TITLE. A Song of Degrees of David.
It is both by David and of David: he is the author and the
subject of it, and many incidents of his life may be employed to
illustrate it. Comparing all the Psalms to gems, we should liken
this to a pearl: how beautifully it will adorn the neck of
patience. It is one of the shortest Psalms to read, but one of
the longest to learn. It speaks of a young child, but it
contains the experience of a man in Christ. Lowliness and
humility are here seen in connection with a sanctified heart, a
will subdued to the mind of God, and a hope looking to the Lord
alone happy is the man who can without falsehood use these words
as his own; for he wears about him the likeness of his Lord, who
said, "I am meek and lowly in heart." The Psalm is in
advance of all the Songs of Degrees which have preceded it; for
loveliness is one of the highest attainments in the divine life.
There are also steps in this Song of Degrees: it is a short
ladder, if we count the words; but yet it rises to a great
height, reaching from deep humility to fixed confidence. Le
Blanc thinks that this is a song of the Israelites who returned
from Babylon with, humble hearts, weaned from their idols. At
any rate, after any spiritual captivity let it be the expression
of our hearts.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. LORD, my heart is not haughty. The
Psalm deals with the Lord, and is a solitary colloquy with him,
not a discourse before men. We have a sufficient audience when
we speak with the Lord, and we may say to him many things which
were not proper for the ears of men. The holy man makes his
appeal to Jehovah, who alone knows the heart: a man should be
slow to do this upon any matter, for the Lord is not to be
trifled with; and when anyone ventures on such an appeal he
should be sure of his case. He begins with his heart, for that
is the centre of our nature, and if pride be there it defiles
everything; just as mire in the spring causes mud in all the
streams. It is a grand thing for a man to know his own heart so
as to be able to speak before the Lord about it. It is beyond
all things deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?
Who can know it unless taught by the Spirit of God? It is a
still greater thing if, upon searching himself thoroughly, a man
can solemnly protest unto the Omniscient One that his heart is
not haughty: that is to say, neither proud in his opinion of
himself, contemptuous to others, nor self righteous before the
Lord; neither boastful of the past, proud of the present, nor
ambitious for the future. Nor mine eyes lofty. What the
heart desires the eyes look for. Where the desires run the
glances usually follow. This holy man felt that he did not seek
after elevated places where he might gratify his self esteem,
neither did he look down upon others as being his inferiors. A
proud look the Lord hates; and in this all men are agreed with
him; yea, even the proud themselves hate haughtiness in the
gestures of others. Lofty eyes are so generally hateful that
haughty men have been known to avoid the manners natural to the
proud in order to escape the ill will of their fellows. The
pride which apes humility always takes care to east its eyes
downward, since every man's consciousness tells him that
contemptuous glances are the sure ensigns of a boastful spirit.
In Psalm 121 David lifted up his eyes to the hills; but here he
declares that they were not lifted up in any other sense. When
the heart is right, and the eyes are right, the whole man is on
the road to a healthy and happy condition. Let us take care that
we do not use the language of this Psalm unless, indeed, it be
true as to ourselves; for there is no worse pride than that
which claims humility when it does not possess it.
