance
in well doing.
"The chamber where the good man meets his fate
Is privileged beyond the common walk of virtuous life."
Its transactions are sometimes as fraught with permanent
utility as with present good. The close of a Christian's career
on earth, his defiance, in the strength of his Saviour, of his
direst enemy, the good confession which he acknowledges when he
is enabled to witness before those around his dying bed, all
these are precious and important in the sight of the Lord, and
ought to be so in our view, and redound, not only to his own
advantage, but to the benefit of survivors, "to the praise
of the glory of his grace." W. M. Bunting, in a Sermon
at the City Road Chapel, 1836.
Verse 15. Why need they beforehand be afraid of death,
who have the Lord to take such care about it as he doth? We may
safely, without presuming, we ought securely without wavering,
to rest upon this, that our blood being precious in God's eyes,
either it shall not be split, or it is seasonable, and shall be
profitable to us to have it split. On this ground "the
righteous are bold as a lion, "Pr 28:1. "Neither do
they fear what man can do unto them." Heb 13:6. Martyrs
were, without question, well instructed herein, and much
supported hereby. When fear of death hindereth from any duty, or
draweth to any evil, then call to mind this saying, "Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his favourites."
For who would not valiantly, without fainting, take such a death
as is precious in God's sight? William Gouge.
Verse 15. His saints imports appropriation.
Elsewhere Jehovah asserts, "All souls are mine." But
he has an especial property in—and therefore claim upon—all
saints. It is he that made them such. Separate from God there
could be no sanctity. And as his right, his original right, in
all men, is connected with the facts of their having been
created and endowed by his hand, and thence subjected to his
moral government, so, and much more, do all holy beings, all
holy men, who owe to his grace their very existence as such, who
must cease to be saints, if they could cease to be his saints,
whom he has created anew in Christ Jesus by the communication of
his own love, his own purity, his own nature, whom he
continually upholds in this exalted state, so, and much more, do
such persons belong to God. They are "his saints,
"through him and in him, saints of his making, and
modelling, and establishing, and therefore his
exclusively. Let this reference to the mighty working of God by
his Spirit in you, your connection, your spiritual connection,
with him, and your experience of his saving power,—let this
reference convert the mystery into the mercy of
sanctification in your hearts.
"His saints" denotes, in the second place, devotedness.
They are saints not only through him, but to him;
holy unto the Lord, sanctified or set apart to his service, self
surrendered to the adorable Redeemer.
"His saints" may import resemblance—close
resemblance. Such characters are emphatically God like,
holy and pure; children of their Father which is in heaven;
certifying to all around their filial relationship to him, by
their manifest participation of his nature, by their reflection
of his image and likeness.
"His saints" suggests associations of endearment,
of complacency. "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear
him, in all them that hope in his mercy"; "a people
near unto him"; "the Lord's portion is his
people"; and "Happy is that people that is in such a
case, yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord." Condensed
from a Scranton by W. M. Bunting, 1836.
Verse 15. Saints. The persons among whom
implicitly he reckons himself, styled saints, are in the
original set out by a word (Mydymx) that imports an especial
respect of God towards them. The root whence that word issueth
signifieth mercy (dmx consecravit, benefecit).
Whereupon the Hebrews have given such a name to a stork, which
kind among fowls is the most merciful; and that not only the old
to their young ones, as most are, but also the young ones to the
old, which they use to feed and carry when through age they are
not able to help themselves. This title is attributed to men in
a double respect;
1. Passively, in regard of God's mind and affection to them;
2. Actively, in regard of their mind and affection to others.
God's merciful kindness is great towards them; and their mercy
and kindness are great towards their brethren. They are,
therefore, by a kind of excellency and property styled "men
of mercy." Isa 57:1. In regard of this double acceptation
of the word, some translate it, "merciful, tender, or
courteous," Ps 18:25. Others with a paraphrase with many
words, because they have not one fit word to express the full
sense, thus, "Those whom God followeth with bounty, or to
whom God extendeth his bounty." This latter I take to be
the most proper to this place; for the word being passively
taken for such as are made partakers of God's kindness, it
sheweth the reason of that high account wherein God hath them,
even his own grace and favour. We have a word in English that in
this passive signification fitly answereth the Hebrew, which is
this, favourite. William Gouge.
