TITLE. A Psalm of David. It is so
much like other Davidic psalms that we accept the title without
a moment's hesitation. David's history illustrates it, and his
spirit breathes in it. Why it has been set down as one of the
seven Penitential Psalms we can hardly tell; for it is rather a
vindication of his own integrity, and an indignant prayer
against his slanderers, than a confession of fault. It is true
the second verse proves that he never dreamed of justifying
himself before the Lord; but even in it there is scarcely the
brokenness of penitence. It seems to us rather martial than
penitential, rather a supplication for deliverance from trouble
than a weeping acknowledgment of transgression. We suppose that
seven penitentials were needed by ecclesiastical rabbis, and
therefore this was impressed into the service. In truth, it is a
mingled strain, a box of ointment composed of divers
ingredients, sweet and bitter, pungent and precious. It is the
outcry of an overwhelmed spirit, unable to abide in the highest
state of spiritual prayer, again and again descending to bewail
its deep temporal distress; yet evermore struggling to rise to
the best things. The singer moans at intervals; the petitioner
for mercy cannot withhold his cries for vindication. His hands
are outstretched to heaven, but at his girdle hangs a sharp
sword, which rattles in its scabbard as he closes his psalm.
DIVISION. This psalm is divided by the
Selah. We prefer to follow the natural cleavage, and therefore
have made no other dissection of it. May the Holy Spirit lead us
into its inner meaning.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my
supplications. In the preceding psalm he began by declaring
that he had cried unto the Lord; here he begs to be favourably
regarded by Jehovah the living God, whose memorial is that he
heareth prayer. He knew that Jehovah did hear prayer, and
therefore he entreated him to hear his supplication, however
feeble and broken it might be. In two forms he implores the one
blessing of gracious audience:—"hear" and "give
ear." Gracious men are so eager to be heard in prayer that
they double their entreaties for that boon. The Psalmist desires
to be heard and to be considered; hence he cries,
"hear", and then "give ear." Our case is
difficult, and we plead for special attention. Here it is
probable that David wished his suit against his adversaries to
be heard by the righteous Judge; confident that if he had a
hearing in the matter whereof he was slanderously accused, he
would be triumphantly acquitted. Yet while somewhat inclined
thus to lay his case before the Court of King's Bench, he
prefers rather to turn it all into a petition, and present it
before the Court of Requests, hence he cries rather "hear
my prayer" than "hear my suit." Indeed David is
specially earnest that he himself, and the whole of his life,
may not become the subject of trial, for in that event he could
not hope for acquittal. Observe that he offered so much pleading
that his life became one continual prayer;but that
petitioning was so varied in form that it broke out in many supplications.
In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. Saints
desire to be answered as well as heard: they long to find the
Lord faithful to his promise and righteous in defending the
cause of justice. It is a happy thing when we dare appeal even
to righteousness for our deliverance; and this we can do upon
gospel principles, for "if we confess our sins he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins." Even the sterner
attributes of God are upon the side of the man who humbly
trusts, and turns his trust into prayer. It is a sign of our
safety when our interests and those of righteousness are
blended. With God's faithfulness and righteousness upon our side
we are guarded on the right hand and on the left. These are
active attributes, and fully equal to the answering of any
prayer which it would be light to answer. Requests which do not
appeal to either of these attributes it would not be for the
glory of God to hear, for they must contain desires for things
not promised, and unrighteous.
Verse 2. And enter not into judgment with thy
servant. He had entreated for audience at the mercy seat,
but he has no wish to appear before the judgment seat. Though
clear before men, he could not claim innocence before God. Even
though he knew himself to be the Lord's servant, yet he did not
claim perfection, or plead merit; for even as a servant he was
unprofitable. If such be the humble cry of a servant, what ought
to be the pleading of a sinner? For in thy sight shall no man
living be justified. None can stand before God upon the
footing of the law. God's sight is piercing and discriminating;
the slightest flaw is seen and judged; and therefore pretence
and profession cannot avail where that glance reads all the
secrets of the soul. In this verse David told out the doctrine
of universal condemnation by the law long before Paul had taken
his pen to write the same truth. To this day it stands true even
to the same extent as in David's day: no man living even at this
moment may dare to present himself for trial before the throne
of the Great King on the footing of the law. This foolish age
has produced specimens of n pride so rank that men have dared to
claim perfection in the flesh; but these vain glorious boasters
are no exception to the rule here laid down: they are but men,
and poor specimens of men. When their lives are examined they
are frequently found to be more faulty than the humble penitents
before whom they vaunt their superiority.
Verse 3. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul.
He has followed me up with malicious perseverance, and has
worried me as often as I have been within his reach. The attack
was upon the soul or life of the Psalmist: our adversaries mean
us the worst possible evil, their attacks are no child's play,
they hunt for the precious life. He hath smitten my life down
to the ground. The existence of David was made bitter by the
cruelty of his enemy; he was as one who was hurled down and made
to lie upon the ground, where he could be trampled on by his
assailant. Slander has a very depressing effect upon the
spirits; it is a blow which overthrows the mind as though it
were knocked clown with the fist. He hath made me to dwell in
darkness, as those that have been long dead. The enemy was
not content with felling his life to the ground—he would lay
him lower still, even in the grave; and lower than that, if
possible, for the enemy would shut up the saint in the darkness
of hell if he could. David was driven by Saul's animosity to
haunt caverns and holes, like an unquiet ghost; he wandered out
by night, and lay hid by day like an uneasy spirit which had
long been denied the repose of the grave. Good men began to
forget him, as though he had been long dead; and bad men made
ridicule of his rueful visage as though it belonged not to a
living man, but was dark with the shadow of the sepulchre. Poor
David! He was qualified to bless the house of the living, but he
was driven to consort with the dead! Such may be our case, and
yet we may be very dear to the Lord. One thing is certain, the
Lord who permits us to dwell in darkness among the dead, will
surely bring us into light, and cause us to dwell with those who
enjoy life eternal.
Verse 4. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within
me; my heart within me is desolate. David was no stoic: he
felt his banishment, and smarted under the cruel assaults which
were made upon his character. He felt perplexed and overturned,
lonely and afflicted. He was a man of thought and feeling, and
suffered both in spirit and in heart from the undeserved and
unprovoked hostility of his persecutors. Moreover, he laboured
under the sense of fearful loneliness; he was for a while
forsaken of his God, and his soul was exceeding heavy, even unto
death. Such words our Lord Jesus might have used: in this the
Head is like the members, and the members are as the Head.
Verse 5. I remember the days of old. When we
see nothing new which can cheer us, let us think upon old
things. We once had merry days, days of deliverance, and joy and
thanksgiving; why not again? Jehovah rescued his people in the
ages which lie back, centuries ago; wily should he not do the
like again? We ourselves have a rich past to look back upon; we
have sunny memories, sacred memories, satisfactory memories, and
these are as flowers for the bees of faith to visit, from whence
they may make honey for present use. I meditate on all thy
works. When my own works reproach me, thy works refresh me.
If at the first view the deeds of the Lord do not encourage us,
let us think them over again, ruminating and considering the
histories of divine providence. We ought to take a wide and
large view of all God's works; for as a whole they work
together for good, and in each part they are worthy of reverent
study. I muse on the work of thy hands. This he had done
in former days, even in his most trying hours. Creation had been
the book in which he read of the wisdom and goodness of the
Lord. He repeats his perusal of the page of nature, and counts
it a balm for his wounds, a cordial for his cares, to see what
the Lord has made by his skilful hands. When the work of our own
hand grieves us, let us look to the work of God's hands. Memory,
meditation, and musing are here set together as the three
graces, ministering grace to a mind depressed and likely to be
diseased. As David with his harp played away the evil spirit
from Saul, so does he hero chase away gloom from his own soul by
holy communion with God.
Verse 6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee. He
was eager for his God. His thoughts of God kindled in him
burning desires, and these led to energetic expressions of his
inward longings. As a prisoner whose feet are bound extends his
hands in supplication when there is hope of liberty, so does
David. My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.
As the soil cracks, and yawns, and thus opens its mouth in dumb
pleadings, so did the Psalmist's soul break with longings. No
heavenly shower had refreshed him from the sanctuary: banished
from the means of grace, his soul felt parched and dry, and he
cried out, "My soul to thee"; nothing would content
him but the presence of his God. Not alone did he extend his
hands, but his heart was stretched out towards the Lord. He was
athirst for the Lord. If he could but feel the presence of his
God he would no longer be overwhelmed or dwell in darkness; nay,
everything would turn to peace and joy. Selah. It was time to
pause, for the supplication had risen to agony point. Both harp
strings and heart strings were strained, and needed a little
rest to get them right again for the second half of the song.
Verse 7. Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit
faileth. If long delayed, the deliverance would come too
late. The afflicted suppliant faints, and is ready to die. His
life is ebbing out; each moment is of importance; it will soon
be all over with him. No argument for speed can be more powerful
than this. Who will not run to help a suppliant when his life is
in jeopardy? Mercy has wings to its heels when misery is in
extremity. God will not fail when our spirit fails, but the
rather he will hasten his course and come to us on the wings of
the wind. Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them
that go down into the pit. Communion with God is so dear to
a true heart that the withdrawal of it makes the man feel as
though he were ready to die and perish utterly. God's
withdrawals reduce the heart to despair, and take away all
strength from the mind. Moreover, his absence enables
adversaries to work their will without restraint; and thus, in a
second way, the persecuted one is like to perish. If we have
God's countenance we live, but if he turns his back upon us we
die. When the Lord looks with favour upon our efforts we
prosper, but if he refuses to countenance them we labour in
vain.
Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in
the morning; for in thee do I trust. Lord, my sorrow makes
me deaf,—cause me to hear: there is but one voice that can
cheer me—cause me to hear thy lovingkindness; that music I
would fain enjoy at once—cause me to hear it in the morning,
at the first dawning hour. A sense of divine love is to the soul
both dawn and dew; the end of the night of weeping, the
beginning of the morning of joy. Only God can take away from our
weary ears the din of our care, and charm them with the sweet
notes of his love. Our plea with the Lord is our faith: if we
are relying upon him, he cannot disappoint us: "in thee do
I trust" is a sound and solid argument with God. He who
made the ear will cause us to hear: he who is love itself will
have the kindness to bring his lovingkindness before our minds. Cause
me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul
unto thee. The Great First Cause must cause us to hear and
to know. Spiritual senses are dependent upon God, and heavenly
knowledge comes from him alone. To know the way we ought to take
is exceedingly needful, for how can we be exact in obedience to
a law with which we are not acquainted? or how can there be an
ignorant holiness? If we know not the way, how shall we keep in
it? If we know not wherein we should walk, how shall we be
likely to follow the right path?, The Psalmist lifts up his
soul: faith is good at a dead lift: the soul that trusts will
rise. We will not allow our hope to sink, but we will strive to
get up and rise out of our daily griefs. This is wise. When
David was in any difficulty as to his way he lifted his soul
towards God himself, and then he knew that he could not go very
far wrong. If the soul will not rise of itself we must lift it,
lift it up unto God. This is good argument in prayer: surely the
God to whom we endeavour to lift up our soul will condescend to
show us what he would have us to do. Let us attend to David's
example, and when our heart is low, let us heartily endeavour to
lift it up, not so much to comfort as to the Lord himself.
Verse 9. Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies.
Many foes beset us, we cannot overcome them, we cannot even
escape from them; but Jehovah can and will rescue us if we pray
to him. The weapon of all prayer will stand us in better stead
than sword and shield. I flee unto thee to hide me. This
was a good result from his persecutions. That which makes us
flee to our God may be an ill wind, but it blows us good. There
is no cowardice in such flight, but much holy courage. God can
hide us out of reach of harm, and even out of sight Of it. He is
our hiding place; Jesus has made himself the refuge of his
people: the sooner, and the more entirely we flee to him the
better for us. Beneath the crimson canopy of our Lord's
atonement believers are completely hidden; let us abide there
and be at rest. In the seventh verse our poet cried, "Hide
not thy face", and here he prays, "Hide me." Note
also how often he uses the words "unto thee"; he is
after his God; lie must travel in that direction by some means,
even though he may seem to be beating a retreat; his whole being
longs to be near the Lord. Is it possible that such thirsting
for God will be left unsupplied? Never, while the Lord is love.
Verse 12. And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies,
and destroy all them that afflict my soul. He believes that
it will be so, and thus prophesies the event; for the words may
be read as a declaration, and it is better so to understand
them. We could not pray just so with our Christian light;
but under Old Testament arrangements the spirit of it was
congruous to the law. It is a petition which justice sanctions,
but the spirit of love is not at home in presenting it. We,
as Christians, turn the petition to spiritual use only. Yet
David was of so generous a mind, and dealt so tenderly with
Saul, that he could hardly have meant all that his words are
made in our version to say. For I am lay servant; and
therefore I hope that my Master will protect me in his service,
and grant me victory while I fight his battles. It is a
warrior's prayer, and smells of the dust and smoke of battle. It
was heard, and therefore it was not asking amiss. Still there is
a more excellent way.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. This psalm of David most aptly answereth
to that psalm which precedes it; for in Ps 142:1-7 he showeth
that he prayed, repeating it twice (Ps 143:1); and here he twice
saith, "Hear my prayer, give ear to my supplication."
In Ps 142:3 he saith, "When my spirit was overwhelmed
within me"; here (Ps 143:4), "My spirit is overwhelmed
within me."—John Mayer.
Whole Psalm. The promise referred to throughout this
octave of Psalms 138-145. is that recorded in 2Sa 7:12,
etc., "When thy days be fulfilled...I will set up thy seed
after thee...and I will establish his kingdom...If he commit
iniquity, I will chasten him ...But my mercy shall not depart
away from him; and thine house and thy kingdom shall be
established for ever." What fixes the connection of the
psalm with the history is the frequent application of the term "Thy
(Jehovah's) servant", by David to himself in the
latter, as in Ps 143:2 144:12 of the former. Jehovah had first
used it of David, "Tell to my servant, to David";
David therefore fastens on it as his plea again and again (2Sa
7:5,9-21,25-29). David's plea, "For I am thy servant",
is no boast of his service, but a magnifying of God's electing
grace: "Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that
thou hast brought me hitherto?" 2Sa 7:18. The cry (Ps
143:6) "My soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty
land", answers to David's own words in Ps 63:1, when he
was fleeing from Absalom, and still in the wilderness of Judah
(title, Ps. 63.) on the near side of Jordan: "My soul
thirsteth for thee." The history here again is an
undesigned agreement with the psalm (2Sa 16:2,14): "The
King, and all the people with him, came weary, and
refreshed themselves" with Ziba's fruits; also 2Sa 17:2.
The Hebrew for "thirsty" in Psalm 143 is the same as
for "weary" in Ps 63:1, and in 2Sa 16:14, and means
"panting", "weary",
"thirsting."—Andrew Robert Fausset, in
"Studies in the 150. Psalms", 1876.
Whole Psalm. At the making of this psalm (as it
plainly appeareth) David was cast into some desperate danger;
whether by Saul when he was forced to flee into the cave, as in
the former psalm, or by Absalom his son, or by any other, it is
uncertain. Howsoever, in this he complains grievously to God of
the malice of his enemies, and desireth God to hear his prayers,
he acknowledgeth that he suffereth those things by God's just
judgment, most humbly craving mercy for his sins; desiring not
only to be restored, but also to be governed by God's Spirit,
that he may dedicate and consecrate the rest of his life to
God's service. This worthy psalm, then, containeth these three
things. First, a confession of his sins. Secondly, a lamentation
over his injuries. Thirdly, a supplication for temporal
deliverance and spiritual graces.—Archibald Symson.
Whole Psalm. It is not without some use to observe in
this psalm how the, heart of its devout composer turned
alternately from spiritual to temporal, and again from temporal
to spiritual subjects. He first complains of his sins,
and begs for mercy;then of his enemies, and prays
for deliverance. Then he laments his darkness, and pleads
for the light of God's countenance, and for wisdom, and
understanding. After this, the thought of his enemies rushes in
again upon his soul, and he flees to God for protection. Lastly,
he again puts up his prayer for wisdom and holiness: "Teach
me to do thy will; for thou art my God: spirit is good; lead me
into the land of uprightness." This is a peculiarly
important petition: before he had prayed to know the way in
which he should walk, he now prays that he may walk in it.—John
Fawcett, 1769-1851.
Whole Psalm. This is appointed by the Church for Ash
Wednesday, and is the seventh and last of the Penitential
Psalms. These seven Penitential Psalms also sometimes called
"the Special Psalms", and have long been used in
Church as the completest and most spiritual acts of repentance
which she possesses. They have sometimes been considered as
directed against the seven deadly sins; as, for instance, Ps
6:1-10, against Wrath; Ps 32:1-11, against Pride Ps 38:1-22,
against Gluttony; Ps 51:1-19, against Impurity; Ps 102:1-28,
against Covetousness; Ps 130:1-8, against Envy; and the present
Psalm against Indifference, Carelessness.—J. W. Burgon.
Verse 1. Hear my prayer, O LORD, etc. Alas, O
Lord, if thou hear not prayer, I were as good not pray at all;
and if thou hear it, and give not car it, it were as good thou
didst not hear it at all. O, therefore, "hear my O God,
and give ear to my supplications"; that neither my
praying may be lost, want of thy hearing it, nor thy hearing it
be lost for want of thy attending it. When I only make a prayer
to God, it seems enough that he hear it; but make a
supplication, it requires that he give ear unto it: for seeing a
supplication hath a greater intention in the setting out, it
cannot without a greater, attention be entertained. But what
niceness of words is this? as though it were not all one "to
hear" and "to give ear"? or as though
there were any difference between a prayer a supplication? Is it
not perhaps so indeed? for hearing sometimes may be passive,
where giving ear is always active; and seeing Christ, we doubt
not, heard the woman of Canaan's first cry, while it was a
prayer; but gave no ear till her second cry, when it was grown
to a supplication. However it be, as hearing, O God, without
giving ear would be to no purpose, so thy giving without giving
answer would do me no good; O, therefore, "answer me,
" God: for if thou answer not my prayer, how canst thou
answer my expectations. My prayer is but the seed; it is thy
answer that makes the harvest. If thou shouldest not answer me
at all, I could not hope for any harvest at all; thou shouldest
answer me, and not "in thy righteousness", that
would be a indeed, but nothing but of blasted corn. Therefore,
answer me, O God, but" thy righteousness"; for thy
righteousness never made an unpleasing answer was an answer in
thy righteousness which thou madest to Noah: "My shall not
always strive with man; for the imagination of man's heart is
evil his infancy." It was an answer in thy righteousness
which thou madest to Abraham: "Fear not; I will be thy
shield, and thy exceeding great reward." It was an answer
in thy righteousness which thou madest to the thief upon the
cross: "This day thou shalt be with me in paradise."
