TITLE. A Song of Degrees. Another step is
taken in the ascent, another station in the pilgrimage is
reached: certainly a rise in the sense is here perceptible,
since full assurance concerning years to come is a higher form
of faith than the ascription of farther escapes to the Lord.
Faith has praised Jehovah for past deliverances, and t, ere she
rises to a confident jury in the present and future safety of
believers. She asserts that they shall forever secure who trust
themselves with the Lord. We can imagine the pilgrims chanting
this song when perambulating the city walls.
We do not assert that David wrote this Psalm, but we have as
much ground for doing so as others have for declaring that it
was written after the captivity. It would seem provable that all
the Pilgrim Psalms were composed, or, at least, compiled by the
same writer, and as some of them are certainly by David, there
is too conclusive reason for taking away the rest from him.
DIVISION. First we have a song of holy
confidence (Ps 125:1-2); then a promise, Ps 125:3; followed by a
prayer, Ps 125:4; and a note of warning.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. They that trust in the LORD shall be as
mount Zion. The emphasis lies upon the object of their
trust, namely, Jehovah the Lord. What a privilege to be allowed
to repose in God] How condescending is Jehovah to become the
confidence of his people! To trust elsewhere is vanity; and the
more implicit such misplaced trust becomes the more bitter will
be the ensuing disappointment; but to trust in the living God is
sanctified common sense which needs no excuse, its result shall
be its best vindication. There is no conceivable reason why we
should not trust in Jehovah, and there is every possible
argument for so doing; but, apart from all argument, the end
will prove the wisdom of the confidence. The result of faith is
not occasional and accidental; its blessing comes, not to some
who trust, but to all who trust in the Lord. Trusters in Jehovah
shall be as fixed, firm, and stable as the mount where David
dwelt, and where the ark abode. To move mount Zion was
impossible: the mere supposition was absurd. Which cannot be
removed, but abideth for ever. Zion was the image of eternal
steadfastness,—this hill which, according to the Hebrew,
"sits to eternity, "neither bowing down nor moving to
and fro. Thus doth the trusting worshipper of Jehovah enjoy a
restfulness which is the mirror of tranquillity; and this not
without cause, for his hope is sure, and of his confidence he
can never be ashamed. As the Lord sitteth King for ever, so do
his people sit enthroned in perfect peace when their trust in
him is firm. This is, and is to be our portion; we are, we have
been, we shall be as steadfast as the hill of God. Zion cannot
be removed, and does not remove; so the people of God can
neither be moved passively nor actively, by force from without
or fickleness from within. Faith in God is a settling and
establishing virtue; he who by his strength setteth fast the
mountains, by that same power stays the hearts of them that
trust in him. This steadfastness will endure "for ever,
"and we may be assured therefore that no believer shall
perish either in life or in death, in time or in eternity. We
trust in an eternal God, and our safety shall be eternal.
Verse 2. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth
even for ever. The hill of Zion is the type of the
believer's constancy, and the surrounding mountains are made
emblems of the all surrounding presence of the Lord. The
mountains around the holy city, though they do not make a
circular wall, are, nevertheless, set like sentinels to guard
her gates. God doth not enclose his people within ramparts and
bulwarks, making their city to be a prison; but yet he so orders
the arrangements of his providence that his saints are as safe
as if they dwelt behind the strongest fortifications. What a
double security the two verses set before us! First, we are
established, and then entrenched; settled, and then sentinelled:
made like a mount, and then protected as if by mountains. This
is no matter of poetry, it is so in fact; and it is no matter of
temporary privilege, but it shall be so for ever. Date when we
please, "from henceforth" Jehovah encircles his
people: look on as far as we please, the protection extends
"even for ever." Note, it is not said that Jehovah's
power or wisdom defends believers, but he himself is round about
them: they have his personality for their protection, his
Godhead for their guard. We are here taught that the Lord's
people are those who trust him, for they are thus described in
the first verses: the line of faith is the line of grace, those
who trust in the Lord are chosen of the Lord. The two verses
together prove the eternal safety of the saints: they must abide
where God has placed them, and God must for ever protect them
from all evil. It would be difficult to imagine greater safety
than is here set forth.