Verse 15. Death now, as he hath done also to
mine, has paid full many a visit to your house; and in very
deed, he has made fell havoc among our comforts. We shall yet be
avenged on this enemy—this King of Terrors. I cannot help at
times clenching my fist in his face, and roaring out in my agony
and anguish, "Thou shalt be swallowed up in victory!"
There is even, too, in the meantime, this consolation; "O
Death, where is thy sting?" "Precious in the sight of
the Lord is the death for his saints, "in the first
place; in the second place, and resting on the propitiatory
death, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of
his saints." The Holy Ghost, Ps 116:15, states the first;
our translators, honest men, have very fairly and truly inferred
the second. We are obliged to them. The death of your lovely
child, loveliest in the beauties of holiness, with all that was
most afflictive and full of sore trial in it, is nevertheless,
among the things in your little family, which are right precious
in the sight of the Lord; and this in it, is that which pleases
you most; precious, because of the infinite, the abiding, and
the unchanging worth of the death of God's own holy child Jesus.
The calm so wonderful, the consolation so felt, yea, the joy in
tribulation so great, have set before your eves a new testimony,
heart touching indeed, that, after eighteen hundred years have
passed, "the death of his saints" is still
precious as ever in the sight of the Lord. Take your book of
life, sprinkled with the blood of the covenant, and in your
family record, put the death of Rosanna down among the precious
things in your sight also—I should rather have said likewise.
Present my kindest regards to Miss S—Tell her to wipe that
tear away—Rosanna needs it not. I hope they are all well at
L—, and that your young men take the way of the Lord in good
part. My dear Brother, "Go thy way, thy child liveth,
"is still as fresh as ever it was, from the lips of Him
that liveth for ever and ever, and rings with a loftier and
sweeter sound, even than when it was first heard in the ears and
heart of the parent who had brought and laid his sick and dying
at the feet of Him who hath the keys of hell and of death. John
Jameson, in "Letters; True Fame," etc., 1838.
Verse 16. O Lord, truly I am thy servant. Thou
hast made me free, and I am impatient to be bound again. Thou
hast broken the bonds of sin; now, Lord, bind me with the cords
of love. Thou hast delivered me from the tyranny of Satan, make
me as one of thy hired servants. I owe my liberty, my life, and
all that I have, or hope, to thy generous rescue: and now, O my
gracious, my Divine Friend and Redeemer, I lay myself and my all
at thy feet. Samuel Lavington, 1728-1807.
Verse 16. I am thy servant. The saints have
ever had a holy pride in being God's servants; there cannot be a
greater honour than to serve such a Master as commands heaven,
earth, and hell. Do not think thou dost honour God in serving
him; but this is how God honours thee, in vouchsafing then to be
his servant. David could not study to give himself a greater
style than—"O Lord, or, truly I am thy servant, and
the son of thy handmaid, "and this he spake, not in the
phrase of a human compliment, but in the humble confession of a
believer. Yea, so doth the apostle commend this excellency, that
he sets the title of servant before that of an apostle; first
servant, then apostle. Great was his office in being an apostle,
greater his blessing in being a servant of Jesus Christ; the one
is an outward calling, the other an inward grace. There was an
apostle condemned, never any servant of God. Thomas Adams.
Verse 16. I am thy servant. This expression of
the king of Israel implies
1. A humble sense of his distance from God and his
dependence upon him. This is the first view which a penitent
hath of himself when he returns to God. It is the first view
which a good man hath of himself in his approaches to, or
communion with God. And, indeed, it is what ought to be
inseparable from the exercise of every other pious affection. To
have, as it were, high and honourable thoughts of the majesty
and greatness of the living God, and a deep and awful impression
of the immediate and continual presence of the heart searching
God, this naturally produces the greatest self abasement, and
the most unfeigned subjection of spirit before our Maker. It
leads to a confession of him as Lord over all, and having the
most absolute right, not only to the obedience, but to the
disposal of all his creatures. I cannot help thinking this is
conveyed to us in the language of the Psalmist, when he says, O
LORD, truly I am thy servant. He was a prince among his
subjects, and had many other honourable distinctions, both
natural and acquired, among men; but he was sensible of his
being a servant and subject of the King of kings; and the force
of his expression, "Truly, I am thy servant, "
not only signifies the certainty of the thing, but how deeply
and strongly he felt a conviction of its truth.