Oh, then, answer me in thy righteousness, O God, and then the
harvest of my hope will be as the seven years of plenty foretold
by Joseph.—Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 1.. Hear my prayer. ...give ear to my
supplications... answer me. He doth here three times repeat his
camest desire to be heard, as in fifth psalm four times he
doubles and ingeminateth this same suit to be heard. ... When he
doubles his request of hearing, he would have God hear with both
his ears, that is, most attentively and readily: so instant is a
mind that he desireth the prayer he putteth up to be remembered,
as was said the angel to the centurion: "Thy prayer and
almsdeeds are come up God": Ac 10:4.—Archibald Symson.
Verse 1. In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy
righteousness. It was thy righteousness that thou didst make
the promise, but it is thy faithfulness that thou wilt keep thy
promise: and seeing I am certain of thy making it, how can I be
doubtful of thy keeping it? If thou shouldest not answer me in
thy righteousness, yet thou shouldest be righteous still; but if
thou shouldest not answer me in thy faithfulness, thou shouldest
not be faithful still.—Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 1. Answer me in thy righteousness.
Forgiveness is not inconsistent with truth or righteousness, and
the pardon which in mercy God bestows upon the sinner is
bestowed in justice to the well beloved Son who accepted and
discharged the sinner's obligations. This is an infinitely
precious truth, and the hearts of thousands in every age have
been sustained and gladdened by it. A good old Christian woman
in humble life so fully realized this, that when a revered
servant of God asked her, as she lay on her dying pillow, the
ground of her hope for eternity, she replied, with great
composure, "I rely on the justice of God"; adding,
however, when the reply excited surprise, "justice, not to
me, but to my Substitute, in whom I trust."—Robert
Macdonald, in "From Day to Day; or, Helpful Words for
Christian Life," 1879.
Verse 2. Enter not into judgment with thy servant.
The Divine justice has just been invoked in the first verse; and
now the appellant suddenly seems to deprecate it. These verses
really sum up the apparent paradox of the Book of Job (see Job
4:17 9:2,32 14:3 Job 15:14 22:4, etc.). In one breath Job
frequently pours forth pathetic protestations of his innocence,
and a dread lest God should take him at his word, and arraign
him for trial. The godly man, in his desire to have his
character vindicated before man, appeals to the just Judge, but
instantly falls back with a guilty sense that before his
tribunal none can stand:
"For merit lives from man to man,
And not from man, O Lord, to thee."—A. S. Aglen.
Verse 2. He doth not pray absolutely that God
"would not enter into judgment with him", for this
were to forego his government of the world; but that he would
not do so on account of his own duties and obedience. But if so
be these duties and obedience did answer, in any sense or way,
what is required of us as a righteousness unto justification,
there was no reason why he should deprecate a trial by them, or
upon them.—John Owen.
Verse 2. He doth not say, "with an enemy, a
rebel, a traitor, an impenitent sinner"; but "with
thy servant", one that is devoted to thy fear, one that
is consecrated to thy service, one that is really and indeed
"wholly thine, as much and as fully as he can be." As
if he had said, "Lord, if the holiest, purest, best of men
should come and stand before thee in judgment, or plead with
thee, they must needs be cast in their cause. `If thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquities, ' alas! `O Lord, who shall
stand?'"Ps 130:3.—Thomas Lye (1621-1684), in
"The Morning Exercises."
Verse 2. Enter not into judgment with thy servant,
for thou hast already entered into judgment with thy Son, and
laid upon him the iniquity of us all. "Enter not into
judgment with thy servant", for thy servant enters into
judgment with himself; and "if we will judge ourselves we
shall not be judged."—Matthew Henry.
Verse 2. Not the proudest philosopher among the
Gentiles, nor the most precise Pharisee among the Jews; we may
go yet further and say, not the holiest saint that ever lived,
can stand righteous before that bar. God hath nailed that door
up, that none can for ever enter by a law righteousness into
life and happiness. This way to heaven is like the northern
passage to the Indies, whoever attempts it is sure to be frozen
up before he gets half way thither.—William Gurnall.
Verse 2. Enter not into judgment, etc. Some
years ago I visited a poor young woman dying with consumption.
She was a stranger in our town, and had been there a few weeks
before, some time in her girlhood, and had attended my Sabbath
school class. What did I find was her only stay, and hope, and
comfort in the view of the dark valley of the shadow of death,
which was drawing down upon her? One verse of a psalm she had
learned at the class, and never forgot. She repeated it with
clasped hands, piercing eyes, and thin voice trembling from her
white lips.
"Thy servant also bring thou not
In judgment to be tried:
Because no living man can be
In thy sight justify'd."
No sinner can endure sight of thee, O God, if he tries to be
self justified.—James Comper Gray, in "The Biblical
Museum," 1879.
Verse 2. Enter not into judgment with thy servant.
We read of a certain Dutch divine, who being to die, was full of
fears and doubts. And when some said to him, "You have been
so active and faithful, why should you fear?" Oh, said he,
the judgment of man and the judgment of God are different.—John
Trapp.
Verse 2. Enter not into judgment. A metaphor
taken from the course pursued by those who seek to recover the
very utmost to which they are entitled by strict legal process.
Compare Job 22:4-5. In a similar sense we are commanded to pray
to God that he will forgive us our debts.—Daniel Cresswell.
Verse 2. There is probably here a tacit reference to
the great transgression, the consequences of which followed
David all his days.—William Walford.
Verse 2. Thy servant. A servant is one who
obeys the will of another...There were these four ways in which
one might come to be a servant—by birth, by purchase, by
conquest, and by voluntary engagement. Some were servants in one
of the ways, and some in another. There were servants who were
born in the master's house, servants who were bought with the
master's money, servants who were the captives of his sword and
bow, and servants who had freely engaged themselves to do his
work...In the case of the believer there is something that is
peculiar and remarkable. He is God's servant by birth. But he is
more—he is God's servant by purchase. And that is not all: he
is God's servant by conquest. Yes, and by voluntary engagement
too. He is the servant of God, not in some one of the four ways,
but in all of them together.—Andrew Gray (1805-1861), in
"Gospel Contrasts and Parallels."
Verse 2. Not only the worst of my sins, but the best
of my duties speak me a child of Adam.—William Beveridge.
Verse 2. So far from being able to answer for my sins,
I cannot answer even for my righteousness.—Bernard of
Clairvaux, 1091-1153.
Verse 2. A young man once said to me: "I do not
think I am a sinner." I asked him if he would be willing
his mother or sister should know all he had done, or said, or
thought,—all his motions and all his desires. After a moment
he said: "No, indeed, I should not like to have them know;
no, not for the world." "Then can you dare to say, in
the presence of a holy God, who knows every thought of your
heart, `I do not commit sin'?"—John B. Gough, in
"Sunlight and Shadow," 1881.
Verse 3. For the enemy, etc. If ever trouble be
just cause for calling upon thee, how can mine be more just,
when the enemy hath persecuted my soul, hath smitten my life
down to the ground, and hath made me to dwell in darkness, as
those that have been long dead? All this "the
enemy" hath done unto me: but what enemy? Is it not the
enemy of all mankind, who hath singled me out, as it were to a
duel? And can I resist him myself alone, whom the whole army of
mankind cannot? But is it not the enemy of thyself, O God, who
is but my enemy because I am thy servant? And wilt thou see thy
servants persecuted—in thy cause persecuted—and not protect
them? Shall I suffer, grievously suffer, for thy sake, and wilt
thou forsake me? Alas, O Lord; if they were but some light evils
that are inflicted upon me I would bear them without
complaining, and never make my moan to thee about them; but they
are the three greatest miseries that can be thought of; the
greatest persecution, the greatest overthrow, and the greatest
captivity. For what persecution so grievous as to be persecuted
in my soul? for he plays no less a game than for souls: he casts
indeed at the body sometimes, and sometimes at goods, yet these
are but the bye; the main of his aim is at the soul; for if he
can otherwise win the soul he cares not much for either body or
goods, but rather makes use of them to keep men in security; for
whatsoever he doth, whatsoever he leaves undone, it is all done
but in persecution of the soul; and he can persecute as well
with prosperity as with adversity, and knows how to fit their
several application. It seems as if he takes me for another Job;
he sees he can do no good upon me with fawning and clawing, and
therefore falls now to quarrelling and striking, and he strikes
no light blows; for "he hath stricken my life down to
the ground"; and lower would have struck it, if thou,
God, hadst nut broken his blow. He strikes me downward, to keep
me from heaven, as much as he can: and now that he sees me down,
he lets not me rest so neither; but seizes upon me, and being
himself the prince of darkness, hath kept me in darkness; not
for a night or two, as men stay at their inn, but for a much
longer time, as at their dwelling; and it is no ordinary
darkness that he hath made me to dwell in, but even the darkness
of dead men; and that in the highest degree, as those that have
been long dead. They that have been dead but a while are yet
remembered sometimes, and sometimes talked of; but they that
have been long dead are as quite forgotten as if they had never
been; and such, alas, am I. So long have I been made to dwell in
darkness, as if I had been dead many years ago, that he that
would seek to find me out must be fain to look for me amongst
the tombs and monuments. Indeed, to dwell in darkness is no
better than the house of death: for as long as we are in life,
if we want sometimes the light of the sun, yet the light of a
candle will serve to supply it; but I, alas, am kept in such
darkness that neither the sunshine of thy gospel nor the lantern
of thy law gives any light unto me. I cannot with confidence
say, as once I did, "Thou, O Lord, shalt light my candle
for me"; and as a body being dead grows cold and stiff, and
is not to be bowed, so my soul with continuance in sinning is
grown hardened, and, as it were, stiff in sin; that it is as
hard a matter to make me flexible to any goodness as to bring a
body long dead to life again.—Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 3. To dwell in darkness. To seek my
safety in holes and obscure places in the wilderness. See 2Sa
17:16. As those that have been long dead. That is, where
I seem to be buried alive, and to have no more hopes of being
restored to a happy condition in this world than those that have
been long dead have of living again in it.—Thomas Fenton.
