SUBJECT. This is a specially remarkable
song. In it the greatness and the condescending goodness of the
Lord are celebrated The God of Israel is set forth in his
peculiarity of glory as caring for the sorrowing, the
insignificant, and forgotten. The poet finds a singular joy in
extolling one who is so singularly gracious. It is a Psalm of
the city and of the field, of the first and the second
creations, of the common wealth and of the church. It is good
and pleasant throughout.
DIVISION. The, song appears to divide
itself into three portions. From Ps 147:1-6, Jehovah is extolled
for building up Zion, and blessing his mourners; from Ps
147:7-11, the like praise is given because of his provision for
the lowly, and his pleasure in them; and then, from Ps
147:12-20, he is magnified for his work on behalf of his people,
and the power of his word in nature and in grace. Let it be
studied with joyful gratitude.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Praise ye the Lord, or Hallelujah: The
flow of the broad river of the Book of Psalms ends in a cataract
of praise. The present Psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah.
Jehovah and happy praise should ever be associated in the mind
of a believer. Jove was dreaded, but Jehovah is beloved. To one
and all of the true seed of Israel the Psalmist acts as choir
master, and cries, "Praise ye the Lord." Such an
exhortation may fitly be addressed to all those who owe anything
to the favour of God; and which of us does not? Pay him we
cannot, but praise him we will, not only now, but for ever. "For
it is good to sing praises unto our God." It is good
because it is right; good because it is acceptable with God,
beneficial to ourselves, and stimulating to our fellows. The
goodness of an exercise is good argument with good men for its
continual practice. Singing the divine praises is the best
possible use of speech: it speaks of God, for God, and to God,
and it does this in a joyful and reverent manner. Singing in the
heart is good, but singing with heart and voice is better, for
it allows others to join with us. Jehovah is our God, our
covenant God, therefore let him have the homage of our praise;
and he is so gracious and happy a God that our praise may best
be expressed in joyful song. For it is pleasant; and praise is
comely. It is pleasant and proper, sweet and suitable to laud
the Lord Most High. It is refreshing to the taste of the truly
refined mind, and it is agreeable to the eye of the pure in
heart: it is delightful both to hear and to see a whole assembly
praising the Lord. These are arguments for song service which
men who love true piety, real pleasure, and strict propriety
will not despise. Please to praise, for praise is pleasant:
praise the Lord in the beauty of holiness, for praise is comely.
Where duty and delight, benefit and beauty unite, we ought not
to be backward. Let each reader feel that he and his family
ought to constitute a choir for the daily celebration of the
praises of the Lord.
Verse 2. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem. God
appears both ill the material and spiritual world as a Builder
and Maker, and therein he is to be praised. His grace, wisdom,
and power are all seen in the formation and establishment of the
chosen seat of his worship; once a city with material walls, but
now a church composed of spiritual stones. The Jews rejoiced in
the uprising of their capital from its ruins, and we triumph in
the growth of the church from among a godless world. He
gathereth together the outcasts of Israel; and thus he
repairs the waste places, and causes the former desolations to
be inhabited. This sentence may relate to Nehemiah and those who
returned with him; but there is no reason why it should not with
equal fitness be referred to David, who, with his friends, was
once an outcast, but ere long became the means of building up
Jerusalem. In any case, the Psalmist ascribes to Jehovah all the
blessings enjoyed; the restoration of the city and the
restoration of the banished he equally traces to the divine
hand. How clearly these ancient believers saw the Lord present,
working among them and for them! Spiritually we see the hand of
God in the edification of the church, and in the ingathering of
sinners. What are men tinder conviction of sin but outcasts from
God, from holiness, from heaven, and even from hope? Who could
gather them from their dispersions, and make citizens of them in
Christ Jesus save the Lord our God? This deed of love and power
he is constantly performing. Therefore let the song begin at
Jerusalem our home, and let every living stone in the spiritual
city echo the strain; for it is the Lord who has brought again
his banished ones, and builded them together in Zion.
Verse 3. He healeth the broken in heart, and
bindeth up their wounds. This the Holy Spirit mentions as a
part of the glory of God, and a reason for our declaring his
praise: the Lord is not only a Builder, but a Healer; he
restores broken hearts as well as broken walls. The kings of the
earth think to be great through their loftiness; but Jehovah
becomes really so by his condescension. Behold, the Most High
has to do with the sick and the sorry, with the wretched and the
wounded! He walks the hospitals as the good Physician! His deep
sympathy with mourners is a special mark of his goodness. Few
will associate with the despondent, but Jehovah chooses their
company, and abides with them till he has healed them by his
comforts. He deigns to handle and heal broken hearts: he himself
lays on the ointment of grace, and the soft bandages of love,
and thus binds up the bleeding wounds of those convinced of sin.
This is compassion like a God. Well may those praise him to whom
he has acted o gracious a part. The Lord is always healing and
binding: this is no new work to him, he has done it of old; and
it is not a thing of the past of which he is now weary, for he
is still healing and still binding, as the original hath it.
Come, broken hearts, come to the Physician who never fails to
heal: uncover your wounds to him who so tenderly binds them up!
Verse 4. He telleth the number of the stars.
None but he can count the mighty host, but as he made them and
sustains them he can number them. To Jehovah stars are as mere
coins, which the merchant tells as he puts them into his bag. He
calleth them all by their names. He has an intimate
acquaintance with each separate orb, so as to know its name or
character. Indeed, he gives to each its appropriate title,
because he knows its constitution and nature. Vast as these
stars are, they are perfectly obedient to his bidding; even as
soldiers to a captain who calls their names, and allots them
their stations. Do they not rise, and set, and move, or stand,
precisely according to his order? What a change is here from the
preceding verse! Read the two without a break, and feel the full
force of the contrast. From stars to sighs is a deep descent!