2. This declaration of the Psalmist implies a confession
of his being bound by particular covenant and consent unto God,
and a repetition of the same by a new adherence. This, as it was
certainly true with regard to him, having often dedicated
himself to God, so I take it to be confirmed by the reiteration
of the expression here, O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am
thy servant. As if he had said, "O Lord, it is
undeniable; it is impossible to recede from it. I am thine by
many ties. I am by nature thy subject and thy creature; and I
have many times confessed thy right and promised my own
duty." I need not mention to you, either the example in the
Psalmist's writings, or the occasions in his history, on which
he solemnly surrendered himself to God. It is sufficient to say,
that it was very proper that he should frequently call this to
mind, and confess it before God, for though it could not make
his Creator's right any stronger, it would certainly make the
guilt of his own violation of it so much the greater.
3. This declaration of the Psalmist is an expression of
his peculiar and special relation to God. I am thy servant, and
the son of thine handmaid. There is another passage of his
writings where the same expression occurs: Ps 86:16. "O
turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy
servant, and save the son of thine handmaid." There is some
variation among interpreters in the way of illustrating this
phrase. Some take it for a figurative way of affirming, that he
was bound in the strongest manner to God, as those children who
were born of a maidservant, and born in his own house, were in
the most absolute manner their master's property. Others take it
to signify his being not only brought up in the visible church
of God, but in a pious family, and educated in his fear; and
others would have it to signify still more especially that the
Psalmist's mother was an eminently pious woman. And indeed I do
not think that was a circumstance, if true, either unworthy of
him to remember, or of the Spirit of God to put upon record. John
Witherspoon, 1722-1797.
Verse 16. O Lord, I am thy servant, by a double
right; (and, oh, that I could do thee double service;)as thou
art the Lord of my life, and I am the son of thy handmaid: not
of Hagar, but of Sarah; not of the bondwoman, but of the free;
and therefore I serve thee not in fear, but in love; or
therefore in fear, because in love: and then is service best
done when it is done in love. In love indeed I am bound to serve
thee, for, Thou hast loosed my bonds; the bonds of death
which compassed me about, by delivering me from a dangerous
sickness, and restoring me to health: or in a higher kind; thou
hast loosed my bonds by freeing me from being a captive to be a
servant; and which is more, from being a servant to be a son:
and more than this, from being a son of thy handmaid, to be a
son of thyself. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 16. Bless God for the privilege of being the
children of godly parents. Better be the child of a godly than
of a wealthy parent. I hope none of you are of so vile a spirit
as to condemn your parents because of their piety. Certainly it
is a great privilege when you can go to God, and plead your
Father's covenant: LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy
servant, and the son of thy handmaid. So did Solomon, 1Ki
8:25-26, "Lord, make good thy word to thy servant David, my
father." That you are not born of infidels, nor of papists,
nor of upholders of superstition and formality, but in a strict,
serious, godly family, it is a great advantage that you have. It
is better to be the sons of faithful ministers than of nobles. Thomas
Manton, in, a Sermon preached before the Sons of the Clergy.
Verse 16. Thou hast loosed my bonds. Mercies
are given to encourage us in God's service, and should be
remembered to that end. Rain descends upon the earth, not that
it might be more barren, but more fertile. We are but stewards;
the mercies we enjoy are not our own, but to be improved for our
Master's service. Great mercies should engage to great
obedience. God begins the Decalogue with a memorial of his mercy
in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt,—"I am the Lord
thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt." How
affectionately doth the Psalmist own his relation to God as his
servant, when he considers how God had loosed his bonds: O
LORD, truly I am thy servant; thou hast loosed my bonds! the
remembrance of thy mercy shall make me know no relation but that
of a servant to thee. When we remember what wages we have from
God, we must withal remember that we owe more service, and more
liveliness in service, to him. Duty is but the ingenuous
consequent of mercy. It is irrational to encourage ourselves in
our way to hell by a remembrance of heaven, to foster a liberty
in sin by a consideration of God's bounty. When we remember that
all we have or are is the gift of God's liberality, we should
think ourselves obliged to honour him with all that we have, for
he is to have honour from all his gifts. It is a sign we aimed
at God's glory in begging mercy, when we also aim at God's glory
in enjoying it. It is a sign that love breathed the remembrance
of mercy into our hearts, when at the same time it breathes a
resolution into us to improve it. It is not our tongues, but our
lives must praise him. Mercies are not given to one member, but
to the whole man. Stephen Charnock.
Verse 17. The sacrifice of thanksgiving.
"When all the heart is pure, each warm desire
Sublimed by holy love's ethereal fire.