Neither do I exercise myself in great matters. As a
private man he did not usurp the power of the king or devise
plots against him: he minded his own business, and left others
to mind theirs. As a thoughtful man he did not pry into things
unrevealed; he was not speculative, self conceited or
opinionated. As a secular person he did not thrust himself into
the priesthood as Saul had done before him, and as Uzziah did
after him. It is well so to exercise ourselves unto godliness
that we know our true sphere, and diligently keep to it. Many
through wishing to be great have failed to be good: they were
not content to adorn the lowly stations which the Lord appointed
them, and so they have rushed at grandeur and power, and found
destruction where they looked for honour. Or in things too
high for me. High things may suit others who are of greater
stature, and yet they may be quite unfit for us. A man does well
to know his own size. Ascertaining his own capacity, he will be
foolish if he aims at that which is beyond his reach, straining
himself, and thus injuring himself. Such is the vanity of many
men that if a work be within their range they despise it, and
think it beneath them: the only service which they are willing
to undertake is that to which they have never been called, and
for which they are by no means qualified. What a haughty heart
must he have who will not serve God at all unless he may be
trusted with five talents at the least! His looks are indeed
lofty who disdains to be a light among his poor friends and
neighbours here below, but demands to be created a star of the
first magnitude to shine among the upper ranks, and to be
admired by gazing crowds. It is just on God's part that those
who wish to be everything should end in being nothing. It is a
righteous retribution from God when every matter turns out to be
too great for the man who would only handle great matters, and
everything proves to be too high for the man who exercised
himself in things too high for him. Lord, make us lowly, keep us
lowly, fix us for ever in lowliness. Help us to be in such a
case that the confession of this verse may come from our lips
asa truthful utterance which we dare make before the Judge of
all the earth.
Verse 3. Let Israel hope in the LORD from
henceforth and for ever. See how lovingly a man who is
weaned from self thinks of others! David thinks of his people,
and loses himself in his care for Israel. How he prizes the
grace of hope! He has given up the things which are seen, and
therefore he values the treasures which are not seen except by
the eyes of hope. There is room for the largest hope when self
is gone, ground for eternal hope when transient things no longer
hold the mastery of our spirits. This verse is the lesson of
experience: a man of God who had been taught to renounce the
world and live upon the Lord alone, here exhorts all his friends
and companions to do the same. He found it a blessed thing to
live by hope, and therefore he would have all his kinsmen do the
same. Let all the nation hope, let all their hope be in Jehovah,
let them at once begin hoping "from henceforth", and
let them continue hoping "for ever." Weaning takes the
child out of a temporary condition into a state in which he will
continue for the rest of his life: to rise above the world is to
enter upon a heavenly existence which can never end. When we
cease to hanker for the world we begin hoping in the Lord. O
Lord, as a parent weans a child, so do thou wean me, and then
shall I fix all my hope on thee alone.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. This little song is inscribed dwdl
because it is like an echo of the answer (2Sa 6:21 sq.) with
which David repelled the mocking observation of Michal when he
danced before the Ark in a linen ephod, and therefore not in
kingly attire, but in the common raiment of the priests: I
esteem myself still less than I now show it, and I appear base
in mine own eyes. In general David is the model of the state
of mind which the poet expresses here. He did not push himself
forward, but suffered himself to be drawn forth out of
seclusion. He did not take possession of the throne violently;
but after Samuel has anointed him, he willingly and patiently
traverses the long, thorny, circuitous way of deep abasement,
until he receives from God's hand that which God's promise had
assured to him. The persecution by Saul lasted about ten years,
and his kingship in Hebron, at first only incipient, seven years
and a half. He left it entirely to God to remove Saul and
Ishbosheth. He let Shimei curse. He left Jerusalem before
Absalom. Submission to God's guidance, resignation to his
dispensations, contentment with that which was allotted to him,
are the distinguishing traits of his noble character.—Franz
Delitzsch.
Whole Psalm. Psalm 130 is a Song of Forgiveness; Psalm
131 is a Song of Humility: the former celebrates the blessedness
of the man whose transgressions are pardoned, the latter
celebrates the blessedness of the man who is of a meek and lowly
spirit. Forgiveness should humble us. Forgiveness implies
sin; and should not the sinner clothe himself with humility? and
when not for any desert of his, but simply by the free grace of
Heaven, his sins have been pardoned, should he not bind the
garments of humility still more closely about him? The man who
is of a nature at once sincere and sweet, will be even more
humbled by the sense of an undeserved forgiveness than by the
memory of the sins from which it has cleansed him. Very fitly,
therefore, does the Psalm of humility follow the Psalm which
sings of the Divine loving kindness and tender mercy.—Samuel
Cox.