From worlds to wounds is a distance which only infinite
compassion can bridge. Yet he who acts a surgeon's part with
wounded hearts, marshals the heavenly host, and reads the muster
roll of suns and their majestic systems. O Lord, it is good to
praise thee as ruling the stars, but it is pleasant to adore
thee as healing the broken in heart!
Verse 5. Great is our Lord. Our Lord and King
is great—magnanimous, infinite, inconceivably glorious. None
can describe his majesty, or reckon up the number of his
excellencies. And of great power. Doing as he wills, and
willing to do mighty deeds. His acts reveal something of his
might, but the mass of his power is hidden, for all things are
possible with God, even the things impossible with men. His
understanding is infinite. There is no fathoming his wisdom,
or measuring his knowledge. He is infinite in existence, in
power, and in knowledge; as these three phrases plainly teach
us. The gods of the heathen are nothing, but our God filleth all
things. And yet how condescending! For this is he who so
tenderly nurses sick souls, and waist to be gracious to sinful
men. He brings his boundless power and infinite understanding to
bear upon human distress for its assuagement and sanctification.
For all these reasons let his praise be great: even could it be
infinite, it would not exceed his due. In the building of his
church and the salvation of souls, his greatness, power, and
wisdom are all displayed: let him be extolled because of each of
these attributes.
Verse 6. The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth
the wicked down to the ground. He reverses the evil order of
things. The meek are down, and he lifts them up; the wicked are
exalted, anti he hurls them down to the dust. The Lord loves
those who are reverent to himself, humble in their own eyes, and
gentle to their fellow men: these he lifts up to hope, to peace,
to power, to eternal honour. When God lifts a man, it is a lift
indeed. Proud men are in their own esteem, high enough already;
only those who are low will care to be lifted up, and only such
will Jehovah upraise. As for the wicked, they must come down
from their scats of vain glory. God is accustomed to overthrow
such; it is his way and habit. None of the wicked shall in the
end escape. To the earth they must go; for from the earth they
came, and for the earth they live. It is one of the glories of
our God for which his saints praise him, that he hath put down
the mighty from their seats, and hath exalted them of low
degree. Well may the righteous be lifted up in spirit and the
wicked be downcast as they think of the judgments of the Lord
God. In this verse we see the practical outcome of that
character of Jehovah which leads him to count and call the stars
as if they were little things, while he deals tenderly with
sorrowful men, as if they were precious in his esteem. He is so
great that nothing is great to him, and he is so condescending
that nothing is little to him: his infinite majesty thus
naturally brings low the lofty and exalts the lowly.
Verse 7. In this paragraph the contrast announced in
the former section is enlarged upon from another point of view,
namely, as it is seen in nature and in providence. Sing unto the
LORD with, thanksgiving; or rather, "respond to
Jehovah." He speaks to us in his works, let us answer him
with our thanks. All that he does is gracious, every movement of
Iris hand is goodness; therefore let our hearts reply with
gratitude, and our lips with song. Our lives should be responses
to divine love. Jehovah is ever engaged in giving, let us
respond with thanksgiving. Sing praise upon the harp unto our
God. Blend music with song. Under a dispensation of ritual the
use of music was most commendable, and suitable in the great
congregation: those of us who judge it to be less desirable for
public worship, under a spiritual economy, because it has led to
so many abuses, nevertheless rejoice in it in our privacy, and
are by no means insensible to its charms. It seems profanation
that choice minstrelsy should so often be devoted to unworthy
themes: the sweetest harmonies should be consecrated to the
honour of the Lord. He is our God, and this fact is one
choice joy of the sing. We have chosen him because he has chosen
us; and we see in him peculiarities which distinguish him from
all the pretended deities of those among whom we dwell. He is
our God in covenant relationship for ever and ever, and to him
be praise in every possible form.
Verse 8. Who covereth the heaven with clouds.
He works in all things, above as well as below. Clouds are not
caused by accident, but produced by God himself, and made to
assume degrees of density by which the blue firmament is hidden.
A sky scape might seem to be a mere fortuitous concourse of
vapours, but it is not so: the Great Artist's hand thus covers
the canvas of the heavens. Who prepareth rain for the earth.
The Lord prepares clouds with a view to rain, and rain with an
eye to the fields below. By many concurrent circumstances all
things are made ready for the production of a shower; there is
more of art in the formation of a rain cloud and in the
fashioning of a rain drop, than appears to superficial
observers. God is in the vapour, and in the pearly drop which is
born of it. Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
By the far reaching shower he produces vegetation where the hand
of man is all unknown. He cares not only for Goshen's fertile
plains, but for Carmel's steep ascents. God makes the heavens
the servants of the earth, and the clouds the irrigators of the
mountain meadows. This is a kind of evolution about which there
can be no dispute. Nor does the Lord forget the waste and
desolate places, but causes the lone hills to be the first
partakers of his refreshing visitations. This is after the
manner of our God. He not only causes rain to descend from the
heavens to water the grass, and thus unites the skies and the
herbs by a ministry of mercy; but he also thinks of the rocky
ledges among the hills, and forgets not the pastures of the
wilderness. What a God is this!
"Passing by the rich and great,
For the poor and desolate."