Verse 3. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest
upon the lot of the righteous. The people of God are not to
expect immunity from trial because the Lord surrounds them, for
they may feel the power and persecution of the ungodly. Isaac,
even in Abraham's family, was mocked by Ishmael. Assyria laid
its sceptre even upon Zion itself. The graceless often bear rule
and wield the rod; and when they do so they are pretty sure to
make it fall heavily upon the Lord's believing people, so that
the godly cry out by reason of their oppressors. Egypt's rod was
exceeding heavy upon Israel, but the time came for it to be
broken. God has set a limit to the woes of his chosen: the rod
may light on their portion, but it shall not rest upon it. The
righteous have a lot which none can take from them, for God has
appointed them heirs of it by gracious entail: on that lot the
rod of the wicked may fall, but over that lot it cannot have
lasting sway. The saints abide for ever, but their troubles will
not. Here is a good argument in prayer for all righteous ones
who are in the hands of the wicked. Lest the righteous put forth
their hands unto iniquity. The tendency of oppression is to
drive the best of men into some hasty deed for self deliverance
or vengeance. If the rack be too long used the patient sufferer
may at last give way; and therefore the Lord puts a limit to the
tyranny of the wicked. He ordained that an Israelite who
deserved punishment should not be beaten without measure: forty
stripes save one was the appointed limit. We may therefore
expect that he will set a bound to the suffering of the
innocent, and will not allow them to be pushed to the uttermost
extreme. Especially in point of time he will limit the
domination of the persecutor, for length adds strength to
oppression, and makes it intolerable; hence the Lord himself
said of a certain tribulation, "except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's
sake those days shall be shortened." It seems that even
righteous men are in peril of sinning in evil days, and that it
is not the will of the Lord that they should yield to the stress
of the times in order to escape from suffering. The power and
influence of wicked men when they are uppermost are used to lead
or drive the righteous astray; but the godly must not accept
this as an excuse, and yield to the evil pressure; far rather
must they resist with all their might till it shall please God
to stay the violence of tim persecutor, and give his children
rest. This the Lord here promises to do in due time.
Verse 4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good,
and to them that are upright in their hearts. Men to be good
at all must be good at heart. Those who trust in the Lord are
good; for faith is the root of righteousness, and the evidence
of uprightness. Faith in God is a good and upright thing, and
its influence makes the rest of the man good and upright. To
such God will do good: the prayer of the text is but another
form of promise, for that which the Lord prompts us to ask he
virtually promises to give. Jehovah will take off evil from his
people, and in the place thereof will enrich them with all
manner of good. When the rod of the wicked is gone his own rod
and staff shall comfort us. Meanwhile it is for us to pray that
it may be well with all the upright who are now among men. God
bless them, and do them good in every possible form. We wish
well to those who do well. We are so plagued by the crooked that
we would pour benedictions upon the upright.
Verse 5. As for such as turn aside unto their
crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of
iniquity. Two kinds of men are always to be found, the
upright and the men of crooked ways. Alas, there are some who
pass from one class to another, not by a happy conversion,
turning from the twisting lanes of deceit into the highway of
truth, but by an unhappy declension leaving the main road of
honesty and holiness for the bypaths of wickedness. Such
apostates have been seen in all ages, and David knew enough of
them; he could never forget Saul, and Ahithophel, and others.
How sad that men who once walked in the right way should turn
aside from it! Observe the course of the false hearted: first,
they look out for crooked ways; next, they choose them and make
them "their crooked ways"; and then they turn aside
into them. They never intend to go back unto perdition, but only
to make a curve and drop into the right road again. The straight
way becomes a little difficult, and so they make a
circumbendibus, which all along aims at coming out right, though
it may a little deviate from precision. These people are neither
upright in heart, nor good, nor trusters in Jehovah, and
therefore the Lord will deal otherwise with them than with his
own people: when execution day comes these hypocrites and time
servers shall be led out to the same gallows as the openly
wicked. All sin will one day be expelled the universe, even as
criminals condemned to die are led out of the city; then shall
secret traitors find themselves ejected with open rebels. Divine
truth will unveil their hidden pursuits, and lead them forth,
and to the surprise of many they shall be set in the same rank
with those who avowedly wrought iniquity. But peace shall be
upon Israel. In fact the execution of the deceivers shall tend
to give the true Israel peace. When God is smiting the
unfaithful not a blow shall fall upon the faithful. The chosen
of the Lord shall not only be like Salem, but they shall have
salem, or peace. Like a prince, Israel has prevailed with God,
and therefore he need not fear the face of man; his wrestlings
are over, the blessing of peace has been pronounced upon him. He
who has peace with God may enjoy peace concerning all things.