Whole Psalm. This Psalm, which records the meek and
humble spirit of those who are the true worshippers of the
Temple, doubtless belongs, as its title announces, to the time
of David. It is exactly in the spirit of that humble
thanksgiving made by him, after the divine revelation by Nathan
of the future blessings of his posterity (1Ch 22:9-11); and
forms a most appropriate introduction to the following Psalm,
the theme of which is evidently the dedication of the Temple.—John
Jebb.
Verse 1. LORD, my heart is not haughty. For the
truth of his plea he appeals to God; and from all those who are
affected like David, God will accept of the appeal.
Firstly. He could in truth of heart appeal to God:
"LORD, my heart is not haughty." He appeals to
him who knoweth all things. "Lord, from whom nothing is
hid, thou knowest that this is the very disposition of my soul.
If I have anything, it is from thee; it is thy providence which
brought me from following the ewes great with young to feed and
govern thy people." Such a holy man would not rashly invoke
God, and take his holy name in vain; but knowing his integrity,
durst call God to witness. The saints are wont to do so upon
like occasions; as Peter (Joh 21:17); "Lord, thou knowest
all things; thou knowest that I love thee." They know they
have a God that will not be deceived with any shows, and that he
knoweth and approveth them for such as he findeth them to be.
Secondly. From those that are affected like David, God will
accept the appeal; for in the account of God we are that which
we sincerely desire and endeavour to be, and that which is the
general course and tenor of our lives, though there be some
intermixture of failing. David saith, "LORD, my heart is
not haughty"; and yet he was not altogether free from
pride. His profession respecteth his sincere purpose and
constant endeavour, and the predominant disposition of his soul.
God himself confirmeth such appeals by his own testimony: 1Ki
15:5, "My servant David did that which was right in the
eyes of the Lord, neither departed from all that which he had
commanded him, save only in the matter of Uriah." ...By all
this it is shown that the plea of sincerity is allowed by God,
though there be some mixture of failings and weaknesses.
Thirdly. Is not this boasting like the Pharisee? Lu 18:9,
"God, I thank thee, I am not like other men." If David
were thus humble, why doth he speak of it? Is he not guilty of
pride while he seemeth to speak against pride?
This is spoken either as,
1. A necessary vindication; or
2. A necessary instruction.
(a) As a necessary vindication against the censures and
calumnies of his adversaries. Saul's courtiers accused him as
aspiring after the kingdom; yea, his own brother taxed him with
pride when he came first abroad: 1Sa 17:28, "I know thy
pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come
down that thou mightest see the battle." If his brother
would calumniate his actions, much more might others. Now it is
for the honour of God that his children, as they would not
commit a fault, so they should not be under the suspicion of it;
therefore he appeals to God.
(b) A necessary instruction; for whatsoever David said or
wrote here, he said or wrote by the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, that Israel may learn how to hope in God. Herein David is
a notable pattern of duty both to superiors and inferiors.—Thomas
Manton.
Verse 1. My heart is not haughty. Albeit pride
is a common vice, which attends vain man in every degree of
excellency and supposed worth in him, yet the grace of God is
able to keep humble a wise, rich, and potent man, yea, to keep
humble a king and conqueror; for it is no less a person than
David who saith here, "Lord, my heart is not
haughty."—David Dickson.
Verse 1. Nor mine eyes lofty. Pride has its seat in
the heart; but its principal expression is in the eye. The eye
is the mirror of the soul; and from it mental and moral
characteristics may be ascertained, with no small degree of
precision. What a, world of meaning is sometimes concentrated in
a single glance! But of all the passions, pride is most clearly
revealed in the eyes. There can scarcely be a mistake here. We
are all familiar with a class of phrases, which run in pairs. We
speak of sin and misery; holiness and happiness; peace and
prosperity, war and desolation. Among these may be numbered, the
proud heart and the haughty look. "There is a generation,
Oh, how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted
up." "Him that hath an high look and a proud heart I
will not suffer." ...A proud look is one of the seven
things which are an abomination unto the Lord. It is said of
him, "Thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring
down high looks." And hence David makes the acknowledgment:
Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that pride has no
existence in my heart. Thou knowest that no pride flashes forth
from mine eyes.—N. M'Michael.