Verse 9. He giveth to the beast his food. By
causing the grass to grow on the hills the Lord feeds the
cattle. God careth for the brute creation. Men tread grass under
foot as though it were nothing, but God causeth it to grow: too
often men treat their cattle with cruelty, but the Lord himself
feedeth them. The great God is too good, and, indeed, too great
to overlook things that are despised. Say not, "Doth God
care for oxen?" Indeed he does, and he permits himself to
be here described as giving them their food as husbandmen are
wont to do. And to the young ravens which cry. These wild
creatures, which seem to be of no use to man; are they therefore
worthless? By no means; they fill their place in the economy of
nature. When they are mere fledgelings, and can only clamour to
the parent birds for food, the Lord does not suffer them to
starve, but supplies their needs. Is it not wonderful how such
numbers of little birds are fed! A bird in a cage under human
care is in more danger of lacking seed and water than any one of
the myriads that fly in the open heavens, with no owner but
their Creator, and no provider but the Lord. Greatness occupied
with little things makes up a chief feature of this Psalm. Ought
we not all to feel special joy in praising One who is so
specially remarkable for his care of the needy and the
forgotten? Ought we not also to trust in the Lord? for he who
feeds the sons of the raven will surely nourish the sons of God!
Hallelujah to Him who both feeds the ravens and rules the stars!
What a God art thou, O Jehovah!
Verse 10. He delighteth not in the strength of the
horse. Not to great and strong animals doth the Creator in
any measure direct his special thought; but in lesser living
things he has equal pleasure. If man could act the Creator's
part, he would take peculiar delight in producing noble
quadrupeds like horses, whose strength and speed would reflect
honour upon their maker; but Jehovah has no such feeling; lie
cares as much for helpless birds in the nest as for the war
horse in the pride of its power. He taketh not pleasure in
the legs of a man. These are the athlete's glory, but God
hath no pleasure in them. Not the capacities of the creature,
but rather its weakness and necessity, win the regard of our
God. Monarchs trust in their cavalry and infantry; but the King
of kings exults not in the hosts of his creatures as though they
could lend power to him. Physical or material greatness and
power are of no account with Jehovah; he has respect to other
and more precious qualities. Men who boast in fight the valour
of gigantic might, will not find themselves the favourites of
God: though earthly princes may feast their eyes upon their
Joabs and their Abners, their Abishais and Asahels, the Lord of
hosts has no pleasure in mere bone and muscle. Sinews and thews
are of small account, either in horses or in men, with Him who
is a spirit, and delights most in spiritual things. The
expression of the text may be viewed as including all creature
power, even of a mental or moral kind. God does not take
pleasure in us because of our attainments, or potentialities: he
respects character rather than capacity.
Verse 11. The LORD taketh pleasure in them that
fear him in those that hope in his mercy. While the bodily
powers give no content to God, spiritual qualities are his
delight. He cares most for those emotions which centre in
himself: the fear which he approves is fear of him, and
the hope which he accepts is hope in his mercy. It is a
striking thought that God should not only be at peace with some
kinds of men, but even find a solace and a joy in their company.
Oh! the matchless condescension of the Lord, that his greatness
should take pleasure in the insignificant creatures of his hand.
Who are these favoured men in whom Jehovah takes pleasure? Some
of them are the least in his family, who have never risen beyond
hoping and fearing. Others of them are more fully developed, but
still they exhibit a blended character composed of fear and
hope: they fear God with holy awe and filial reverence, and they
also hope for forgiveness and blessedness because of the divine
mercy. As a father takes pleasure in his own children, so doth
the Lord solace himself in his own beloved ones, whose marks of
new birth are fear and hope. They fear, for they are sinners;
they hope; for God is merciful. They fear him, for he is great;
they hope in him, for he is good. Their fear sobers their hope;
their hope brightens their fear: God takes pleasure in them both
in their trembling and in their rejoicing. Is there not rich
cause for praise in this special feature of the divine
character? After all, it is a poor nature which is delighted
with brute force; it is a diviner thing to take pleasure in the
holy character of those around us. As men may be known by the
nature of the things which give them pleasure, so is the Lord
known by the blessed fact that he taketh pleasure in the
righteous, even though that righteousness is as yet in its
initial stage of fear and hope.
Verse 12. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy
God, O Zion. How the poet insists upon praise: he cries
praise, praise, as if it were the most important of all duties.
A peculiar people should render peculiar praise. The city of
peace should be the city of praise; and the temple of the
covenant God should resound with his glories. If nowhere else,
yet certainly in Zion there should be joyful adoration of Zion's
God. Note, that we are to praise the Lord in our own houses in
Jerusalem as well as in his own house in Zion. The holy city
surrounds the holy hill, and both are dedicated to the holy God,
therefore both should ring with hallelujahs.
Verse 13. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy
gates. Her fortifications were finished, even to the
fastenings of the gates, and God had made all sound and strong,
even to her bolts and bars: thus her security against invading
foes was guaranteed. This is no small mercy. Oh, that our
churches were thus preserved from all false doctrine and unholy
living! This must be the Lord's doing; and where he has wrought
it his name is greatly to be praised. Modern libertines would
tear down all gates and abolish all bars; but so do not we,
because of the fear of the Lord. He hath blessed thy children
within thee. Internal happiness is as truly the Lord's gift
as external security. When the Lord blesses "thy sons in
the midst of thee", thou art, O Zion, filled with a happy,
united, zealous, prosperous, holy people, who dwell in communion
with God, and enter into the joy of their Lord. When God makes
thy walls salvation thy gates must be praise. It would little
avail to fortify a wretched, starving city; but when the walls
are strengthened, it is a still greater joy to see that the
inhabitants are blessed with all good gifts. How much our
churches need a present and abiding benediction.
Verse 14. He maketh peace in thy borders. Even
to the boundaries quiet extends; no enemies are wrangling with
the borderers. If there is peace there, we may be sure that
peace is everywhere. "When a man's ways please the Lord he
maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." Peace is
from the God of peace. Considering the differing constitutions,
conditions, tastes, and opinions of men, it is a work of God
when in large churches unbroken peace is found year after year;
and it is an equal wonder if worldlings, instead of persecuting
the godly, treat them with marked respect. He who builds Zion is
also her Peace maker, the Lord and Giver of peace. And
filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. Peace is attended
with plenty,—plenty of the best food, and of the best sort of
that food. It is a great reason for thanksgiving when men's
wants are so supplied that they are filled: it takes much to
fill some men: perhaps none ever are filled but the inhabitants
of Zion; and they are only to be filled by the Lord himself.