Bind the first and last verses together: Israel trusts in the
Lord Ps 125:1, and Israel has peace Ps 125:5.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. In the degrees of Christian virtue, this
psalm represents the sixth step—the confidence which the
Christian places in the Lord. "It teacheth us, while we
ascend and raise our minds unto the Lord our God in loving
charity and piety, not to fix our gaze upon men who are
prosperous in the world with a false happiness."
(Augustine.)—H. T. Armfield, in "The Gradual
Psalms," 1874.
Whole Psalm. This short psalm may be summed up in
those words of the prophet (Isa 3:10-11), "Say ye to the
righteous, that it shall be well with him. Woe unto the wicked!
it shall be ill with him." Thus are life and death, the
blessing and the curse, set before us often in the psalms, as
well as in the law and in the prophets.—Matthew Henry,
1662-1714.
Verse 1. They that trust in the LORD. Note how
he commandeth no work here to be done, but only speaketh of
trust, In popery in the time of trouble men were taught to enter
into some kind of religion, to fast, to go on pilgrimage, and to
do such other foolish works of devotion, which they devised as
an high service unto God, and, thereby thought to make condign
satisfaction for sin and to merit eternal life. But here the
Psalmist leadeth us the plain way unto God, pronouncing this to
be the chiefest anchor of our salvation,—only to hope and
trust in the Lord; and declaring that the greatest service that
we can do unto God is to trust him. For this is the nature of
God—to create all things of nothing. Therefore he createth and
bringeth forth in death, life; in darkness, light. Now to
believe this is the essential nature and most special property
of faith. When God then seeth such a one as agreeth with his own
nature, that is, which believeth to find in danger help, in
poverty riches, in sin righteousness, and that for God's own
mercy's sake in Christ alone, him can God neither hate nor
forsake.—Martin Luther (1483-1546), in "A
Commentary on the Psalms of Degrees."
Verse 1. They that trust in the Lord. All that
deal with God must deal upon trust, and he will give comfort to
those only that give credit to him, and make it appear they do
so by quitting other confidences, and venturing to the utmost
for God. The closer our expectations are confined to God, the
higher our expectations may be raised.—Matthew Henry.
Verse 1. They that trust, etc. Trust,
therefore, in the Lord, always, altogether, and for all
things.—Robert Nisbet, in "The Songs of the Temple
Pilgrims," 1863.
Verse 1. Shall be as mount Zion. Some persons
are like the sand—ever shifting and treacherous. See Mt 7:26.
Some are like the sea—restless and unsettled. See Isa 57:20
Jas 1:6. Some are like the wind—uncertain and inconstant. See
Eph 4:14. Believers are like a mountain—strong, stable, and
secure. To every soul that trusts him the Lord says, "Thou
art Peter."—W. Hr. J. Page, of Chelsea, 1883.
Verse 1. As mount Zion, etc. Great is the
stability of a believer's felicity.—John Trapp,
1601-1669.
Verse 1. Mount Zion, which cannot be removed,
etc. Lieutenant Conder, reviewing Mr. Maudslay's important
exploration, says, "It is especially valuable as showing
that, however the masonry may have been destroyed and lost, we
may yet hope to find indications of the ancient enceinte in
the rock scarps which are imperishable." This is very
true; for, while man can destroy what man has made, the
everlasting hills smile at his rage. Yet who can hear of it
without perceiving the force and sublimity of that glorious
description of the immobility of believers.
"They that trust in Jehovah are as mount Zion,
Which shall not be moved, it abideth for ever."
—James Neil, in "Palestine Explored", 1882.
Verse 1. Cannot be removed, etc. They can never
be removed from the Lord, though they may be removed from his
house and ordinances, as sometimes David was; and from his
gracious presence, and sensible communion with him; and out of
the world by death: yet never from his heart's love, nor out of
the covenant of his grace, which is sure and everlasting; nor
out of his family, into which they are taken; nor from the Lord
Jesus Christ, nor out of his hands and arms, nor from off his
heart; nor from off him, as the foundation on which they are
laid; nor out of a state of grace, either regeneration or
justification; but such abide in the love of God, in the
covenant of his grace, in the hands of his Son, in the grace
wherein they stand, and in the house of God for evermore.—John
Gill, 1697-1771.
Verse 1. Abideth for ever. So surely as Mount
Zion shall never be "removed", so surely shall the
church of God be preserved. Is it not strange that wicked and
idolatrous powers have not joined together, dug down this mount,
and carried it into the sea, that they might nullify a promise
in which the people of God exult! Till ye can carry Mount Zion
into the Mediterranean Sea, the church of Christ shall grow and
prevail. Hear this, yet murderous Mohammedans!—Adam Clarke,
1760-1832.