Verse 1. Nor mine eyes lofty. He had neither a
scornful nor an aspiring look. "My eyes are not
lofty", either to look with envy upon those that are
above me, or to look with disdain upon those that are below me.
Where there is a proud heart, there is commonly a proud look (Pr
6:17); but the humble publican will not so much as lift up his
eyes.—Matthew Henry.
Verse 1. Neither have I occupied myself, etc.
One cannot admire enough the prayer of Anselm, a profound divine
of our own country, in the eleventh century. "I do not
seek, O Lord, to penetrate thy depths. I by no means think my
intellect equal to them: but I long to understand in some degree
thy truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek
to understand that I may believe; but I believe, that I may
understand."—N. M'Michael.
Verse 1. Great matters...things too high for me.
The great and wonderful things meant are God's secret purposes,
and sovereign means for their accomplishment, in which man is
not called to cooperate, but to acquiesce. As David practised
this forbearance by the patient expectation of the kingdom, both
before and after the death of Saul, so he here describes it as a
characteristic of the chosen people.—Joseph Addison
Alexander.
Verses 1-2. Our Father is our superior; it is fit
therefore that we be resigned to his will. "Honour thy
father and thy mother" (Ex 20:12); how much more our
heavenly Father! (Heb 12:9). See David's spirit in the case: "LORD,
my heart is not haughty", etc.: Ps 131:1-2. As if he
had said, "I will keep within my own sphere; I will not
stretch beyond my line, in prescribing to God; but submit to his
will, `as a weaned child', taken from its dear
breasts": intimating that he would wean himself from
whatever God removed from him. How patiently did Isaac permit
himself to be bound and sacrificed by Abraham! Ge 22:9. And yet
he was of age and strength sufficient to have struggled for his
life, being twenty-five years old; but that holy young man
abhorred the thought of striving with his father. And shall not
we resign ourselves to our God and Father in Christ Jesus?—John
Singleton (—1706), in "The Morning
Exercises."
Verses 1-2. It has always been my aim, and it is my
prayer, to have no plan as regards myself; well assured as I am
that the place where the Saviour sees meet to place me must ever
be the best place for mo.—Robert Murray M'Cheyne,
1813-1843.
Verse 2. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself,
etc. Oh, how sapless and insipid doth the world grow to the soul
that is making meet for heaven! "I am crucified to the
world, and this world to me." Ga 6:14. In valet doth this
harlot think to allure me by her attractions of profit and
pleasure. "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a
child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned
child." There is no more relish in these gaudy things to my
palate, than in the white of an egg; everything grows a burden
to me, were it not my duty to follow my calling, and be thankful
for my enjoyments. I think I have my wife, husband, and dearest
relations, as if I had none; I weep for outward losses, as if I
wept not; rejoice in comforts below as if I rejoiced net (1Co
7:29-30); my thoughts are taken up with other objects. The men
of the world slight me, many seem to be weary of me, and I am as
weary of them. It is none of these earthly things that my heart
is set upon; my soul is set on things above, my treasure is in
heaven, and I would have my heart there also: I have sent before
me all my goods into another country, and am shortly for
removing; and when I look about me, I see a bare, empty house,
and am ready to say with Monica, What do I here? my father,
husband, mother (Jerusalem above), my brethren, sisters, best
friends are above. I think, I grudge the world any portion of my
heart, and think not these temporal visible things worth a cast
of my eye compared with things invisible and eternal: 2Co
4:18.—Oliver Heywood, 1629-1702.