Gospel truth is the finest of the wheat, and those are indeed
blessed who are content to be filled therewith, and are not
hungering after the husks of the world. Let those who are filled
with heavenly food fill their mouths with heavenly praise.
Verse 15. He sendeth forth his commandment upon
earth. His messages fly throughout his dominions: upon earth
his warrants are executed as well as in heaven. From his church
his word goes forth; from Zion he missions the nations with the
word of life. His word runneth very swiftly: his purposes
of love are speedily accomplished. Oriental monarchs laboured
hard to establish rapid postal communication; the desire, will,
and command of the Lord flash in an instant from pole to pole,
yea, from heaven to earth. We who dwell in the centre of the
Lord's dominions may exceedingly rejoice that to the utmost
extremity of the realm the divine commandment speeds with sure
result, and is not hindered by distance or time. The Lord can
deliver his people right speedily, or send them supplies
immediately from his courts above. God's commands in nature and
providence are fiats against which no opposition is ever raised;
say, rather, to effect which all things rush onward with
alacrity. The expressions in the text are so distinctly in the
present that they are meant to teach us the present mission and
efficiency of the word of the Lord, and thus to prompt us to
present praise.
Verse 16. Here follow instances of the power of God
upon the elements. He giveth snow like wool. As a gift he
scatters the snow, which falls in flakes like fleecy wool. Snow
falls softly, covers universally, and clothes warmly, even as
wool covers the sheep. The most evident resemblance lies in the
whiteness of the two substances; but many other likenesses are
to be seen by the observant eye. It is wise to see God in winter
and in distress as well as in summer and prosperity. He who one
day feeds us with the finest of the wheat, at another time robes
us in snow: he is the same God in each case, and each form of
his operation bestows a gift on men. He scattereth the
hoarfrost like ashes. Here again the Psalmist sees God
directly and personally at work. As ashes powder the earth when
men are burning up the rank herbage; and as when men cast ashes
into the air they cause a singular sort of whiteness in the
places where they fall, so also does the frost. The country
people talk of a black frost and a white frost, and the same
thing may be said of ashes, for they are both black and white.
Moreover, excessive cold burns as effectually as great heat, and
hence there is an inner as well as an outer likeness between
hoarfrost and ashes. Let us praise the Lord who condescends to
wing each flake of snow and scatter each particle of rime. Ours
is no absent or inactive deity: he worketh all things, and is
everywhere at home.
Verse 17. He casteth forth his ice like morsels.
Such are the crumbs of hail which he casts forth, or the crusts
of ice which he creates upon the waters. These morsels are his
ice, and he casts them abroad. The two expressions
indicate a very real presence of God in the phenomena of nature.
Who can stand before his cold? None can resist the utmost
rigours of cold any more than they can bear the vehemence of
heat. God's withdrawals of light are a darkness that may be
felt, and his withdrawals of heat are a cold which is absolutely
omnipotent. If the Lord, instead of revealing himself as a fire,
should adopt the opposite manifestation of cold, he would, in
either case, consume us should he put forth all his power. It is
ours to submit to deprivations with patience, seeing the cold is
his cold. That which God sends, whether it be heat or
cold, no man can defy with impunity, but he is happy who bows
before it with childlike submission. When we cannot stand before
God we will gladly lie at his feet, or nestle under his wings.
Verse 18. He sendeth out his word, and melteth
them. When the frost is sharpest, and the ice is hardest,
the Lord intervenes; and though he doth no more than send his
word, yet the rocks of ice are dissolved at once, and the huge
bergs begin to float into the southern seas. The phenomena of
winter are not so abundant in Palestine as with us, yet they are
witnessed sufficiently to cause the devout to bless God for the
return of spring. At the will of God snow, hoarfrost, and ice
disappear, and the time of the opening bud and the singing of
birds has come. For this let us praise the Lord as we sun
ourselves amici the spring flowers. He causeth his wind to
blow, and the waters flow. The Lord is the great first cause
of everything; even the fickle, wandering winds are caused by
him. Natural laws are in themselves mere inoperative rules, but
the power emanates directly from the Ever present and Ever
potent One. The soft gales from the south, which bring a general
thaw, are from the Lord, as were those wintry blasts which bound
the streams in icy bonds. Simple but effectual are the methods
of Jehovah in the natural world; equally so are those which he
employs in the spiritual kingdom; for the breath of his Holy
Spirit breathes upon frozen hearts, and streams of penitence and
love gush forth at once. Observe how in these two sentences the
word and the wind go together in nature. They attend each other
in grace; the gospel and the Holy Spirit cooperate in salvation.
The truth which the Spirit breathed into prophets and apostles
he breathes into dead souls, and they are quickened into
spiritual life.
Verse 19. He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his
statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He who is the
Creator is also the Revealer. We are to praise the Lord above
all things for his manifesting himself to us as he does not unto
the world. Whatever part of his mind he discloses to us, whether
it be a word of instruction, a statute of direction, or a
judgment of government, we are bound to bless the Lord for it.
He who causes summer to come in the place of winter has also
removed the coldness and death from our hearts by the power of
his word, and this is abundant cause for singing unto his name.
As Jacob's seed of old were made to know the Lord, even so are
we ill these latter days; wherefore, let his name be magnified
among us. By that knowledge Jacob is ennobled into Israel, and
therefore let him who is made a prevailing prince in prayer be
also a chief musician in praise. The elect people were bound to
sing hallelujahs to their own God. Why were they so specially
favoured if they did not, above all others, tell forth the glory
of their God?