Verse 4. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed,
etc. David was not only a great saint, but a great soldier, and
yet even he was sometimes ready to faint in the day of
adversity. "Howl, fir trees, if the cedars be
shaken."—Matthew Henry.
Verse 4. (second clause.) Within—literally,
"in the midst of me"; implying how deeply
the feeling had penetrated. "Is desolate", or
rather, "is stupefied", in a similar sense to
that of the Hebrew (Isa 59:16 63:5 Da 8:27). So the Chaldaic,
The 70., Vulgate, Arabic, and Syriac, "is
agitated."—Andrew Robert Fausset.
Verse 4. Is desolate. Or rather, "is full
of amazement", literally, "astonishes itself";
seeks to comprehend the mystery of its sufferings, and is ever
beaten back upon itself in its perplexity: such is the full
force of the reflexive conjugation here employed.—J. J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verses 4-5. How poor a judgment can be formed of a
man's state from the considerations of comfort only. A holy man,
we clearly see, may be void of comfort; his spirit may be
overwhelmed, and his heart desolate. Nay, was it not so even
with the holy Jesus himself? was he not very heavy, and his soul
exceeding sorrowful even unto death? But never did the Saviour's
faith and submission to his Father's will shine more brightly
than in that hour of darkness. And David's faith also rises to
meet the occasion. His trial is great, and his faith is great
also. Hardly when he is on the mount of praise, and singing his
songs of Zion in the most triumphant strain, does he appear more
admirable than when struggling through this painful conflict. He
is troubled on every side, yet not removed; perplexed, but not
in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not
destroyed. He has no arm of flesh to trust to, and nothing
within himself to support his hope; but with what simplicity,
and energy of trust, does he betake himself to God, revolving
ill his memory past seasons of deliverance, and staying his mind
on the power and truth of Jehovah! "I remember the days of
old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy
hands."—John Fawcett.
Verse 5. I remember the days of old; I meditate,
etc. This meditation gives an ease to the overwhelming of my
spirits, a comfort to the desolateness of my heart; for I am
thinking sometimes upon Jonah, how he was overwhelmed with
waters and swallowed up of a whale, and yet at last delivered;
sometimes I am thinking of Joseph, how he was bound and left
desolate in a pit, and yet at last relieved; and then I meditate
thus with myself,—Is God's power confined to persons? could he
deliver them in their extremities, and can he not deliver me in
mine?—Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 5. I meditate on all thy works. Let us
look for God in the future more earnestly than we have done in
the past,—look for him in vineyards and orchards and harvest
fields,—in the bright plumage of birds, and the delicate bloom
of fruit, and the sweet gracefulness of flowers,—in the dense
foliage of the forest, and the sparse heather of the moor,—in
the rich luxuriance of fertile valleys, and the rugged grandeur
of the everlasting hills,—in the merry dance of the rivulet,
and the majestic tides of the ocean—in the gay colours of the
rainbow, and the splendour of the starry heavens,—in the
gentle radiance of the moon, and the gorgeous light of setting
suns,—in the clear azure sky, and the weird pageantry of
clouds,—in the snow mantled wintry landscape, and the
brilliant effulgence of a summer's noon,—in the virgin
loveliness of spring, and in the pensive fading beauty of
autumn,—let us look for him with an earnest, eager, and
unwearied gaze, till we see him to be a God of wisdom as well as
power, of love as well as sovereignty, of beauty as well as
glory.—A. W. Momerie, in "The Origin of Evil, and
other Sermons," 1881.
Verses 5, 6. I meditate. I stretch forth my hands.
Meditation is prayer's handmaid to wait on it, both before and
after the performance of supplication. It is as the plough
before the sower, to prepare the heart for the duty of prayer;
and as the harrow after the sower, to cover the seed when 'tis
sown. As the hopper feeds the mill with grist, so does
meditation supply the heart with matter for prayer.—William
Gurnall.
Verse 6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee. As
a poor beggar for an alms. Beggary here is not the easiest and
poorest trade, but the hardest and richest of all other.—John
Trapp.
Verse 6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee, as
if I were in hope thou wouldst take me by the hand and draw me
to thee.—Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 6. My soul thirsteth after thee, etc.
Alas! this thirst is rare to be found. Worldly thirsts there are
in many: the drunkard's thirst, De 29:19; the worldling's
thirst, Hab 2:5; the epicure's thirst, whose belly is his god,
Php 3:19; the ambitious man's thirst—Diotrephes, 3Jo 1:9; and
the malicious man's thirst, the blood thirsty, Ps 5:6. Thirst
after these things doth keep away that thirst after grace
without which we shall never escape Dives' thirst in hell, Lu
16:24. If we have a godly thirst, it will appear by diligence in
frequenting the place and means of grace, Pr 8:34; brute beasts
for want of water will break through hedges, and grace thirsty
souls will make their ways through all encumbrances to come
where they may have satisfaction.—Thomas Pierson,
1570-1633.
Verse 6. My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty
land. He declareth his vehement affection to God by a very
pretty similitude, taken from the ground which is thirsty by the
long drought of summer, wherein the earth, rent in pieces, as it
were, and with open mouth through long thirst, seeketh drink
from heaven. By which he showeth that he came to God as
destitute of natural substance, and therefore seeketh from above
that which he lacked. So in all his extremities he looked ever
upward; from above he seeketh help and comfort. Albeit we be in
extremity, and as it were rent asunder, yet here is
comfort,—there are waters in heaven which will refresh us, if
we gape after them. Here is a blessing—those that thirst shall
be satisfied. If we thirst for mercy, for deliverance, for
spiritual or temporal comfort, we shall be satisfied therewith;
for if God heard the prayers of Hagar and Ishmael being athirst
in the wilderness, and opened unto them a fountain (Ge
21:17,19), will he forsake Isaac, the child of promise? If he
heard Samson in the bitterness of his heart, when he said,
"I die from thirst", and opened a spring out of the
jawbone of an ass (Jud 15:19), will he forsake us in time of our
distress, if we thirst aright?—Archibald Symson.
Verse 6. My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty
land. Sir John Chardin, in his MSS. says:—"The lands
of the East, which the great dryness there causes to crack, are
the ground of this figure, which is certainly extremely
beautiful; for these dry lands have chinks too deep for a person
to see the bottom of: this may be observed in the Indies more
than anywhere, a little before the rains fall, and wherever the
lands are rich and hard."—Harmer's Observations.
Verse 6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee,
etc. It is not a strange thing, then, for the soul to find its
life in God. This is its native air: God as the Environment of
the soul has been from the remotest age the doctrine of all the
deepest thinkers in religion. How profoundly Hebrew poetry is
saturated with this high thought will appear when we try to
conceive of it with this left out. True poetry is only science
in another form. And long before it was possible for religion to
give scientific expression to its greatest truths, men of
insight uttered themselves in psalms which could not have been
truer to Nature had the most modern light controlled the
inspiration. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, O God." What fine sense of
the natural analogy of the natural and spiritual does not
underlie these words. As the hart after its environment, so man
after his; as the water brooks are fitly designed to meet the
natural wants, so fitly does God implement the spiritual need of
man. It will be noticed that in the Hebrew poets the longing for
God never strikes one as morbid, or unnatural to the men who
uttered it. It is as natural for them to long for God as for the
swallow to seek her nest. Throughout all their images no
suspicion rises within us that they are exaggerating. We feel
how truly they are reading themselves, their deepest selves. No
false note occurs in all their aspiration. There is no weariness
even in their ceaseless sighing, except the lover's weariness
for the absent—if they would fly away, it is only to be at
rest. Men who have no soul can only wonder at this. Men who have
a soul, but with little faith, can only envy it. How joyous a
thing it was to the Hebrews to seek their God! How artlessly
they call upon him to entertain them in his pavilion, to cover
them with his feathers, to hide them in his secret place, to
hold them in the hollow of his hand, or stretch around them the
everlasting arms! These men were true children of nature. As the
humming bird among its own palm trees, as the ephemera in the
sunshine of a summer evening, so they lived their joyous lives.
And even the full share of the sadder experiences of life which
came to all of them but drove them the further into the secret
place, and led them with more consecration to make, as they
expressed it, "the Lord their portion." All that has
been said since from Marcus Aurelius to Swedenborg, from
Augustine to Schleiermacher, of a besetting God as the full
complement of humanity is but a repetition of the Hebrew poets'
faith. And even the New Testament has nothing higher to offer
man than this. The Psalmist's" God is our refuge and
strength" is only the earlier form, less defined, less
practicable, but not less noble, of Christ's "Come unto me,
and I will give you rest."—Henry Drummond, in
"Natural Law in the Spiritual World," 1884.
Verses 6-7. I stretch forth my hands...Hear me, etc.