Verse 2. (first clause). If I have not
restrained, or quieted, and compelled to silence, my
soul. It is a Hebrew phrase of asseveration and of swearing:
as if he would say, I have thoroughly imposed silence on my
soul, that it should be tranquil, and should bear patiently the
divinely imposed cross. Just as in the following Psalm we hear a
like form of asseveration: "If I will come into the
tabernacle of my house", meaning "I will not
come", etc.—Solomon Gesner.
Verse 2. I have behaved and quieted myself, as a
child that is weaned. Weaned from what? Self sufficiency,
self will, self seeking. From creatures and the things of the
world—not; indeed, as to their use, but as to any dependence
upon them for his happiness and portion...Yet this experience is
no easy attainment. The very form of expression—"I have
behaved and quieted myself", reminds us of some
risings which were with difficulty subdued. There is a
difference here between Christ and Christians. In him the
exercise of grace encountered no adverse principles; but in them
it meets with constant opposition. The flesh lusteth against the
spirit, and when we would do good evil is present with us; hence
the warfare within. So it is with "the child that is
weaned." The task to the mother is trying and troublesome.
The infant cries, and seems to sob out his heart. He thinks it
very hard in her, and knows not what she means by her seeming
cruelty, and the mother's fondness renders all her firmness
necessary to keep her at the process; and sometimes she also
weeps at the importunity of his dear looks, and big tears, and
stretched out hands. But it must be done, and therefore, though
she pities, she perseveres; and after a while he is soothed and
satisfied, forgets the breast, and no longer feels even a
hankering after his former pleasure. But how is the weaning of
the child accomplished? By embittering the member to his lips;
by the removal of the object in the absence and concealment of
the mother; by the substitution of other food; by the influence
of time. So it is with us. We love the world, and it deceives
us. We depend on creatures, and they fail us, and pierce us
through with many sorrows. We enter forbidden paths, and follow
after our lovers; and our way is hedged up with thorns; and we
then say, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul; and now, Lord,
what wait I for? My hope is in thee." The enjoyment of a
greater good subdues the relish of a less. What are the
indulgences of sin, or the dissipations of the world to one who
is abundantly satisfied with the goodness of God's house, and is
made to drink of the river of his pleasures?—William Jay
(1769-1853), in "Evening Exercises for the Closet."
Verse 2. As a child that is weaned of his mother.
Though the weaned child has not what it would have, or what it
naturally most desireth, the milk of the breast—yet it is
contented with what the mother giveth—it rests upon her love
and provision. So are we to be content with what providence
alloweth us: Heb 13:5, "Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have";
and Php 4:11, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am,
therewith to be content." Whatever pleaseth our heavenly
Father should please us. The child that is put from the breast
to a harder diet is yet contented at last. The child doth not
prescribe what it will eat, drink, or put on. Children are in no
care for enlarging possessions, heaping up riches, aspiring
after dignities and honours; but meekly take what is provided
for them. The child, when it has lost the food which nature
provideth for it, is not solicitous, but wholly refers itself to
the mother, hangeth upon the mother. So for everything
whatsoever should we depend upon God, refer ourselves to God,
and expect all things from him: Ps 62:5, "My soul, wait
thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him." With
such a simplicity of submission should we rest and depend upon
God. Let us take heed of being over wise and provident for
ourselves, but let us trust our Father which is in heaven, and
refer ourselves to his wise and holy government.—Thomas
Manton.
Verse 2. As a child that is weaned of his mother.
Weaned from the world, the riches, honours, pleasures, and
profits of it; as well as from nature, from self, from his own
righteousness, and all dependence upon it; and as a child that
is weaned from the breast wholly depends on its nurse for
sustenance, so did he wholly depend upon God, his providence,
grace, and strength; and as to the kingdom, he had no more
covetous desires after it than a weaned child has to the breast,
and was very willing to wait the due time for the enjoyment of
it. The Targum has it, "as one weaned on the breasts of its
mother, I am strengthened in the law." This is to be
understood not of a child whilst weaning, when it is usually
peevish, fretful, and froward, but when it is weaned, and is
quiet and easy in its mother's arms without the breast.—John
Gill.