Verse 20. He hath not dealt so with any nation.
Israel had clear and exclusive knowledge of God, while others
were left in ignorance. Election is the loudest call for
grateful adoration. And as for his judgments, they have not
known them; or, and judgments they had not known them,
as if not knowing the laws of God, they might be looked upon as
having no laws at all worth mentioning. The nations were covered
with darkness, and only Israel sat in the light. This was
sovereign grace in its fullest noontide of power. Praise ye
the Lord. When we have mentioned electing, distinguishing
love, our praise can rise no higher, and therefore we close with
one more hallelujah.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. The whole Psalm is an invitation unto
praising of God. Arguments therein are drawn, First, from God's general
goodness to the world (Ps 147:4,8-9,16-18): Secondly, from
his special mercy to his Church. 1. In restoring
it out of a sad and broken condition (Ps 147:2-3). 2. In confirming
it in a happy and prosperous estate, both temporal, in regard of
strength, peace, and plenty (Ps 147:12-14); and spiritual, in
regard of his word, statutes, and judgments, made known unto
them (Ps 147:19-20). Lastly, these mercies are all commended by
the manner of bestowing them—powerfully and swiftly.
He doth it; by a word of command, and by a word of speed:
"He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word
runneth very swiftly" (Ps 147:15). The temporal part of
this happy estate, together with the manner of bestowing it, is
herein described, but we must by no means exclude the spiritual
meaning. And what can be wanting to a nation which
"strengthened" with walls, "blessed" with
multitudes, hath "peace" in the border,
"plenty" in the field, and, what is all in all, God in
the sanctuary: God the bar of the "gate", the Father
of the children, the crown of the "peace", the staff
of the "plenty"? They haven "gate" restored,
a "city" blessed, a "border" quieted, a
"field" crowned, a "sanctuary" beautified
with the oracles of God. What can bc wanting to such a people,
but a mouth filled, a heart enlarged, a spirit exalted in the
praises of the Lord? "Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise
thy God, O Zion", etc. (Ps 147:12).—Edward Reynolds in
a Sermon entitled "Sion's Praises", 1657.
Whole Psalm. The God of Israel, what he has done, what
he does, what he can do—this is the "Hallelujah"
note of his song. So happy is the theme, that in Ps 147:1 we
find a contribution for it levied on Ps 33:1 92:1 135:3; each
must furnish its quota of testimony to the desirableness of
giving praise to such a God.—Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse 1. Praise ye the Lord. Alleluia. An
expression in sound very similar to this seems to have been used
by many nations, who can hardly be supposed to have borrowed it
from the Jews. Is it impossible that this is one of the most
ancient expressions of devotion? From the Greeks using eleleu
ih, as a solemn beginning and ending of their hymns to
Apollo, it should seem that they knew it; it is said also to
have been heard among the Indians in America, and Alia, Alla, as
the name of God, is used in great part of the East: also in
composition. What might be the primitive stock which has
furnished such spreading branches?—Augustin Calmer,
1672-1757.
Verse 1. It is good to sing praises unto our God.
Singing is necessarily included and recognised in the praise of
Psalms. That the joyful should sing is as natural as that the
afflicted should pray—rather more natural. Song as the
expression of cheerfulness is something universal in human
nature; there were always, both in Israel and among all other
nations, songs of joy. Hence it is constantly mentioned in the
prophets, by whom joyous singing is used as a frequent figure,
even as they threaten that God will take away the song of the
bridegroom and the bride, and so forth. The singing of
men is in itself good and noble. The same God who furnished the
birds of heaven with the notes wherein they unconsciously praise
their Creator, gave to man the power to sing. We all know how
highly Luther, for example, estimated the gift and the art of
song. Let him to whom it is granted rejoice therein; let him who
lacks it seek, if possible, to excite it; for it is a good gift
of the Creator. Let our children learn to sing in the schools,
even as they learn to read. Our fathers sang more in all the
affairs of life than we do; our tunes are in this respect less
fresh, and artless, and joyous. There are many among us who
never sing, except when adding their voices to the voice of the
church,—and therefore they sing so badly there. Not that a
harsh song from a good heart is unacceptable to God; but he
should have our best. As David in his day took care that there
should be practised singers for the sanctuary, we also should
make provision for the church's service of song, that God may
have in all respects a perfect offering. How gracious and lovely
is the congregation singing with the heart acceptable songs!—Rudolf
Stier, in "The Epistle of James Expounded," 1859.
Verse 1. The translation here is doubtful. It may
either be rendered, "Praise the Lord for he is good",
or, "for it (praise) is good." Why is it
declared to be "pleasant" and "comely"
to praise the Deity? Not only because if we glorify him he will
also glorify us, but because he is so infinitely glorious that
we are infinitely honoured simply in being reckoned worthy to
worship One so great.—John Lorinus.
Verse 1. It is good to sing praises unto our God;
for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. These points are
worthy of careful consideration.
1. To praise God is "good" for divers
reasons. a) That is good which God commands (Mic 6:8). So that
thanksgiving is no indifferent action, no will worship, but it
is cultus institutus, not to be neglected. b) It raiseth
the heart from earth to heaven; and being the work of angels and
saints in heaven, joins us with that choir above. c) It is good,
again, because by it we pay, or at least acknowledge, a debt,
and this is common justice. d) Good, because for it we are like
to receive a good and a great reward; for if he that prays to
God is like to be rewarded (Mt 6:6), much more that man who
sings praises to him; for in prayer we consult with our own
necessities, in our praises we honour God, and bless him for his
gifts.