So will the weary bands be raised yet again, through faith in
him who stretched forth his hands upon the cross. So will the
fainting soul wait and long for the outpouring of his grace, who
upon the cross said, "I thirst." We shall thirst for
our salvation, even as the parched up fields and dying herbs
seem to gasp and pant like living things for the sweet and
cheering showers in the fierce heat of summer. So will the soul
cry to the heard, and that soon, lest its faith grow faint with
delay; and the hiding of God's face, the denying of his smile of
pardon, will press on the spirit like sickness, and weigh it
down like the heaviness of death.—J. W. Burgon.
Verse 7. Hear me speedily. David is in trouble,
and he betakes himself to prayer. Prayer is the sovereign remedy
the godly fly to in all their extremities. The saints in sorrows
have fled for comfort and healing unto prayers and
supplications. Heaven is a shop full of all good things—there
are stored up blessings and mercies; this the children of God
know who fly to this shop in their troubles, begging for help
from this holy sanctuary. "In the day of my trouble I
sought the Lord": Ps 77:2. When any vexation makes our life
grievous unto us, what should we seek but help? of whom should
we seek, but of the Lord? how should we seek, but by prayer? ..."Speedily."
His request is not only for hearing, but for speedy hearing: "Hear
me, and hear me speedily"; answer, and answer quickly.
This is the tone and tune of men in distress. Man in misery
earnestly sues for speedy delivery. In our afflictions and
troubles, deliverance, though it should come with wings, we
never think it comes soon enough. Weak man cannot content
himself to know he shall have help, unless it be present
help.—Thomas Calvert, 1647.
Verse 7. My spirit faileth. This is David's
first reason to move the Lord; he is at the last cast and even
giving up the ghost with long waiting for help: from his low
condition we may see what is often the condition of God's
children,—and the best of God's servants have waited for
comfort and the feelings of his Spirit, to the very failing of
their own spirit. David, a man after God's own heart, is yet
brought low with the faintness and failing of his heart, in
waiting for help from God. "In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread" (Ge 3:19); this lies upon the sons of men.
But here, not sweat of face only, that were but small; but sighs
and fainting of the heart lie upon the sons of God, in seeking
and hungering after a taste of God's bread of life, inward
comfort, assurance, and joy of the Holy Ghost. Thus the Church
was brought to this sick bed ere her comfort came: "For
these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water,
because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from
me:" La 1:16. The disciples spirits were even failing in
the tempest, when Christ slept and seemed to neglect them, as if
he cared not though they perished. How should our spirits do
other but fail, when our Comforter sleeps, when our only friend
seems to be our enemy? Failing of spirit is both a motive which
God means to yield unto and to be won by withal; and it is also
his opportunity, when he usually helps. It is a strong motive in
our prayers to move him, for he is pitiful, and will not let his
children utterly fail and perish; he is a pitiful Spirit to
failing spirits. "I will not contend (saith the Lord) for
ever, neither will I be always wroth; "why? we deserve his
wrath should last and take fire for ever against us; yea, but (saith
the Lord) this is the reason, "The spirit should fail
before me, and the souls which I have made" (Isa 57:16): I
love and pity the fainting souls and spirits of men: I will help
my children; how can I see my creatures whom I made and do love,
to perish for want of my help? David knew the Lord's nature, and
that this was speeding argument in prayer, which made him here
and elsewhere so often use it. A pitiful father will not see the
spirit of his children utterly fail. It is his opportunity; he
usually helps when all other helps fail, that we may the more
strongly cleave to him, and ground ourselves upon him, as
knowing how infirm we are, if he confirm us not. When man's
cruse of oil is dry, and fails, and can drop no more, then is
God's time to prepare his. Thus helped he the Israelites at the
Red Sea, when all man's strength and wisdom was at a stand. He
loves to be seen in the mount, in extremities.—Condensed
from Thomas Calvert.
Verse 7. The prayer of David becomes, as he proceeds,
both more spiritual and more fervent. In the sixth verse we find
him thirsting after God; and now that thirst is become so
intense that it admits of no delay. In the beginning of the
psalm he was content to say, "Hear my prayer"; but now
he cries, "Hear me speedily." This is not the
language of sinful impatience: it is, indeed, good that a man
should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God; yet
a man may desire, not only an answer, but also a speedy answer,
without incurring the charge of impatience. Whatever a man
desires to have he desires to have soon; nor can he be otherwise
than grieved at anything which delays the accomplishment of his
wishes. In such desire or grief there is nothing sinful,
provided it do not lead to murmuring or distrust of God. Hence
this petition for speedy relief, and manifestation of God's
presence and favour is very frequent with the Psalmist. He often
prays, "Make haste, O Lord, to deliver; make haste to help
me, O Lord." Nay, if a man does not desire the light of
God's countenance soon, it is a certain proof that he does not
desire it at all. If the natural language of his heart be not,
"hear me speedily", delay is to him no exercise of
patience. The very idea of patience implies that something is
contrary to our wish; and the stronger the desire is, the more
difficult will that exercise of patience become. "Hope
deferred maketh the heart sick"; and therefore David adds,
"my spirit faileth." He believed verily to see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living; yet so intense
was his desire, that faith could hardly keep his spirit from
fainting, while the blessing, which he so eagerly pursued,
seemed still distant, and fled before him. He is afraid lest if
God should long delay, and withdraw himself, faith and hope
could hold out no longer. He therefore pleads, "hide not
thy face from me, lest I become like them that go down into the
pit"; and urges the failing of his spirit before him
who" will not contend for ever, lest the spirit should fait
before him."—John Fawcett.
Verses 7-8, 10-11. Observe how David mixes together
prayers for joy, for guidance, and for
sanctification—"Hide not thy face from me."
"Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk."
"Teach me to do thy will." "Cause me to hear thy
loving kindness in the morning." "Quicken me, O Lord,
for thy name's sake." Now this is exactly right: our
prayers, as well as our other obedience, must be without
partiality; nay, we should desire comfort for the sake of
holiness, rather than holiness for the sake of comfort.—John
Fawcett.
Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness.
Here he craveth God's favour and kindness, as tie doth in many
other psalms. Because in his favour is life, wealth, and grace,
all good things, and pleasure for evermore, so that if he look
kindly to us we need be afraid of nothing. But how shall he be
assured of his favour? Even by hearing it, as he saith in
the fifty-first psalm: "Make me to hear joy and
gladness." The voice which is heard is the word of God,
which, being apprehended by faith, is able to comfort our souls
in whatsoever temptation. It is no marvel that such atheists and
papists who altogether refuse the word of God, live comfortless
and die without comfort, because they refuse that instrument
which should carry joy to them. Good reason they die athirst,
since they reject that vessel, the word of God, by which they
might be refreshed. Therefore since faith cometh by hearing of
God's word, and all our comfort cometh by it, let us pray God to
bore our ears and our hearts, that we may receive the glad
tidings of reconciliation from God. Cause me to know the way
wherein I should walk. The second petition ariseth very well
from the first. For when we have obtained an assurance of God's
favour, as he is reconciled to us in Jesus Christ, it followeth
next that we should desire to conform our lives to the obedience
of his commandments. For no man will frame himself to walk in
God's ways till he be assured of God's favour. Therefore faith
in God's promises is the most effectual cause to bring forth
good works; and an assurance of justification the surest means
to produce sanctification. For I lift up my soul unto thee.
Behold what a wonderful effect God worketh by afflictions: they
depress and cast down the outward man, and our inward man by
them is elevated and raised aloft; yea, the more we are
afflicted, the more we are stirred up. The oftener the messenger
of Satan is sent to buffet us, the more earnestly (with Paul) we
cry unto the Lord to be delivered (2Co 12:8). So if we be cast
down to hell in our feelings, what the worse are we if by that
we be raised up to heaven?—Archibald Symson.
Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the
mourning, etc. To hear thy lovingkindness in the morning
makes my waking to be saluted, as it were, with music; makes my
troubles seem as if they were but dreams; makes me find it true
that though "weeping may endure for a night, yet joy cometh
in the morning": Ps 30:5. . . . It may well be said we hear
this lovingkindness in the morning, seeing it makes it morning
to us whensoever we hear it.—Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the
morning. If evil fall upon us in the night, we would have it
removed ere the morning; if in the morning, we would not have it
our bed fellow in the evening. We would have the Lord's promise
run thus,—Your sorrows shall not endure the whole night, your
joy shall come long before the morning. The luxurious Emperor ?Smyndirides
the Sybarite and his drunken mates sat and drank all the
night, and slept all the day, insomuch that it was said of them,
they never saw sunset nor sunrise. Such would we have the evils
we suffer—of so short continuance that, neither sunset nor
sunrise might see us in our misery. This makes me wonder at that
strange Egyptian beast called Pharaoh, who being demanded of
Moses when he would have God's plague of the frogs removed,
answered, "Tomorrow." Surely, here he spake not
as a man, to whom one hour's trouble is accounted a day, a day a
month, a month a year. For in leaving of two things we change
our desires, and are much different.
1. In leaving of sin, then we procrastinate and put off; and
when God says, "Today hear my voice", we answer,
"Tomorrow", and are like the Levite's wife's father
(Jud 19:6), too kind hosts to such bad guests: saying to our
sins, "tarry till the morning." Our pace to repentance
is slow, we are far from haste in that matter.
2. But for afflictions to leave us, then we wish they had
feet like hinds' feet, to run away from us, or we the wings of a
dove to fly away from them, and be at rest...What prisoner
desires not to be presently set free, and that liberty's soft
hand may loose his iron knots? What mariner wishes a long storm?