Verse 1. Abideth. Literally, sitteth;as
spoken of a mountain, "lieth" or "is
situated"; but here with the following forever, used
in a still stronger sense.—J. J. Stewart Perowne, 1868.
Verses 1-2. That which is here promised the saints is
a perpetual preservation of them in that condition wherein they
are; both on the part of God, "he is round about them from
henceforth even for ever"; and on their parts, they
shall not be removed,—that is, from the condition of
acceptation with God wherein they are supposed to be,—but they
shall abide for ever, and continue therein immovable unto the
end. This is a plain promise of their continuance in that
condition wherein they are, with their safety from thence, and
not a promise of some other good thing provided that they
continue in that condition. Their being compared to mountains,
and their stability, which consists in their being and
continuing so, will admit no other sense. As mount Zion abides
in its condition, so shall they; and as the mountains about
Jerusalem continue, so doth the Lord continue his presence unto
them. That expression which is used, Ps 125:2, is weighty and
full to this purpose, The LORD is round about his people from
henceforth even for ever. What can be spoken more fully,
more pathetically? Can any expression of men so set forth the
safety of the saints? The Lord is round about them, not to save
them from this or that incursion, but from all; not from one or
two evils, but from every one whereby they are or may be
assaulted. He is with them, and round about them on every side
that no evil shall come nigh them. It is a most full expression
of universal preservation, or of God's keeping his saints in his
love and favour, upon all accounts whatsoever; and that not for
a season only, but it is "henceforth", from his
giving this promise unto their souls in particular, and their
receiving of it, throughout all generations, "even for
ever."—John Owen, 1616-1683.
Verse 2. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem. This image is not realised, as most persons
familiar with our European scenery would wish and expect it to
be realised. Jerusalem is not literally shut in by mountains,
except on the eastern side, where it may be said to be enclosed
by the arms of Olivet, with its outlying ridges on the north
east and south west. Anyone facing Jerusalem westward,
northward, or southward, will always see the city itself on an
elevation higher than the hills in its immediate neighbourhood,
its towers and walls standing out against the sky, and not
against any high background such as that which encloses the
mountain towns and villages of our own Cumbriau or Westmoreland
valleys. Nor, again, is the plain on which it stands enclosed by
a continuous though distant circle of mountains, like that which
gives its peculiar charm to Athens and Innsbruck. The mountains
in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem are of unequal height, and
only in two or three instances—Neby-Samwil, Er-Rain, and
Tuleil el-Ful—rising to any considerable elevation. Even
Olivet is only a hundred and eighty feet above the top of Mount
Zion. Still they act as a shelter: they must be surmounted
before the traveller can see, or the invader attack, the Holy
City; and the distant line of Moab would always seem to rise as
a wall against invaders from the remote east. It is these
mountains, expressly including those beyond the Jordan, which
are mentioned as "standing round about Jerusalem", in
another and more terrible sense, when on the night of the
assault of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, they "echoed
back" the screams of the inhabitants of the captured city,
and the victorious shouts of the soldiers of Titus.* Arthur
Penrhyn Stanly (1815-1881), in "Sinai and
Palestine." *(Josephus. Bell. Jud 6:5,1)
Verse 2. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem. Jerusalem is situated in the centre of a
mountainous region, whose valleys have drawn around it in all
directions a perfect network of deep ravines, the perpendicular
walls of which constitute a very efficient system of defence.—William
M. Thomson, in "The Land and the Book", 1881.
Verse 2. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
etc. The mountains most emphatically stand "round about
Jerusalem", and in doing so must have greatly
safeguarded it in ancient times. We are specially told that when
Titus besieged the city, he found it impossible to invest it
completely until he had built a wall round the entire sides of
these mountains, nearly five miles long, with thirteen places at
intervals in which he stationed garrisons, which added another
mile and a quarter to these vast earthworks. "The whole was
completed", says the Jewish historian, "in three days;
so that what would naturally have required some months was done
in so short an interval as is incredible." (Josephus. Wars
of the Jews. Book 5, ch. 7, section 2.) Assaults upon the city,
even then, could only be delivered effectively upon its level
corner to the north west, whence every hostile advance was
necessarily directed in all its various sieges. To those
familiar with these facts, beautifully bold, graphic, and
forceful is the Psalmist's figure of the security of the Lord's
people—
"The mountains are round about Jerusalem;
And Jehovah is round about his people,
Henceforth, even for evermore."