2. To praise God is "pleasant." a) Because
it proceeds out of love; for nothing is more pleasant to him
that loves, than to make sonnets in the praise of that party he
loves. b) Because it must needs please a man to perform that
duty for which he was created; for to that end God created men
and angels, that they should praise him. c) Because God is
delighted with it, as the sweetest sacrifice (Ps 50:23). d) It
is pleasant to God, because he is delighted with those virtues
which are in us,—faith, hope, charity, religion, devotion,
humility, etc., of all which our praises are a manifestation and
exercise.
3. To praise God is "comely"; for there is
no greater stain than ingratitude; it is made up of a lie and
injustice. There is, then, all the decency in the world in
praise, and it is comely that a man be thankful to his God, who
freely gives him all things.—William Nicholson.
Verse 1. David, to persuade all men to thankfulness,
saith, It is a good and pleasant thing to be thankful. If
he had said no more but "good", all which love
goodness are bound to be thankful; but when he saith not only "good",
but "pleasant" too, all which love pleasure are
bound to be thankful; and therefore, as Peter's mother-in-law,
so soon as Christ healed her of a fever, rose up immediately to
minister unto him (Mt 8:15), so we, so soon as Christ hath done
anything for us, should rise up immediately to serve him.—Henry
Smith.
Verse 1. There is no heaven, either in this world, or
the world to come, for people who do not praise God. If you do
not enter into the spirit and worship of heaven, how should the
spirit and joy of heaven enter into you? Selfishness makes long
prayers, but love makes short prayers, that it may continue
longer in praise.—John Pulsford, 1857.
Verse 1. Praise. There is one other thing which
is a serious embarrassment to praising through the song service
of the Church, and that is, that we have so few hymns of praise.
You will be surprised to hear me say so; but you will be more
surprised if you take a real specimen of praising and search for
hymns of praise. You shall find any number of hymns that talk
about praise, and exhort you to praise. There is no lack of
hymns that say that God ought to be praised. But of hymns that
praise, and say nothing about it, there are very few indeed. And
for what there are we are almost wholly indebted to the old
churches. Most of them came down to us from the Latin and Greek
Churches...There is no place in human literature where you can
find such praise as there is in the Psalms of David.—Henry
Ward Beecher.
Verse 2. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem, etc.
If this Psalm were written on occasion of the return from
Babylon, and the rebuilding of the earthly city, the ideas are
to be transferred, as in other Psalms of the same kind, to a
more important restoration from a much worse captivity, and to
the building up of the church under the gospel, when Christ
"gathered together in one the children of God that were
scattered abroad" (Joh 11:52); that is, in the words of our
Psalm, he gathered together the outcasts of Israel. So
shall he again, at the resurrection, "gather together his
elect from the four winds" (Mt 24:31), and "build up a
Jerusalem", in which they shall serve and praise him for
ever.—George Horne.
Verse 2. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem, etc.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! the blessing lingers yet
On the city of the chosen, where the Sabbath seal was set;
And though her sons are scattered, and her daughters weep apart,
While desolation, like a pall, weighs down each faithful heart;
As the plain beside the waters, as the cedar on the hills,
She shall rise in strength and beauty when the Lord Jehovah
wills:
He has promised her protection, and the holy pledge is good,
'Tis whispered through the olive groves, and murmured by the
flood,
As in thee Sabbath stillness the Jordan's flow is heard,
And by the Sabbath breezes the hoary trees are stirred.
—Mrs. Hale, in "The Rhyme of Life."
Verse 2. He gathereth together the outcasts of
Israel. Wonder not that God calls together "the
outcasts", and singles them out from every corner for a
return; why can he not do this, as well as "tell the number
of the stars, and call them all by their names"? There are
none of his people so despicable in the eye of man, but they are
known and regarded by God. Though they are clouded in the world,
yet they are the stars of the world; and shall God number the
inanimate stars in the heavens, and make no account of his
living stars on the earth? No; wherever they are dispersed, he
will not forget them: however they are afflicted, he will not
despise them. The stars are so numerous that they are
innumerable by man; some are visible and known by men, others
lie more hid and undiscovered in a confused light, as those in
the milky way; a man cannot see one of them distinctly. God
knows all his people. As he can do what is above the power of
man to perform, so he understands what is above the skill of man
to discover.—Stephen Charnock.
Verse 2. He gathereth together the outcasts of
Israel. David might well have written feelingly about the "outcasts",
for he had himself been one; and even from Jerusalem, in his
age, when driven forth from thence by his unnatural son, he went
up by the ascent of Olivet, weeping and barefooted, and other "outcasts"
with him, weeping also as they went.—Barton Bouchier.
Verse 3. He healeth the broken in heart, etc.
Here are two things contained in this text; the patients
and the physician. The patients are the broken in heart.
The physician is Christ; it is he who bindeth up their wounds.
The patients here are felt and discerned to have two wounds or
maladies; brokenness of heart, and woundedness: he binds up
such. Brokenness of heart presupposes a former wholeness of
heart. Wholeness of heart is twofold; either wholeness of heart in
sin, or wholeness of heart from sin. First, wholeness
of heart from sin is when the heart is without sin;
and so the blessed angels have whole hearts, and so Adam and
Eve, and we in them, before the fall, had whole hearts.
Secondly, wholeness of heart in sin; so the devils have
whole hearts, and all men since the fall, from their conception
till their conversion, have whole hearts; and these are they
that our Saviour intends,—"The whole need not the
physician, but they that are sick."
Brokenness of heart may be considered two ways; first, in
relation to wholeness of heart in sin: so brokenness of
heart is not a malady, but the commencement of the cure of a
desperate disease. Secondly, in relation to wholeness of
heart from sin; and so it is a malady or sickness, and yet
peculiar to one blood alone, namely, God's elect; for though the
heart be made whole in its desire towards God, yet it is broken
for its sins. As a man that hath a barbed arrow shot into his
side, and the arrow is plucked out of the flesh, yet the wound
is not presently healed; so sin may be plucked out of the heart,
but the scar that was made with plucking it out is not yet
cured. The wounds that are yet under cure are the plagues and
troubles of conscience, the sighs and groans of a hungering soul
after grace, the stinging poison that the serpent's fang hath
left behind it; these are the wounds. Now the heart is broken
three ways.