On winged words our breathing thoughts may rise,
And soar to heaven, a grateful sacrifice." James Scott.
Verse 18. Vows. Are well composed vows such
promoters of religion? and are they to be made so warily? and do
they bind so strictly? Then be sure to wait until God give you
just and fit seasons for vowing. Be not over hasty to vow: it is
an inconsiderate and foolish haste of Christians to make more
occasions of vowing than God doth make for them. Make your vows,
and spare not, so often as God bids you; but do not do it
oftener. You would wonder I should dissuade you from vowing
often, when you have such constant mercies; and wonder well you
might, if God did expect your extraordinary bond and security
for every ordinary mercy: but he requires it not; he is content
with ordinary security of gratitude for ordinary mercies; when
he calls for extraordinary security and acknowledgment, by
giving extraordinary mercies, then give it and do it. Henry
Hurst.
Verse 18. Now. God gave an order that no part
of the thank offering should be kept till the third day, to
teach us to present our praises when benefits are newly
received, which else would soon wax stale and putrefy as fish
doth. "I will pay my vows now, "saith David. Samuel
Clarke (1599-1682) in "A Mirror or Looking glass,
both for Saints and Sinners."
Verse 18. In the presence of all his people.
For good example's sake. This also was prince like, Eze 46:10.
The king's seat in the sanctuary was open, that all might see
him there, 2Ki 11:14, and 2Ki 23:3. John Trapp.
Verse 18. In the presence of all his people. Be
bold, be bold, ye servants of the Lord, in sounding forth the
praises of your God. Go into presses of people; and in the midst
of them praise the Lord. Wicked men are over bold in pouring
forth their blasphemies to the dishonour of God; they care not
who hear them. They stick not to do it in the midst of cities.
Shall they be more audacious to dishonour God, than ye zealous
to honour him? Assuredly Christ will shew himself as forward to
confess you, as you are, or can be to confess him. Mt 10:32.
This holy boldness is the ready way to glory. William Gouge.
Verse 19 (second clause). He does not simply
say in the midst of Jerusalem: but, in the midst of thee, O
Jerusalem? He speaks to the city as one who loved it and
delighted in it. We see here, how the saints were affected
towards the city in which was the house of God. Thus we should
be moved in spirit towards that church in which God dwells, the
temple he inhabits, which is built up, not of stones, but of the
souls of the faithful. Wolfgang Musculus.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verses 1-2.
1. Present—"I love."
2. Past—"He hath."
3. Future—"I will."
Verses 1-2. Personal experience in reference to
prayer.
1. We have prayed, often, constantly, in different ways, etc.
2. We have been heard. A grateful retrospect of usual answers
and of special answers.
3. Love to God has thus been promoted.
4. Our sense of the value of prayer has become so intense that
we cannot cease praying.
Verses 1, 2, 9. If you cast your eyes on the first
verse of the Psalm, you find a profession of love—I
love the Lord; if on the second, a promise of prayer—I
will call on the Lord; if on the ninth, a resolve of
walking—I will walk before the LORD. There are
three things should be the object of a saint's care, the
devotion of the soul, profession of the mouth, and conversation
of the life: that is the sweetest melody in God's ears, when not
only the voice sings, but the heartstrings keep tune, and the
hand keepeth time. Nathanael Hardy.
Verse 2. "He hath, "and therefore "I
will." Grace moving to action.
Verses 2, 4, 13, 17. Calling upon God mentioned four
times very suggestively—I will do it (Ps 116:2), I have tried
it (Ps 116:4), I will do it when I take (Ps 116:13), and when I
offer (Ps 116:17).
Verses 2, 9, 13-14, 17. The "I wills" of the
Psalm. I will call (Ps 116:2), I will walk (Ps 116:9), I will
take (Ps 116:13), I will pay (Ps 116:14), I will offer (Ps
116:17).
Verses 3-4, 8. See Spurgeon's Sermon, "To Souls
in Agony, " Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No 1216.
Verses 3-5. The story of a tried soul.
1. Where I was. Ps 116:3.
2. What I did. Ps 116:4.
3. What I learned. Ps 116:5.
Verses 3-6.
1. The occasion. (a) Bodily affliction. (b) Terrors of
conscience. (c) Sorrow of heart. (d) Self accusation: "I
found, "etc.
2. The petition. (a) Direct: "I called,
"etc. (b) Immediate: "then, "when the trouble
came; prayer was the first remedy sought, not the last, as with
many. (c) Brief—limited to the due thing needed: "deliver
my soul." (d) Importunate: "O Lord, I beseech
thee."