These words must have been in Hebrew ears as sublime as they
were comforting, and, when sung on the heights of Zion,
inspiring in the last degree.—James Neil.
Verse 2. The LORD is round about his people. It
is not enough that we are compassed about with fiery walls, that
is, with the sure custody, the continual watch and ward of the
angels; but the Lord himself is our wall: so that every way we
are defended by the Lord against all dangers. Above us is his
heaven, on both sides he is as a wall, under us he is as a
strong rock whereupon we stand so are we everywhere sure and
safe. Now if Satan through these munitions casts his darts at
us, it must needs be that the Lord himself shall be hurt before
we take harm. Great is our incredulity if we hear all these
things in vain.—Martin Luther.
Verse 2. From henceforth, even for ever. This
amplification of the promise, taken from time or duration,
should be carefully noted; for it shows that the promises made
to the people of Israel pertain generally to the Church in every
age, and are not to expire with that polity. Thus it expressly
declares, that the Church will continuously endure in this life;
which is most sweet consolation for pious minds, especially in
great dangers and public calamities, when everything appears to
threaten ruin and destruction.—D. H. Mollerus, 1639.
Verse 3. The rod of the wicked. It is, their
rod, made for them; if God scourge his children a little with
it, he doth but borrow it from the immediate and natural use for
which it was ordained; their rod, their judgment. So it is
called their cup: "This is the portion" and potion
"of their cup." Ps 11:6.—Thomas Adams, in
"An Exposition of the Second Epistle of Peter,"
1633.
Verse 3. For the rod of the wicked, etc.
According to Gussetius, this is to be understood of a measuring
rod; laid not on persons, but on lands and estates; and best
agrees with the lot, inheritance, and estate of the righteous;
and may signify that though wicked men unjustly seize upon and
retain the farms, possessions, and estates of good men, as if
they were assigned to them by the measuring line; yet they shall
not hold them long, or always.—John Gill.
Verse 3. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest
upon the lot of the righteous. No tyranny, although it
appear firm and stable, is of long continuance: inasmuch as God
does not relinquish the sceptre. This is manifest from the
example of Pharaoh, of Saul, of Sennacherib, of Herod, and of
others. Rightly, therefore, says Athanasius of Julian the
Apostate, "That little cloud has quickly passed away."
And how quickly beyond all human expectation the foundations of
the ungodly are overthrown is fully declared in Ps 37:1-40.—Solomon
Gesner, 1559-1605.
Verse 3. Shall not rest, that is to say,
"lie heavy", so as to oppress, as in Isa 25:10, with a
further sense of continuance of the oppression.—J. J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verse 3. Shall not rest, etc. The wrath of man,
like water turned upon a mill, shall come on them with no more
force than shall be sufficient for accomplishing God's gracious
purposes on their souls: the rest, however menacing its power
may be, shall be made to pass off by an opened sluice.
Nevertheless the trouble shall be sufficient to try every man
and to prove the truth and measure of his integrity.—Charles
Simeon (1759-1836), in "Horae Homileticae."
Verse 3. The lot of the righteous. There is a
fourfold lot belonging to the faithful.
1. The lot of the saints is the sufferings of the saints.
"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution:" 2Ti 3:12.
2. The lot of the saints is also that light and happiness
they have in this world. The lot is "fallen unto me in
pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage:" Ps 26:6.
When David sat at he sheepfold, which was his lot, he was thus
prepared for the kingdom of Israel which was given him by lot
from God.
3. But more specially faith, grace, and sanctification; which
give them just right and title to the inheritance of glory.
Heaven is theirs now; though not in possession, yet in
succession. They have the earnest of it; let them grow up to
stature and perfection, and take it.
4. Lastly, they have the lot of heaven. Hell is the lot of
the wicked: "Behold at evening tide trouble; and before the
morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us,
and the lot of them that rob us": Isa 27:14. Therefore it
is said of Judas, that he went "to his own place": Ac
1:25. "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and
brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of
their cup": Ps 11:6. But the lot of the righteous is faith,
and the end of their faith the salvation of their souls. God
gives them heaven, not for any foreseen worthiness in the
receivers, for no worthiness of our own can make us our father's
heirs; but for his own mercy and favour in Christ, preparing
heaven for us, and us for heaven. So that upon his decree it is
allotted to us; and unless heaven could lose God, we cannot lose
heaven.