First, by the law; as it breaks the heart of a thief
to hear the sentence of the law, that he must be hanged for his
robbery; so it breaks the heart of the soul, sensibly to
understand the sentence of the law,—Thou shalt not sin; if
thou do, thou shalt be damned. If ever the heart come to be
sensible of this sentence,—"Thou art a damned man",
it is impossible to stand out under it, but it must break.
"Is not my word like a hammer, that breaketh the rock in
pieces?" (Jer 23:29). Can any rock heart hold out and not
be broken with the blows of it? Indeed, thus far a man may be
broken, and yet be a reprobate; for they shall all be thus
broken in hell, and therefore this breaking is not enough.
Secondly, by the Gospel; for if ever the heart come to
be sensible of the love of the Gospel, it will break all to
shatters. "Rend your heart; for the Lord is gracious",
etc.: Joe 2:13. When all the shakes of God's mercy come, they
all cry "Rend." Indeed, the heart cannot stand out
against them, if it once feel them. Beat thy soul upon the
gospel: if any way under heaven can break it, this is the way.
Thirdly, the heart is broken by the skill of the minister
in the handling of these two, the law and the gospel: God
furnishes him with skill to press the law home, and gives him
understanding how to put the gospel, and by this means doth God
break the heart: for, alas, though the law be never so good a
hammer, and although the gospel be never so fit an anvil, yet if
the minister lay not the soul upon it the heart will not break:
he must fetch a full stroke with the law, and he must set the
full power of the gospel at the back of the soul, or else the
heart will not break.
He healeth the broken in heart. Hence observe, that Christ
justifies and sanctifies; for that is the meaning.
1. First, because God hath gives Christ grace to practise
for the sake of the broken in, heart; and therefore if this
be his grace, to heal the broken hearted, certainly he will heal
them. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me", etc.
"He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted", etc.: Lu
4:18. If he be created master of this art, even for this
purpose, to heal the broken in heart, he will verily heal them,
and none but them. It is not like Hosander and Hippocrates,
whose father appointed them both to be physicians; he appointed
his son Hippocrates to be a physician of horses, yet he proved a
physician for men; he appointed Hosander to be a physician for
men, and he proved a physical for horses. Jesus is not like
these; no, no; he will heal those whom he was appointed to heal.
2. Because Christ hath undertaken to do it. When a
skilful Physician hath undertaken a cure, he will surely do it:
indeed, sometimes a good physician may fail, as Trajan's
physician did, for he died under his hands; on whose tomb this
was written, "Here lies Trajan the emperor, that may thank
his physician that be died." But if Christ undertake it,
thou mayest be sure of it; for he tells thee that art broken in
heart that he hath undertaken it, he hath felt thy pulse
already. Isa 57:15. He doth not only undertake it, but he saith
he will go visit his sick patient, he will come to thy
bedside, yea, he will come and dwell with thee all the time of
thy sickness; thou shalt never want anything, but he will be
ready to help thee: thou needest not complain and say, "Oh,
the physician is too far off, he will not come at me." I
dwell in the high places indeed, saith God, but yet I will come
and dwell with thee that art of an humble spirit. Thou needest
not fear, saying, "Will a man cure his enemies? I have been
an enemy to God's glory, and will he yet cure me?" Yea,
saith Christ, if thou be broken in heart I will bind thee
up.
3. Thirdly, because this is Christ's charge, and he
will look to his own calling: "The Lord hath sent me to
bind up the broken hearted" (Isa 61:1) ...Neither needest
thou fear thine own poverty, because thou hast not a fee to give
him; for thou mayest come to him by way of begging; he will look
to thee for nothing; for, "To him will I look that is
poor", etc.: Isa 66:2.
4. Fourthly, none but the broken in heart will take physic
of Christ. Now this is a physician's desire, that his
patient would cast himself upon him; if he will not, the
physician hath no desire to meddle with him. Now none but the
broken in heart will take such physic as Christ gives, and
therefore he saith, "To him will I look that is of a broken
heart, and trembles at any words": Isa 56:2. When I bid him
take such a purge, saith God, he trembles, and he takes it.—William
Fenner, in a Sermon entitled, "The Sovereign Virtue of the
Gospel," 1647.
Verse 3.
O Thou who dry'st the mourner's tear,
How dark this world would be,
If, when deceived and wounded here,
We could not fly to Thee!
The friends, who in our sunshine live,
When winter comes are flown;
And he who has but tears to give
Must weep those tears alone.
But Thou wilt heal that broken heart,
Which, like the plants that throw
Their fragrance from the wounded part,
Breathes sweetness out of woe.
When joy no longer soothes or cheers,
And e'en the hope that threw
A moment's sparkle o'er our tears
Is dimmed and vanished too;
Oh! who would bear life's stormy doom,
Did not Thy wing of love
Come, brightly wafting through the gloom
Our peace branch from above?
Then sorrow, touched by Thee, grows bright
With more than rapture's ray;
As darkness shows us worlds of light
We never saw by day!—Thomas Moore, 1779-1852.