Verse 2. My soul is even as a weaned child. In
its nature, weanedness of soul differs essentially from
that disgust with the world, to which its ill usage and meanness
sometimes give rise. It is one thing to be angry with the world,
or ashamed of it, and another to be weaned from it. Alter the
world, ennoble it, and many a proud mind that now despises,
would court it. It is different also from that weariness of
spirit which generally follows a free indulgence in earthly
enjoyments. There is such a thing as wearing out the affections.
Solomon appears to have done this at one period of his life.
"I have not a wish left", said a well known sensualist
of our own country, who had drunk as deeply as he could drink of
the world's cup. "Were all the earth contains spread out
before me, I do not know a thing I would take the trouble of
putting out my hand to reach." This weanedness of soul
presupposes a power left in the soul of loving and desiring. It
is not the destruction of its appetite, but the controlling and
changing of it. A weaned child still hungers, but it hungers no
more after the food that once delighted it; it is quiet without
it; it can feed on other things: so a soul weaned from the
world, still pants as much as ever for food and happiness, but
it no longer seeks them in worldly things, or desires to do so.
There is nothing in the world that it feels necessary for its
happiness. This thing in it it loves, and that thing it values;
but it knows that it can do without them, and it is ready to do
without them whenever God pleases. Let us inquire now into the
sources of this frame of mind—how we get it. One thing is
certain—it is not our work. We do not bring ourselves to it.
No infant weans itself. The truth is, it is God that must wean
us from the world. We shall never leave it of our own accord. It
is God's own right hand that must draw us from it. And how? The
figure in the text will partly tell us. 1. By embittering the
world to us. 2. At other times the Lord removes from us
the thing we love. 3. But he weans us most from the earth by
giving us better food.—Condensed from a Sermon by
Charles Bradley, entitled "Weanedness of Soul,"
1836.
Verse 2. As a weaned child. That is, meek,
modest, humble, submissive, simple, etc. See Mt 18:1-4.—Henry
Ainsworth.—1622.
Verse 2. Here is David's picture of himself...Observe,
the "child"—which is drawn for us to
copy—is "weaned": the process is complete; it
has been truly disciplined; the lesson is learned; and now it
rests in its "weaning." The whole image expresses a
repose which follows a struggle. Surely I have behaved and
quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother; or,
more literally, "on his mother"; now content to
lie still on the very place of its privation, "—as a
child that is weaned on his mother." That obedience would
be a tame and valueless thing, which was not the consequence of
quiet control. A mere apathetic state is the very opposite of
obedience that may be truly so called. But this is the point of
the similitude,—there has been a distress, and a battle, and a
self victory; and now the stilled will is hushed into submission
and contentment; ready to forego what is most liked, and to take
just whatever is given it—"a weaned child."
I do not believe that it was ever the intention of God that
any man should so merge and lose his will in the Divine, that he
should have no distinct will of his own. There have been many
who have tried to attain this annihilation of will; and they
have made it the great aim and end of life. But the character of
the dispensation does not allow it. I do not believe it to be a
possible thing; and if it were possible, I do not believe that
it would be after the mind of God. It is not man's present
relation to his Maker. None of the saints in the Bible did more
than submit a strong existing will. The Lord Jesus Christ
himself did no more. "What shall I say? Father, save me
from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Father, glorify thy name. Not my will, but thine be done."
Evidently two things—"My will", "Thy
will." It was an instantly and perfectly subjugated
will,—nevertheless, a will. And this is what is required of
us; and what the nature of our manhood, and the provisions of
our religion have to assume. A will, decidedly a will: the more
decided the will, the stronger the character, and the greater
the man. But a will that is always being given up, separated,
conformed, constantly, increasingly conformed. The unity of the
two wills is heaven.—Condensed from a Sermon by James
Vaughan.