Here, then, consider how the lottery of Canaan may shadow out
to us that blessed land of promise whereof the other was a
type.—Thomas Adams.
Verse 3. Lest the righteous out fort their hands
unto iniquity. Lest overcome by impatience, or drawn aside
by the world's allurements or affrightments, they should yield
and comply with the desires of the wicked, or seek to help
themselves out of trouble by sinister practices. God (saith
Chrysostom) acts like a lutanist, who will not let the strings
of his lute be too slack, lest it mar the music, nor suffer them
to be too hard stretched or screwed up, lest they break.—John
Trapp, 1601-1669.
Verse 3. Lest the righteous put forth their hands,
etc. The trial is to prove faith, not to endanger it by too
sharp a pressure: lest, overcome by this, even the
faithful put forth a hand (as in Ge 3:22), to forbidden
pleasure; or (as in Ex 22:8), to contamination: through force of
custom gradually persuading to sinful compliance, or through
despair of good, as the Psalmist (see Ps 37:1-40 and Ps 73:1-28)
describes some in his day who witnessed the prosperity of wicked
men.—The Speaker's Commentary, 1871-1881.
Verse 4. Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good.
The Midrash here calls to mind a Talmudic riddle:—There came a
good one (Moses Ex 2:2) and received a good thing (the Thra, or
Law, Pr 4:2) from the good One (God, Ps 145:9) for the good ones
(Israel, Ps 125:4).—Franz Delitzsch, 1871.
Verse 4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good.
A favourite thought with Nehemiah. See Ne 2:8,18 5:19 13:14,31:
"Remember me, O my God, for good", the concluding
words of his book.—Christopher Wordsworth, 1872.
Verse 4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good.
They consult their own good best, who do most good. I may say
these three things of those who do good (and what is
serving God but doing of good? or what is doing good but serving
God?). First, they shall receive true good. Secondly, they shall
for ever hold the best good, the chief good; they shall not only
spend their days and years in good; but when their days and
years are spent, they shall have good, and a greater good than
any they had, in spending the days and years of this life. They
shall have good in death, they shall come to a fuller enjoyment
of God, the chief good, when they have left and let fall
the possession of all earthly goods. Thirdly, they that do good
shall find all things working together for their good; if they
have a loss they shall receive good by it; if they bear a cross,
that cross shall bear good to them.—Joseph Caryl,
1602-1673.
Verse 4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good,
etc. Perhaps it may not prove unprofitable to enquire, with some
minuteness, who are the persons for whom prayer is presented,
and who have an interest in the Divine promises. They are
brought before us under different denominations. In Ps 125:1,
they are described as trusting in the Lord: in Ps 125:2, they
are described as the Lord's people: in Ps 125:3, they are called
the righteous: in Ps 125:4, they are called good and upright in
heart: and in Ps 125:5, they are called Israel. Let us collect
these terms together, and endeavour to ascertain from them, what
is their true condition and character, for whose security the
Divine perfections are pledged. And while a rapid sketch is thus
drawn, let each breathe the silent prayer, "Search me, O
God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if
there be any wicked Way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting."—N. M'Michael, in "The Pilgrim
Psalms," 1860.
Verse 4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good.
Believers are described as "good". The name is
explained by the Spirit as implying the indwelling of the Holy
Ghost and of faith. It is proof that no guile is harboured in
their hearts. Prayer is made that God would visit them with
goodness. This prayer incited by the Spirit amounts to a
heavenly promise that they shall receive such honour.—Henry
Law, in "Family Devotion," 1878.
Verse 4. Them that be good. Oh, brethren, the
good in us is God in us. The inwardness makes the outwardness,
the godliness the beauty. It is indisputable that it is Christ
in us that makes all our Christianity. Oh, Christians who have
no Christ in them—such Christians are poor, cheap imitations,
and hollow shams—and Christ will, with infinite impatience,
even infinite love, fling them away.—Charles Stanord, in a
Sermon preached before the Baptist Union, 1876.
Verse 4. Upright in their hearts. All true
excellence has its seat here. It is not the good action which
makes the good man: it is the good man who does the good action.
The merit of an action depends entirely upon the motives which
have prompted its performance; and, tried by this simple test,
how many deeds, which have wrung from the world its admiration
and its glory, might well be described in old words, as nothing
better than splendid sins. When the heart is wrong, all is
wrong. When the heart is right, all is right.—N. M'Michael.
Verse 4. Upright. Literally, straight,
straightforward, as opposed to all moral obliquity whatever.—Joseph
Addison Alexander (1809-1860), in "The Psalms
Translated and Explained."