3. The restoration. (a) Implied: "gracious,
"etc., Ps 116:5. (b) Expressed, Ps 116:6, generally:
"The Lord preserveth, "etc.; particularly; "I was
brought low, " etc.: helped me to pray, helped me out of
trouble in answer to prayer, and helped me to praise him for the
mercy, the faithfulness, the grace, shown in my deliverance. God
is glorified through the afflictions of his people: the
submissive are preserved in them, and the lowly are exalted by
them. G. R.
Verse 5.
1. Eternal grace, or the purpose of love.
2. Infinite justice, or the difficulty of holiness.
3. Boundless mercy, or the outcome of atonement.
Verse 6.
1. A singular class—"simple."
2. A singular fact—"the Lord preserveth the simple."
3. A singular proof of the fact—"I was, "etc.
Verse 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. Rest
in God may be said to belong to the people of God on a fourfold
account.
1. By designation. The rest which the people of God have in
him is the result of his own purpose and design, taken up from
his mere good pleasure and love.
2. By purchase. The rest which they wanted as creatures
they had forfeited as sinners. This, therefore, Christ
laid down his life to procure.
3. By promise. This is God's kind engagement. He has said,
"My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest,
"Ex 33:14.
4. By their own choice gracious souls have a rest in God. D.
Wilcox.
Verse 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. When,
or upon what occasion a child of God should use the Psalmist's
language.
1. After converse with the world in the business of his
calling every day.
2. When going to the sanctuary on the Lord's day.
3. In and under any trouble he may meet with.
4. When departing from this world at death. D. Wilcox.
Verse 7.
1. The rest of the soul: "My rest, "this is in God.
(a) The soul was created to find its rest in God. (b) On that
account it cannot find rest elsewhere.
2. Its departure from that rest. This is implied in the word
"Return."
3. Its return. (a) By repentance. (b) By faith, in the way
provided for its return. (c) By prayer.
4. Its encouragement to return. (a) Not in itself, but in
God. (b) Not in the justice, but in the goodness of God:
"for the Lord, "etc. "The goodness of God leadeth
thee to repentance." G.R.
Verse 8. The trinity of experimental godliness.
1. It is a unity—"Thou hast delivered"; all the
mercies come from one source.
2. It is a trinity of deliverance, of soul, eyes,
feet; from punishment, sorrow, and sinning; to
life, joy, and stability.
3. It is a trinity in unity: all this was done for me and in
me—"my soul, mine eyes, my feet."
Verse 9. The effect of deliverance upon ourselves:
"I will walk, " etc.
1. Walk by faith in him.
2. Walk in love with him.
3. Walk by obedience to him. G. R.
Verses 10-11.
1. The rule: "I believed, "etc. In general the
Psalmist spoke what he had well considered and tested by his own
experience, as when he said, "I was brought low and he
helped me." "The Lord hath dealt bountifully with
me."
2. The exception; "I was greatly afflicted, I said,
"etc. (a) He spoke wrongfully: he said "All men are
liars, " which had some truth in it, but was not the whole
truth. (b) Hastily: "I said in my haste, "without due
reflection. (c) Angrily, under the influence of affliction,
probably from the unfaithfulness of others. Nature acts before
grace—the one by instinct, the other from consideration. G.
R.
Verse 11. A hasty speech.
1. There was much truth in it.
2. It erred on the right side, for it showed faith in God
rather than in the creature.
3. It did err in being too sweeping, too severe, too
suspicious.
4. It was soon cured. The remedy for all such hasty speeches
is—Get to work in the spirit of Ps 116:12.
Verse 12. Overwhelming obligations.
1. A sum in arithmetic—"all his benefits."
2. A calculation of indebtedness—"What shall I
render?"
3. A problem for personal solution—"What shall I?"
See Spurgeon's Sermon, No. 910.
Verses 12, 14. Whether well composed religious vows do
not exceedingly promote religion. Sermon by Henry Hurst, A.M.,
in "The Morning Exercises."
Verse 13. Sermon on the Lord's supper. We take the cup
of the Lord
1. In memory of him who is our salvation.
2. In token of our trust in him.
3. In evidence of our obedience to him.
4. In type of communion with him.
5. In hope of drinking it new with him ere long.
Verse 13. The various cups mentioned in Scripture
would make an interesting subject.