Verse 3. Let Israel hope in the LORD. After the
example, therefore, of the King of Israel, who thus demeaned
himself in his afflictions, lowly, contented, and resigned,
casting all his care upon the Father who cared for him, and
patiently waiting his time for deliverance and salvation; after
this their example and pattern, let his faithful people hope and
trust, not in themselves, their wisdom, or their power, but in
Jehovah alone, who will not fail to exalt them, as he hath
already exalted their Redeemer, if they do but follow his
steps.—George Horne.
Verse 3. Let Israel hope in the LORD. Though
David could himself wait patiently and quietly for the crown
designed him, yet perhaps Israel, the people whose darling he
was, would be ready to attempt something in favour of him before
the time; he therefore endeavours to quiet them too, and bids
them, "hope in the LORD" that they
should see a happy change of the face of affairs in due time.
Thus "it is good to hope, and quietly to wait for the
salvation of the Lord."—Matthew Henry.
Verse 3. Let Israel hope in the LORD. etc.
Remember that he is Jehovah.
1. Wise to plan.
2. Good to purpose.
3. Strong to execute, and that he will withhold no good thing
from them that walk uprightly.
4. Trust "from henceforth." If you have not
begun before, begin now.
5. And do not be weary; trust "for ever."
Your case can never be out of the reach of God's power and
mercy.—Adam Clarke.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. Humility.
1. A profession which ought to befit every child of God.
2. A profession which nevertheless many children of God
cannot truthfully make. Point out the prevalence of pride and
ambition even in the church.
3. A profession which can only be justified through the
possession of the spirit of Christ (Mt 11:29-30 Mt 18:1-5).—C.A.
D.
Verse 2. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself.
The original bears somewhat of the form of an oath, and
therefore our translators exhibited great judgment in
introducing the word "surely"; it is not a literal
version, but it correctly gives the meaning. The Psalmist had
been upon his best behaviour, and had smoothed down the
roughnesses of his self will; by holy effort he had mastered his
own spirit, so that towards God he was not rebellious, even as
towards man he was not haughty. It is no easy thing to quiet
yourself: sooner may a man calm the sea, or rule the wind, or
tame a tiger, than quiet himself. We are clamorous, uneasy,
petulant; and nothing but grace can make us quiet under
afflictions, irritations, and disappointments. As a child
that is weaned of afflictions mother. He had become as
subdued and content as a child whose weaning is fully
accomplished. The Easterners put off the time of weaning far
later than we do, and we may conclude that the process grows
none the easier by being postponed. At last there must be an end
to the suckling period, and then a battle begins: the child is
denied his comfort, and therefore frets and worries, flies into
pets, or sinks into sulks. It is facing its first great sorrow
and it is in sore distress. Yet time brings not only
alleviations, but the ending of the conflict; the boy ere long
is quite content to find his nourishment at the table with his
brothers, and he feels no lingering, wish to return to those
dear fountains from which he once sustained his life. He is no
longer angry with his mother, but buries his head in that very
bosom after which he pined so grievously: he is weaned on
his mother rather than from her.
"My soul doth like a weanling rest,
I cease to weep;
So mother's lap, though dried her breast,
Can lull to sleep."