Verse 5. Such as turn aside unto their crooked
ways. This is the anxiety of the pastor in this pilgrim
song. The shepherd would keep his sheep from straggling. His
distress is that all in Israel are not true Israelites. Two
sorts of people, described by the poet, have ever been in the
church. The second class, instead of being at the trouble to
"withstand in the evil day", will "put forth
their hands unto iniquity". Rather than feel, they will
follow the rod of the wicked. They will "turn aside unto
their crooked ways", sooner than risk temporal and material
interests.—Edward Jewitt Robinson, in "The Caravan and
the Temple," 1878.
Verse 5. Such as turn aside unto their crooked
ways. All the ways of sin are called "crooked
ways", and they are our own ways. The Psalmist calls
them "their crooked ways"; that is, the ways of
their own devising; whereas the way of holiness is the Lord's
way. To exceed or do more; to be deficient or do less, than God
requires, both these are "crooked ways". The way of
the Lord lies straight forward, right before us. "Whoso
walketh uprightly shall be saved; but he that is perverse (or crooked)
in his ways shall fall at once": Pr 28:18. The motion of a
godly man is like that of the kine that carried the ark:
"Who took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and
went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not
aside to the right hand or to the left": 1Sa 6:12.—Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 5. Crooked ways. The ways of sinners are "crooked";
they shift from one pursuit to another, and turn hither and
thither to deceive; they wind about a thousand ways to conceal
their base intentions, to accomplish their iniquitous projects,
or to escape the punishment of their crimes; yet disappointment,
detection, confusion, and misery, are their inevitable
portion.—Thomas Scott, 1747-1821.
Verse 5. The LORD shall lead them forth with the
workers of iniquity. They walked according to the prince of
the air, and they shall go where the prince of the air is. God
will bring forth men from their hiding places. Though they walk
among the drove of his children, in procession now, yet if they
also walk in by lanes of sin, God will rank them at the latter
day, yea, often in this world, with the workers of iniquity.
They walk after workers of iniquity here before God, and God
will make manifest that it is so before he hath done with them.
The reason, my brethren, why they are to be reckoned among
workers of iniquity, and as walkers among them, though they
sever themselves from them in respect of external conversation,
is, because they agree in the same internal principle of sin.
They walk in their lusts: every unregenerate man doth so. Refine
him how you will, it is certain he doth in heart pursue "crooked
ways."—Thomas Goodwin, 1600-1679.
Verse 5. Sometimes God takes away a barren professor
by permitting him to fall into open profaneness. There is one
that hath taken up a profession of the worthy name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, but this profession is only a cloak; he secretly
practises wickedness; he is a glutton, or a drunkard, or
covetous, or unclean. Well, saith God, I will loose the reins of
this professor, I will give him up to his vile affections. I
will loose the reins of his sins before him, he shall be
entangled with his filthy lusts, he shall be overcome of ungodly
company. Thus they that turn aside to their own crooked ways, the
Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.—John
Bunyan, 1628-1688.
Verse 5. But peace shall be upon Israel. Do you
ask, What is the peace upon Israel? I answer:—First, the peace
of Israel, that is, of a believing and holy soul, is from
above, and is higher than all the disturbances of the world;
it rests upon him, and makes him calm and peaceful, and lifts
him above the world: for upon him rests the Holy Spirit, who is
the Comforter; who is essential love and uncreated peace.
Secondly, the peace of a believing and holy soul is internal
for it is sent down from heaven upon his head, flows into his
heart, and dwells there, and stills all agitations of mind.
Thirdly, the peace of a believing and holy soul, is also external.
It is a fountain of Paradise watering all the face of the earth:
Ge 2:6: you see it in the man's face and life. Fourthly, the
peace of a believing and holy soul is divine: for chiefly, it
maintains peace with God. Fifthly, the peace of a believing and
holy soul is universal:to wit, with neighbours, with God,
with himself: in the body, in the eyes, in the cars, in tasting,
smelling, feeling, in all the members, and in all the appetites.
This peace is not disturbed by devils, the world, and the flesh,
setting forth their honours, riches, pleasures. Sixthly, the
peace of a believing and holy soul is peace eternal and
never interrupted; for it flows from an eternal and exhaustless
fountain, even from God himself.—Condensed from Le Blanc,
1599-1669.