What servant sighs not over his hard apprenticeship? Yea, who is
he, that if there were an appearance of an offering to take the
cup of calamity from his mouth, saying, "Thou shalt drink
no more", would answer, "This cup shall not yet pass
from me, I delight to carouse and drink deeply of these bitter
waters"? Yea, this desire extends so far that it comes to
the Son of man, the blessed Seed of the woman, who was so clad
with human weakness that he earnestly prayed for speedy help
from his heavy anguish; and that not once, but
often,—"Oh, my Father, if it be possible", etc.; and
when his Father answers not, he cries like one ready to fall
under the burden, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" The reason for Christ's thus complaining is to be
fetched from thence, whence his flesh came; even from us. It was
our human flesh, not his Divine spirit, which was so weary of
suffering; his spirit was willing, it was our flesh that was so
weak.—Thomas Calvert.
Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the
morning. This is a short and sweet morning prayer. God hears
early prayer, and lovingly responds to it. The smiles of his
face, the sweetness of his voice, the gifts of his hand, bless
the morning, bless all the day. Do we write and read
experimentally? Then we know the blessedness of divine love. The
subject is truly pleasant and precious. "Lovingkindness"
is a favourite expression, is a choice theme of David's. It is
used more in the Book of Psalms than in any other book in the
Scriptures. Lovingkindness is love showing kindness; it is the
sun of love shining with rays of kindness; the river of love
sending forth streams of kindness; it is the heart of love
uttering itself by words of kindness, doing deeds, and giving
gifts of kindness.
Here it is the voice of the lovingkindness of the Lord
that David desires to hear. This voice is the music of heaven,
the joyful sound of the gospel, and it makes a jubilee in the
Christian's heart. To him there is beauty, sweetness, fulness in
the theme; it is his joy and rejoicing. This is the voice that
speaks pardon. Pardon is through Jesus the medium of this
kindness. Apart from this there is no hope of forgiveness. We
plead this and realize pardon. "Have mercy upon me, O God,
according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of
thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions": Ps 51:1. It
is the Lord's lovingkindness that pardons me. This voice speaks peace:"The
Lord will speak peace unto his people." Precious peace is
the result of pardoning kindness. This voice also speaks joy.
This is the alone and all sufficient source of joy. It is sought
elsewhere, but found only here. It sweetens every bitter, and
makes sweeter every sweet. It is a balsam for every wound, a
cordial for every fear. The present is but a taste, but a drop
of the future fulness of joy. How sweetly refreshing is the joy
of the Lord's lovingkindness. This voice speaks hope.
With the sweet music of this voice falling upon our ears, the
night of hopelessness passes away, and the morning of
expectation opens upon us. It assures us of supplies for our
wants, of safety in danger, of endurance to the end, and of a
glorious portion in eternity.
The morning is the season in which David desires to hear the
voice of the lovingkindness of the Lord. The morning is a season
often mentioned by him, and as a time of devotion is much prized
by him. "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD;
in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look
up": Ps 5:3. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the
morning: let it engage my thoughts and affections. It is
well to have a subject like this to occupy our waking thoughts,
and to take hold of our first desires. If other thoughts get
into our hearts in the morning, we may not be able to turn them
out all the day. Prayer and praise, reading and meditation, will
be sweet with such a subject occupying and influencing our
minds. They will be exercises of cheerfulness, freedom, and
blessedness. Cause me to hear this voice. It speaks every
morning, but many ears are deaf to it. But while others are
indifferent to it, cause me to hear it; let me not lose the
opportunity: waken my ear morning by morning, so that I may hail
the season and enjoy the privilege. And when the morning of
eternity shall come, "cause me to hear the voice of thy
lovingkindness" welcoming me to its joys.—W. Abbot, in
"The Baptist Messenger," 1870.
Verse 8. Cause me to know the way wherein I should
walk. The whole valley is surrounded by ranges of regal
crags; but the mountain of the Gemmi, apparently absolutely
inaccessible, is the last point to which you would turn for an
outlet. A side gorge that sweeps up to the glaciers and snowy
pyramids flashing upon you in the opposite direction is the
route which you suppose your guide is going to take; and visions
of pedestrians perilously scaling icy precipices, or struggling
up to the middle through ridges of snow, begin to surround you,
as the prospect of your own experience in this day's expedition.
So convinced was I that the path must go in that
direction, that I took a short cut, which I conceived would
bring me again into the mule path at a point under the glaciers;
but after scaling precipices and getting lost in a wood of firs
in the valley, I was glad to rejoin my friend with the guide,
and to clamber on in pure ignorance and wonder ...Now what a
striking symbol is this of things that sometimes take place in
our spiritual pilgrimage. We are often brought to a stand,
hedged up and hemmed in by the providence of God so that there
seems no way out. A man is sometimes thrown into difficulties in
which he sits down beginning to despair, and says to himself,
"Well, this time it is all over with me"; like
Sterne's starling, or, worse, like Bunyan's man in the cage, he
says, "I cannot get out." Then when God has drawn him
from all self confidence and self resource, a door opens in the
wall and he rises up, and walks at liberty, praising God.—George
Barrell Cheerer, 1807-.
Verses 8-10. After thou hast prayed, observe what God
doth towards thee; especially how lie doth guide thy feet and
heart after prayer; there is much in that. That which was the
spirit of supplication in a man when he prayed, rests upon him
as the spirit of obedience in his course. That dependence which
he hath upon God for the mercy he seeks for is a special motive
and means to keep him fearful of offending, and diligent in
duty. He looks to his paths, and endeavours to behave himself as
becomes a suitor, as well as to pray as a suitor. David walked
by this principle when he said (Ps 66:18), "If I regard
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me"; that
consideration still came in as a curb unto sin. Therefore David,
in these verses, when he was to pray, even as for his life, for
deliverance from his enemies, he specially prays God to direct
him and keep him, that he might not sin against him; for he knew
that by sinning he should enervate and spoil all his prayers. He
cries not only "Hear me speedily", but also, "Cause
me to know the way wherein I should walk; teach me to do thy
will." This he especially prays for, more than for
deliverance, for else he knew God would not hear him. Therefore
when thou art in treaty with God for any mercy, observe, doth
God still after praying keep thee in a more obedient frame of
spirit? If so, it is a sign he intends to answer thee. The same
is true when he keeps thee from using ill means, etc. When he
meant to give David the kingdom, he kept him innocent, and made
his heart tender, so that it smote him but for cutting off the
lap of Saul's garment.—Thomas Goodwin.
Verse 9. Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies.
In the former verse he desireth God's mercy and lovingkindness,
and that he might be showed the way wherein he should walk: now
he desireth to be free of temporal danger. This is a good method
in prayer, first to seek the kingdom of God and spiritual
graces, for then all other things shall be added to us. We seek
in vain temporal deliverances of God if we neglect to seek
spiritual graces, which are most necessary for us. As for
enemies, the church and her members neither have wanted nor
shall want innumerable foes, against whom we can only oppose
God's protection. In number, in power, in policy and subtilty
they are ever above us. There is no help for us against them all
but our gracious God. Esau came with four hundred against Jacob,
a naked man, with his wife, children, and droves of cattle. But
Mahanaim was with him; he was guarded by God's angels. And,
therefore, since the church of God in France, Germany, and
elsewhere is in danger of the Leviathan and the sons of Anak,
let us run to the Lord, and cry unto him,—O God Jehovah, who
art one against all, deliver thy church from her enemies, who
likewise are thy enemies.—Archibald Symson.
Verse 9. I flee unto thee to hide me. Is
David's valour come to this, that ho is come now to be glad to
fly? Had he not done better to have died valiantly than to fly
basely? O my soul, to fly is not always a sign of baseness; it
is not always a point of valour to stand to it; but then to fly
when we feel our own weakness, and to him to fly, in whom is our
strength—this is, if not valour, at least wisdom, but it is,
to say true, both wisdom and true valour. And now, O God, seeing
I find my own weakness, and know thy strength, what should I do
but fly, and whither fly but only to thee?—to thee, a strong
fortress to all that build upon thee; to thee, a safe sanctuary
to all that fly unto thee.—Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 9. I flee unto thee to hide me. This
implies,
1. Danger: the Christian may be in danger from sin,
self, foes.
2. Fear:his fears may be groundless, but they are often
very painful.
3. Inability—to defend himself or overcome his opposers.
4. Foresight:he sees the storm in the distance, and looks
out for the covert.
5. Prudence:he hides before the storm, ere the enemy
comes upon him.
6. A laudable concern for safety and comfort.
The believer, if wise, will at all times flee to Jehovah.
Jacob flies to Laban; the manslayer to the refuge; the bird to
his mountain; and the Christian to his God. Ass may seek to
physicians';Ephraim to king Jareb; and Saul to the witch; but
the believer looks to his God. The Lord receives, befriends, and
secures him. Let us flee to him by prayer, in faith, with hope,
for salvation; and he will receive us, shelter us, and be our
refuge and strength. Flee from sin, from self, from the world;
but flee to Jesus. His heart is ever toward us, his ear is open
to us, and his hand is ready to help, protect, and deliver us.
His throne is our asylum. His promise is our comfort, and his
omnipotence is our guard.
Happy soul, that, free from harms,
Rests within his Shepherd's arms!
Who his quiet shall molest?
Who shall violate his rest?
He who found the wandering sheep,
Loves, and still delights to keep.
—James Smith, in "The Believer's Daily Remembrancer."
Verse 9. I flee unto thee to hide me. The Lord
hid the prophets so that Ahab could not find them out: 1Ki
18:13. If we will creep under his wings he will surely keep
us.—Archibald Symson.