To the weaned child his mother is his comfort though she has
denied him comfort. It is a blessed mark of growth out of
spiritual infancy when we can forego the joys which once
appeared to be essential, and can find our solace in him who
denies them to us: then we behave manfully, and every childish
complaint is hushed. If the Lord removes our dearest delight we
bow to his will without a murmuring thought; in fact, we find a
delight in giving up our delight. This is no spontaneous fruit
of nature, but a well tended product of divine grace: it grows
out of humility and lowliness, and it is the stem upon which
peace blooms as a fair flower. My soul is even as a weaned
child; or it may be read, "as a weaned child on me my
soul", as if his soul leaned upon him in mute submission,
neither boasting nor complaining. It is not every child of God
who arrives at this weanedness speedily. Some are sucklings when
they ought to be fathers; others are hard to wean, and cry, and
fight, and rage against their heavenly parent's discipline. When
we think ourselves safely through the weaning, we sadly discover
that the old appetites are rather wounded than slain, and we
begin crying again for the breasts which we had given up. It is
easy to begin shouting before we are out of the wood, and no
doubt hundreds have sung this Psalm long before they have
understood it. Blessed are those afflictions which subdue our
affections, which wean us from self sufficiency, which educate
us into Christian manliness, which teach us to love God not
merely when he comforts us, but even when he tries us. Well
might the sacred poet repeat his figure of the weaned child; it
is worthy of admiration and imitation; it is doubly desirable
and difficult of attainment. Such weanedness from self springs
from the gentle humility declared in the former verse, and
partly accounts for its existence. If pride is gone, submission
will be sure to follow; and, on the other hand, if pride is to
be driven out, self must also be vanquished.
Verse 2. The soul is as a weaned child:
1. In conversion.
2. In sanctification, which is a continual weaning from the
world and sin.
3. In bereavement.
4. In affliction of every kind.
5. In death.—G. R.
Verse 2.
1. The soul has to be weaned as well as the body.
a) It is first nourished by others.
b) It is afterward thrown upon its own resources.
2. The soul is weaned from one thing by giving its attention
to another.
a) From worldly things by heavenly.
b) From self righteousness by the righteousness of another.
c) From sin to holiness.
d) From the world to Christ.
e) From self to God.—G.R.
Verse 2.
1. A desirable condition: "As a weaned child."
2. A difficult task—to subdue and quiet self.
3. A delightful result: "Surely... my soul is as a weaned
child."—W. H. J. P.
Verse 2.
1. Soul fretfulness: weak, dishonourable, rebellious.
2. Soul government; throne often abdicated; God gives each
the sceptre of self rule; necessary to successful life.
3. Soul quiet: its sweetness; its power. Come, Holy Spirit,
breathe it upon us!—W. B. H.
Verse 2. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1210:
"The Weaned Child."
Verses 2-3. The weaned child hoping in the Lord:
1. The first weaning of the soul, the grand event of a man's
history.
2. The joy in the Lord that springs up in every weaned soul:
"My soul is even as a weaned child; let Israel hope in the
Lord from henceforth and for ever."
3. The daily weaning of the soul through life.
4. The earnest desires and the fruitful work of every weaned
soul.—A. Moody Stuart.
Verse 3.
1. The encouragement to hope in God.
a) As a covenant God, "the God of Israel."
b) As a covenant keeping God: "From henceforth", etc.
2. The effect of this hope.
a) The humility and dependence in the first verse.
b) The contentment and weaning in the second verse. Would
Israel be thus humble and obedient as a little child? "Let
Israel hope," etc.—G. R.
Verse 3. The Voice of Hope heard in the Calm.
1. Calmed souls appreciate God. Quiet favours contemplation.
God's majesty, perfection, and praise so discovered.
2. Calmed souls confide in God; seen to be so worthy of
trust.
3. Calmed souls look fearlessly into eternity; "from
henceforth and for ever."—W. B. H.
Verse 3. Hope on, hope ever.
1. For the past warrants such confidence.
2. For the present demands such confidence.
3. For the future will justify confidence.—W. H. J. P.
WORK UPON THE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIRST PSALM
"Several five Sermons Upon Psalm
131," in the Works of Manton, D.D. Vol. 5., folio, pp.
961-1007; they may also be found in 21. pp. 406-462 of the new
edition of Manton's Works, published by Nisbet and Co., 1874.