Verse 5. Israel. The Israelites derived their
joint names from the two chief parts of religion: Israelites,
from Israel, whose prayer was his "strength" (Ho
12:3), and Jews, from Judah, whose name means
"praise."—George Seaton Bowes, in
"Illustrative Gatherings," 1869.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Whole Psalm.
1. The mark of the covenant: "They that trust."
2. The security of the covenant (Ps 125:1-2).
3. The rod of the covenant (Ps 125:3).
4. The tenor of the covenant (Ps 125:4).
5. The spirit of the covenant,—"peace."
Verse 1. See "Spurgeon's Sermons," No.
1,450: "The Immortality of the Believer."
Verses 1-2.
1. The believer's singularity: he trusts in Jehovah.
2. The believer's stability: "abideth for ever."
3. The believer's safety: "As the mountains," etc.
Verse 2. The all surrounding presence of Jehovah the
glory, safety, and eternal blessedness of his people. Yet this
to the wicked would be hell.
Verse 2. See "Spurgeon's Sermons," Nos.
161-2: "The Security of the Church."
Verse 2. The endurance of mercy: "From henceforth
even for ever."
Verse 2. Saints hemmed in by infinite love.
1. The City and the Girdle, or the symbols separated.
a) Jerusalem imaging God's people. Anciently chosen;
singularly honoured; much beloved; the shrine of Deity.
b) The Mountain Girdle setting forth Jehovah: Strength; All
sidedness; Sentinel through day and night.
2. The City within the Girdle, or the symbols related.
a) Delightful Entanglement. The view from the windows!
(Jehovah "round about.") To be lost must break through
God! Sound sleep and safe labour.
b) Omnipotent Circumvallation, suggesting—God's
determination; Satan's dismay. This mountain ring immutable.—W.
B. Haynes, of Stafford.
Verse 3. Observe,
1. The Permission implied. The rod of the wicked may come
upon the lot of the righteous. Why?
a) That wickedness may be free to manifest itself.
b) That the righteous may be made to hate sin.
c) That the righteousness of God's retribution may be seen.
d) That the consolations of the righteous may abound. 2Co 1:5.
2. The Permanency denied: "The rod...shall not rest",
etc. Illustrate by history of Job, Joseph, David, Daniel,
Christ, martyrs, etc.
3. The Probity tried and preserved: "Lest the righteous
put forth", etc., by rebelling, sinful compromise, etc.
a) God will have it tried, to prove its worth, beauty, etc.
b) But no more than sufficiently tried.—John Field, of
Sevenoaks.
Verses 3-4.
1. The good defined: "The upright in heart"; such
as do not "turn aside", and are not "workers of
iniquity."
2. The good distressed: by "the rod of the wicked."
3. The good delivered: "Do good"; fulfil thy
promise (Ps 125:3).—W. H. J. Page.
Verse 4.
1. What it is to be good.
2. What it is for God to do us good.
Verse 5. Temporary Professors.
1. The crucial test: "They turn aside."
2. The crooked policy: they make crooked ways their own.
3. The crushing doom: "led forth with workers of
iniquity."
Verse 5. Hypocrites.
1. Their ways: "crooked."
a) Like the way of a winding stream, seeking out the fair
level, or the easy descent.
b) Like the course of a tacking ship, which skilfully makes
every wind to drive her forward.
c) Ways constructed upon no principle but that of pure
selfishness.
2. Their conduct under trial. They "turn aside."
a) From their religious profession.
b) From their former companions.
c) To become the worst scorners of spiritual things, and the
most violent calumniators of spiritually minded men.
3. Their doom: "The Lord shall," etc.
a) In the judgment they shall be classed with the most
flagrant of sinners; "with the workers of iniquity."
b) They shall be exposed by an irresistible power: "The
Lord shall lead them forth."
c) They shall meet with terrible execution with the wicked in
hell.—J. Field.
Verse 5. (last clause). To whom peace belongs.
To "Israel"; the chosen, the once wrestler, the now
prevailing prince. Consider Jacob's life after he obtained the
name of Israel; note his trials, and his security under them as
illustrating this text. Then take the text as a sure promise.
Verse 5. (last clause). Enquire,
1. Who are the Israel?
a) Converted ones.
b) Circumcised in heart.
c) True worshippers.
2. What is the peace?
a) Peace of conscience.
b) Of friendship with God.
c) Of a settled and satisfied heart.
d) Of eternal glory, in reversion.
3. Why the certainty ("shall be")?
a) Christ has made peace for them.
b) The Holy Spirit brings peace to them.
c) They walk in the way of peace.
—J. Field.