Verse 9. I flee unto thee to hide me. It may be
rendered, "With thee have I hid"; that is,
myself: so Arama gives the sense. "I have hid myself
with thee." Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi interpret it
to this purpose, "I have hid my affairs, my straits and
troubles, my difficulties and necessities, from men, and have
revealed them unto thee, who alone can save." The Targum
is, "I have appointed thy Word to be (my)
Redeemer."—John Gill.
Verses 9-10. Be persuaded actually to hide yourselves
with Jesus Christ. To have a hiding place and not to use it is
as bad as to want one: fly to Christ; run into the holes of this
rock. Three things must be done by all those that would hide
themselves with Christ.
1. You must put away sin by repentance. Jesus Christ will not
be a sanctuary for rebels, he will not protect evil doers.
Christ will never hide the devil, nor any of his servants. Isa
55:6-7: "Let the ungodly forsake his way", etc. David
knew this, therefore he prays that God would teach him to do his
will: "Deliver me, etc. I fly unto thee to hide me.
Teach me to do thy will." He that will not do the will
of Christ shall receive no protection from Christ. Protectio
sequitur allegiantiam. You must be his liege people if you
will have him to defend you. Job 22:23, 25.
2. You must pray that he would hide you. The promise is made
to prayer: Isa 65:10, "Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in,
for my people that have sought me." He that prays most
fervently is like to be hid most securely. And then,
3. You must believe in him. Faith is the key that opens the
door of this hiding place, and locks it again. One word in the
Hebrew signifies to trust and to make a refuge. Ps 57:1. He that
doth not make Christ his trust shall not have Christ for his
hiding place; he will hide none but those that commit themselves
to him: "I will set him on high, because he hath known my
name": Ps 91:9,14.—Ralph Robinson.
Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. How
childlike—"teach me"! How practical "Teach me
to do"! How undivided in obedience—"to do thy
will"! To do all of it, let it be what it may. This is the
best form of instruction, for its source is God, its object is
holiness, its spirit is that of hearty loyalty. The man is
hidden in the Lord, and spends his peaceful life in learning the
will of his Preserver. A heart cannot long be desolate which is
thus docile. For thou art my God. Who else can teach me
as thou canst? Who else will care to do it but my God? Thou hast
given me thyself, thou wilt surely give me lily teaching. If I
have thee, may I not ask to have thy perfect mind? When the
heart can sincerely call Jehovah "my God", the
understanding is ready to learn of him, the will is prepared to
obey him, the whole man is eager to please him. "Thy spirit
is good." God is all spirit and all good. His essence is
goodness, kindness, holiness: it is his nature to do good, and
what greater good can he do to us than to hear such a prayer as
that which follows—Lead we into the land of uprightness?
David would fain be among the godly, in a land of another sort
from that which had cast him out. He sighed for the upland
meadows of grace, the table lands of peace, the fertile plains
of communion. He could not reach them of himself; he must be led
there. God, who is good, can best conduct us to the goodly land.
There is no inheritance like a portion in the land of promise,
the land of precept, the land of perfectness. He who teaches us
must put us into leading strings, and guide and conduct us to
his own dwelling place in the country of holiness. The way is
long, and steep, and he who goes without a divine leader will
faint on the journey; but with Jehovah to lead it is delightful
to follow, and there is neither stumbling nor wandering.
Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. He saith
not, Teach me to know thy will, but to do thy will. God teaches
us in three ways. First, by his word. Secondly, he illuminates
our minds by the Spirit. Thirdly, he imprints it in our hearts
and maketh us obedient to the same; for the servant who knoweth
the will of his master, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with
many stripes: Lu 12:47.—Archibald Symson.
Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. We are to
pray that God would teach us to know, and then teach us to do,
his will. Knowledge without obedience is lame, obedience without
knowledge is blind; and we must never hope for acceptance if we
offer the blind and the lame to God.—Vincent Alsop
(-1703), in "The Morning Exercises."
Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. The Lord
doth no sooner call his people to, himself, but as soon as ever
he hath thus crowned them with these glorious privileges, and
given them any sense and feeling of them, them they immediately
cry out, O Lord, what shall I now do for thee? How shall I now
live to thee? They know now that they are no more their own, but
his; and therefore should now live to him. It is true indeed
obedience to the law is not required of us now as it was of
Adam; it was required of him as a condition antecedent to life,
but of those that be in Christ it is required only as a duty
consequent to life, or as a rule of life, that seeing he hath
purchased our lives in redemption, and actually given us life in
vocation and sanctification, we should now live unto him, in all
thankful and fruitful obedience, according to his will revealed
in the moral law. It is a vain thing to imagine that our
obedience is to have no other rule but the Spirit, without an
attendance to the law: the Spirit is indeed the efficient cause
of our obedience, and hence we are said to be "led by the
Spirit" (Ro 8:14); but it is not properly the rule of our
obedience, but the will of God revealed in his word, especially
in the law, is the rule; the Spirit is the wind that drives us
in our obedience; the law is our compass, according to which it
steers our course for us: the Spirit and the law, the wind and
the compass, can stand well together. Teach me to do thy
will; for thou art my God (there is David's rule, viz.,
God's will revealed); Thy Spirit is good (there is
David's wind, that enabled him to steer his course according to
it). The Spirit of life doth free us from the law of sin and
death; but not from the holy, and pure, and good, and righteous
law of God. Ro 8:1-3.—Thomas Shepherd, in "The Sound
Believer," 1671.
Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will, etc. We are
inclined and enabled to good by the sanctifying Spirit.
In the Christian religion, not only the precepts are good, but
there goeth along with them the power of God to make us good. Teach
me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good.
The Spirit's direction hath strength joined with it. And he is a
good Spirit, as he doth incline us to good. The Spirit is the
only fountain of all goodness and holiness: Ne 9:20, "Thou
gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them." Why is he so
often called the good Spirit, but that all his operations tend
to make men good and holy? Eph 5:9, "The fruit of the
Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth."—Thomas
Manton.
Verse 10. Thy Spirit is good; lead me, says the
Psalmist. And therefore it is a usual phrase in Ro 8:1-39, and
Ga 4:1-31, our being led by the Spirit.—Thomas
Goodwin.
Verse 10. Lead me into the land of uprightness,
into the communion of saints, that pleasant land of the upright;
or into a settled course of holy living, which will lead to
heaven, that land of uprightness, where holiness will be in
perfection, and he that is holy will be holy still. We should
desire to be led and kept safe to heaven, not only because it is
a land of blessedness, but because it is a land of uprightness;
it is the perfection of grace.—Matthew Henry.
Verse 10. Lead me. Man by nature is as a
cripple and blind, he cannot go upright unless he be led by a
superior spirit; yea, he must be carried as an eagle carrieth
her little ones, or as a mother her tender child. Think not that
we can step one right step to heaven but by the conduct and
convoy of God's Holy Spirit. Miserable are those who go without
his conduction.—Archibald Symson.
Verse 10. The land of uprightness. Mishor is
the name for the smooth upland downs of Moab (De 3:10 Jos 13:17
20:8 Jer 48:8,21). Derived from the root "yashar",
"even, level plain", it naturally came to be used
figuratively for equity, right, righteous, and uprightness. Mal
2:6 Isa 11:4 Ps 45:7 67:5 143:10.—Cunningham Geikie, in
"Hours with the Bible," 1884.
Verse 10. The land of uprightness. The land of
plainness, a land where no wickedness of men, and malice of
Satan, vex the soul from day to day; a land where no rough paths
and crooked turns lengthen out the traveller's weary journey
(see Ps 143:5); but where all is like the smooth pasture lands
of Reuben (De 3:10 Jos 13:9), a fit place for flocks to lie
down.—Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse 11. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's. sake.
Oh for more life as well as more light! Teaching and leading
call for invigoration, or we shall be dull scholars and slow
pilgrims. Jehovah, the Lord and giver of life, is the only one
from whom life can come to renew and revive us;—hence, the
prayer is to him only. Perchance a servant might teach and lead,
but only the Master can enliven. We are often near to death, and
hence each one may fitly cry, "Quicken me";but
what is there in us which we can plead as a reason for such a
favour? Nothing, literally nothing. We must beg it for his
name's sake. He must quicken us because he is the living God,
the loving God, the Lord who delighteth in mercy. What blessed
arguments lie clustered together in his glorious name! We need
never cease praying for want of acceptable pleas; and we may
always fall back upon the one before us—"thy name's
sake." It will render the name of Jehovah the more glorious
in the eyes of men if he creates a high degree of spiritual life
in his servants; and this is a reason for his doing so, which we
may urge with much confidence. For thy righteousness' sake bring
my soul out of trouble. Let men see that thou art on the side of
right, and that thou wilt not allow the wicked to ride roughshod
over those who trust in thee. Thou hast promised to succour thy
people; thou art not unrighteous to forget their work of faith;
thou art, on the contrary, righteous in answering sincere
player, and in comforting thy people. David was heavily
afflicted. Not only was there trouble in his soul, but his soul
was in trouble; plunged in it as in a sea, shut up in it as in a
prison. God could bring him out of it, and especially he could
at once lift up his soul or spirit out of the ditch. The prayer
is an eager one, and the appeal a bold one. We may be sure that
trouble was soon over when the Lord heard such supplications.
Verse 11. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake.
For the sake of thine own glory, that thou mayest show thyself
to be the God of lovingkindness and power which thou art
esteemed to be.—Andrew Robert Fausset.
Verse 11. For thy righteousness' sake. It is
worthy of observation that the Psalmist pleads God's
righteousness as the Foundation on which he bases his
supplication for the deliverance of his soul from trouble, and
God's lovingkindness or mercy as that on which he grounds his
prayer, or his conviction, that God will destroy his enemies.