Verse 14. Vow. Or the excellence of time
present.
Verse 15.
1. The declaration. Not the death of the wicked, nor
even the death of the righteous is in itself precious; but, (a)
Because their persons are precious to him. (b) Because their
experience in death is precious to him. (c) Because of their
conformity in death to their Covenant Head; and (d) Because it
puts an end to their sorrows, and translates them to their rest.
2. Its manifestation. (a) In preserving them from
death. (b) In supporting them in death. (c) In giving them
victory over death. (d) In glorifying them after death.
Verse 15. See Spurgeon's Sermons "Precious
Deaths, "No. 1036.
Verse 16. Holy Service.
1. Emphatically avowed.
2. Honestly rendered—"truly."
3. Logically defended—"son of thine handmaid."
4. Consistent with conscious liberty.
Verse 17. This is due to our God, good for ourselves,
and encouraging to others.
Verse 17. The sacrifice of thanksgiving.
1. How it may be rendered. In secret love, in conversation,
in sacred song, in public testimony, in special gifts and works.
2. Why we should render it. For answered prayers (Ps
116:1-2), memorable deliverances (Ps 116:3), choice preservation
(Ps 116:6); remarkable restoration (Ps 116:7-8), and for the
fact of our being his servants (Ps 116:16).
3. When should we render it. Now, while the mercy is
on the memory, and as often as fresh mercies come to us.
Verse 18.
1. How vows may be paid in public. By going to public worship
as the first thing we do when health is restored. By uniting
heartily in the song. By coming to the communion. By special
thank offering. By using fit opportunities for open testimony to
the Lord's goodness.
2. The special difficulty in the matter. To pay them to
the Lord, and not in ostentation or as an empty form.
3. The peculiar usefulness of the public act. It interests
others, touches their hearts, reproves, encourages, etc.
Verse 19. The Christian at home.
1. In God's house.
2. Among the saints.
3. At his favourite work, "Praise."
WORKS UPON THE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH PSALM
David's Harpe full of most delectable harmony
newly stringed and set in tune by Thomas Becon. This is an
exposition of Ps 116:10-19, or Psalm 115 according to the Latin
Version. It was originally published in 12mo, in 1542, and
reprinted in "The Early Works of Thomas Becon. S. T.
P. Chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer, Prebendary of Canterbury,
&c., "by "The Parker Society." 1843.
AN EXPOSITION upon some select Psalms of
David, containing great store of most excellent and
comfortable doctrine, and instruction for all those, that (under
the burden of sin) thirst for comfort in Christ Jesus. Written
by that faithful servant of God, M. ROBERT ROLLOK, sometime
Pastor in the Church of Edinburgh: And translated out of Latin
into English, by C. L. CHARLES LUMISDEN Minister of the Gospel
of Christ at Dudingstoun. 12mo. EDINBURGH. 1600. Contains an
Exposition of this Psalm.
The Saints' Sacrifice: or, A
Commentary on Psalm 116. Which is a gratulatory Psalm, for
Deliverance from Deadly Distress. By William Gouge, D.D. London.
1631. Reprinted, with S. Smith, on. Psalm 1, and T. Pierson, on
Psalms 27, 84, 87, in Nichol's Series of Commentaries. 1868.
Sermons Experimental: on Psalms 116 and
117. VERY USEFUL for A Wounded Spirit. By William Slater,
D.D., sometimes Rector of Linsham, and Vicar of Pitminster, in
SOMMERSETSHIRE. Published by his Son WILLIAM SLATER, Mr. of
Arts... London: 1638 4to.
Meditations and Disquisitions upon Seven
Consolatory Psalms of David: namely, The 23. The 27, The 30,
The 34, The 84, The 103, The 116.—By Sir Richard Baker,
Knight. London. 1640. 4to.
Divine Drops Distilled from the Fountain
of Holy Scriptures: Delivered in several Exercises before
Sermons, upon Twenty-three Texts of Scripture. By that
worthy Gospel Preacher Gualter Cradock, Late Preacher at All
Hallows Great in London. 1650. In this old quarto there is an
Exposition of Psalm 116; but it is almost wholly political, and
worthless for our purpose; we mention it only as a caution, and
to prevent disappointment.
In "The Golden Diary of Heart
Converse with Jesus in the Book of Psalms. —By the Rev.
Dr. EDERSHEIM, Torquay, 1873, "there is a brief exposition
of Ps 116:1-12.