This is not the language of a revengeful and bloodthirsty
spirit.—Speaker's Commentary.
Verse 11. Bring my soul out of trouble. I can
bring it in, but thou only canst bring it out.—John Trapp.
Verses 11-12. Thy name's sake...thy righteousness'
sake...And of thy mercy. Mark here, my soul, with what
three cords David seeks to draw God to grant him his suits: for
his name's sake, for his righteousness' sake, and for his
mercy's sake,—three such motives, that it must be a very hard
suit that God will deny, if either of them be used. But though
all the three be strong motives, yet as David riseth in his
suits, so he may seem also to rise in his motives; and by this
account; for his righteousness' sake will prove a motive of a
higher degree than for his name's sake, and for his mercy's sake
the highest of them all—as indeed his mercy seat is the
highest part of all his ark, if it be not rather that as the
attributes of God, so these motives, that are drawn from the
attributes, are of equal preeminence. But if the three motives
be all of them so strong, being each of them single, how strong
would they be if they were all united, and twisted, I may say,
into one cord? And united they are all, indeed, into a motive,
which God hath more clearly revealed to us than he did to David
(although it be strange, seeing it was his Lord; and yet not
strange, seeing it was his son); and this is the motive: for thy
Son Christ Jesus' sake; for he is the verbum abbreviatum the
Word in brief, in whom are included all the motives—all
the powerful motives—that can be used to God for obtaining our
suits.—Sir Richard Baker.
Verses 11-12. The verbs in these two last verses, as
Dr. Hammond hath noted, should be rendered in the future; "Thou
shalt quicken", etc., and then the psalm will end, as
usual, with an act of faith and assurance, that all those
mercies, which have been asked, shall be obtained; that God, for
the sake of his "name", and his "righteousness",
of his glory, and his faithfulness in the performance of his
promises, will not fail to be favourable and gracious to his
servants, "quickening" them even when dead in
trespasses and sins, and bringing them, by degrees, "out
of all their troubles": going forth with them to the
battle against their spiritual "enemies", and
enabling them to vanquish the authors of their "affliction"
and misery, to mortify the flesh, and to overcome the world;
that so they may triumph with their Redeemer, in the day when he
shall likewise quicken their mortal bodies, and put all enemies
under their feet.—George Horne.
Verse 12. Of thy mercy cut off mine enemies. He
desireth God to slay his enemies in his mercy, when rather their
destruction was a work of his justice? I answer, that the
destruction of the wicked is a mercy to the church. As God
showed great mercy and kindness to his church by the death of
Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Herod, and other troublers thereof.—Archibald
Symson.
Verse 12. Cut off mine enemies, etc. When you
find these imprecations to be prophecies of events which the
Psalmist himself could not understand; but were to be fulfilled
in persons whom the Psalmist could not know, as they were to
live in distant future ages,—for instance, Judas, and the
Romans, and leaders of the Jewish nation,—who would make these
imprecations proofs of a revengeful spirit?—James Bennet
(1774-1862), in "Lectures on the Acts of the
Apostles," 1847.
Verse 12. I am thy servant. David the king
professes himself one of God's pensioners. Paul, when he would
blaze his coat of arms, and set forth his best heraldry, he doth
not call himself Paul, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, or Paul of the
tribe of Benjamin, but Paul "a servant of Christ": Ro
1:1. Theodosius thought it a greater dignity to be God's servant
than to be an emperor. Christ Himself, who is equal with his
Father, yet is not ashamed of the title servant: Isa
53:11. Every servant of God is a son, every subject a prince: it
is more honour to serve God than to have kings to serve us: the
angels in heaven are servants to the saints.—Thomas Watson.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. Three threes.
1. As to his devotions,—prayers, supplications, requests.
2. As to his success,—hear, give ear, answer me.
3. As to his argument,—because thou art Jehovah, faithful,
righteous.
Verses 1-2. A suitable prayer for a believer who has
reason to suppose that he is suffering chastening for sin.
1. Here is earnest importunity, as of one depending entirely
upon divine favour for a hearing.
2. Here is believing fervency laying hold of divine
faithfulness and justice; see 1Jo 1:9.
3. Here is a deep consciousness of the vanity of self
justification pleading for pure mercy, Ps 143:2.—J. F.
Verse 2.
1. Who he is. "Thy servant."
2. What he knows. "In thy sight shall no man living be
justified."
3. What he asks. "Enter not into judgment."
Verses 3-6. Consider,
1. The great lengths God may sometimes permit the enemy to
go, Ps 143:3. The case of Job a good illustration.
2. The deep depression of spirit he may even permit his
saints to experience, Ps 143:4.
3. The good things he has provided for their meditation when
even at their worst, Ps 143:5.
4. The two things his grace will never suffer to die, whose
existence is a pledge of near approaching joy,—
a) The thirsting after himself.
b) The practice of prayer. The whole is a good text for a
lecture on the life and experience of Job.—J. F.
Verses 4-6.
1. Down in Despondency.
2. Deep in Meditation.
3. Determined in Supplication.
Verses 5-6. I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch
forth my hands unto thee. Hand in hand: or the child of
God admiring the work of God's hands, and praying with uplifted
hands to be wrought upon by the like power.
Verse 5. David's method.
1. He gathered materials; facts and evidence concerning God:
"I remember."
2. He thought out his subject and arranged his matter:
"I meditate."
3. He discoursed thereon, and was brought nearer to God:
"I muse"—discourse.
4. Let us close by viewing all this as an example for
preachers and others.—W. B. H.
Verse 6. God alone the desire of his people.
Verse 6. Deep calling to deep.
1. The insatiable craving of the heart.
2. The vast riches in glory.
3. The rushing together of the seas: "My soul is to
thee."
—W. B. H.
Verse 7. Reasons for speedy answers.
Verse 7. Never despair.
1. Because you have the Lord to plead with.
2. Because you may freely tell him the desperateness of your
case.
3. Because you may be urgent with him for deliverance.—J.
F.
Verse 7. Cordial for the swooning heart.
1. God's beloved fainting.
2. The best restorative; her Lord's face.
3. She has the presence of mind to call him as she falls.—W.
B. H.
Verse 8. The two prayers "Cause me to
hear", and "Cause me to know." The two
pleas—"In thee do I trust", and "I
lift up my soul unto thee."
Verse 8. Ps 142:3. "Thou knewest my
path." Ps 143:8.—"Cause me to know the
way."
1. Trusting Omniscience in everything.
2. Following conscience in everything.
Verse 8. On fixing a time for the answering of our
prayer.
1. By whom it may be done. Not by all believers, but by those
who through dwelling with God have attained to a holy boldness.
2. When it may be done.
a) When the case is specially urgent.
b) When God's honour is concerned.
c) What renders it pleasing to God when done. Great faith.
"For in thee do I trust."—J. F.
Verse 8. Listening for Lovingkindness.
1. Where to listen. At the gates of Scripture; in the halls
of meditation; nigh the footsteps of Jesus.
2. When to listen. "In the morning"; as early and
as often as possible.
3. How to listen. In trustful dependence: "Cause me to
hear thy lovingkindness in the morning, for in thee do I
trust."
4. Why to listen. To "know the way wherein I should
walk."—W. B. H.
Verse 9. Admirable points in this prayer to be
imitated by us. There is,
1. A sense of danger.
2. A confession of weakness.
3. A prudent foresight.
4. A solid confidence:—he expects to be hidden from his
foes.
Verse 9.
1. Looking up.
2. Lying close.—W. B. H.
Verse 10. Two childlike requests—"Teach
me...lead me."
Verse 10. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No.
1519, "At School."
Verse 10. (first half.)
1. The best instructions: "Teach me to do thy
will." Not merely to know, but "to do."
2. The only efficient Instructor.
3. The best reason for asking and expecting instruction:
"For thou art my God."—J. F.
Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. We may call
this sentence a description of David's school; and it is a very
complete one; at least, it hath in it the three best things that
belong to a school.
1. The best teacher.
2. The best scholar.
3. The best lesson; for who so good a teacher as God? who so
good a scholar as David? what so good a lesson as to do God's
will?—Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 10. (latter half.)
1. Utopia—"the land of uprightness." Describe it,
and declare its glories.
2. The difficult paths to that upland country.
3. The divine Guide,—"thy Spirit is good."
Verse 11. (first clause.)
1. What is this blessing? "Quicken me."
2. In what way will it glorify God, so that we may plead for the
sake of his name?
Verse 11. (second clause.) How is the
righteousness of God concerned in our deliverance from trouble?
Verse 12.
1. To the Master: "I am thy servant."
2. For the servant: he seeks protection because he belongs to
his master.
WORKS UPON THE HUNDRED AND FORTY-THIRD PSALM
Meditations And Disqvisitions Upon The
Three last Psalms of David. Pss. 102., 130., 143.. By Sr.
Richard Baker, Knight, London, 1639. The above is scarce, but
will be found in Mr. Higham's Reprint of Sir R. Baker on the
Psalms.
A Sacred Septenarie, Or, A Godly
And Fruitfull Exposition on the Seven Psalms Of Repentance
by Mr. Archibald Symson... London, 1638 4to., contains an
Exposition of this Psalm, pp. 276-308.
There is an Exposition of Psalm 143., in Vol.
1., pp. 35-66, Of "Sermons chiefly designed for the Use of
Families," by John Fawcett, A.M. 2 Vols. 8vo, second
edition, Carlisle; 1818.