Verse 3. He healeth the broken in heart. The
broken in heart is one whose heart is affected with the evil of
sin, and weeps bitter tears on account of it; one who feels
sorrow, shame, and anguish, on the review of his past sinful
life, and his base rebellion against a righteous God. Such a one
has a broken heart. His heart is broken at the sight of his own
ingratitude—the despite done by him to the strivings of the
Holy Spirit. His heart is broken when he considers the
numberless invitations made to him in the Scriptures, all of
which he has wickedly slighted and despised. His heart is broken
at the recollection of a thousand kind providences to him and to
his family, by day and by night, all sent by God, and intended
for his moral, spiritual, and eternal benefit, but by him basely
and wantonly abused. His heart is broken at the consideration of
the love and compassion of the adorable Redeemer; the
humiliation of his birth; the devotedness of his life; the
reproach, the indignity of his sufferings; the ignominy and
anguish of his death. His heart is broken when his conscience
assures him that all this humiliation, this suffering, this
death, was for him, who had so deliberately and repeatedly
refused the grace which the blood and righteousness of Christ
has purchased. It is the sight of Calvary that fills him with
anguish of spirit, that overwhelms him with confusion and self
abasement. While he contemplates the amazing scene, he stands,
he weeps, he prays, he smites upon his breast, he
exclaims", God be merciful to me a sinner!" And adds,
"O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death?"
The broken in heart must further be understood as one who
seeks help from God alone, and will not be comforted till he
speaks peace to his soul. The act of God, in the scripture
before us, is the moral and spiritual health of man—of man,
who had brought disease on himself—of man, by his own
rebellion against his Creator of man, who had, in ten thousand
ways, provoked the justice of heaven, and deserved only
indignation and eternal wrath—the health of man, whom, in an
instant, he could hurl to utter destruction. The saving health
here proposed is the removal of all guilt, however contracted,
and of all pollution, however rooted. It is the communication of
God's favour, the riches of his grace, the implantation of his
righteousness. To effect the healing of the broken heart, God
has, moreover, appointed a Physician, whose skill is infallible,
whose goodness and care are equal to his skill. That Physician
is none other than the Son of God. In that character has he been
made known to us. "They that be whole need not a physician,
but they that be sick." The prophet Isaiah introduces his
advent in the most sublime language: "He hath sent me to
bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."
The health, the moral and spiritual soundness of the soul, my
brethren, is derived from the atoning sacrifice of Christ. The
grace of God flows to the broken in heart through his manhood,
his godhead, his righteousness, his truth; through his patience,
his humility, his death and passion; through his victory over
sin, his resurrection, and ascension into heaven. Here, thou
broken in heart, thou sorrowing, watching penitent; here is the
medicine, here the Physician, here the cure, here the health
thou art seeking. The healing of the broken in heart must be
further understood as effected through the agency of the Holy
Spirit. It is done by the Spirit of God, that it may be done,
and that it may be well done; and that all the praise, the glory
of that which is done, may be ascribed to the plenitude, the
freeness, the sovereignty of his grace. The Spirit of God,
however, uses means. The means of grace are appointed expressly
for this purpose; the blessing of health is there applied.
There, under the sound of the everlasting gospel, while looking
by faith to Christ, and appropriating his merits, he healeth the
broken in heart. There, while commemorating the dying love of
Christ, and applying its benefits by faith to the soul, he
healeth the broken in heart. There, while the soul, sensible of
his goodness, is offering up the song of praise, and trusting
alone in his mercy, he healeth the broken in heart. There, while
prostrate at his footstool, supplicating his grace, resting on
his finished redemption, he healeth the broken in heart. In the
private acts of devotion the Spirit of God also is near to bless
and save. There, while reading and believing his holy Word,
while meditating on its meaning; there, while in secret, solemn
prayer, the soul takes hold on God in Christ Jesus; he healeth
the broken in heart.—Condensed from a Sermon by Thomas
Blackley, 1826.
Verse 3. He healeth the broken in, heart. I do
indeed most sincerely sympathise with you in this fresh sorrow.
"Thy breaking waves pass over me." The trial, so much
the heavier that it is not the first breaking in, but the waters
continuing still, and continuing to rise, until deep calleth
unto deep at the noise of God's water spouts, "Yea, and thy
billows all." In such circumstances, we are greatly tempted
to wonder if it be true, of the Holy One in the midst of us,
that a bruised reed he will not break, that the smoking flax he
will not quench. We may not, however, doubt it, nor even in the
day of our grief and our desperate sorrow, are we at liberty to
call it in question. Our God is the God of the broken heart. The
deeper such a heart is smitten, and the more it bleeds, the more
precious it is in his sight, the nearer he draws to it, the
longer he stays there. "I dwell with him who is of a
contrite heart." The more abundantly will he manifest the
kindness and the glory of his power, in tenderly carrying it in
his bosom, and at last binding up its painful wounds. "He
healeth the broken in heart." "O, thou afflicted,
tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy
stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with
sapphires." Weeping Naomi said, "Call me Marah, for
the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with me." Afterwards,
happy Naomi took the child of her own Ruth, and laid it in her
bosom, and sweetly found that the days of her mourning were
ended. My dear friend, this new gash of deep sorrow was prepared
for you by the Ancient of Days. His Son—and that Son is
love—watched over the counsels of old, to keep and to perform
them to the minutest circumstance.—John Jameson, 1838.
Verse 4. He telleth the number of the stars,
etc. In which similitude he showeth, that albeit Abraham could
not comprehend the multitude of the children, either of his
faith or of his flesh, more than he could count the number of
the stars; yet the Lord knoweth every believer by name, as he
knoweth every star and can call every one by its name.—David
Dickson.
Verse 4. He telleth the number of the stars,
etc. Among the heathen every constellation represented some god.
But the Scriptures show Jehovah, not as one of many starry gods,
but as the one God of all the stars. He is, too, as he taught
his people by Abraham, the God of a firmament of nobler stars.
His people are scattered and trodden as the sands of the
sea-shore. But he turns dust and dirt to stars of glory. He will
make of every saint a star, and Heaven is his people's sky,
where broken hearted sufferers of earth are glorified into
glittering galaxies.—Hermann Venema.
Verse 4. He calleth them all by their names.
Literally, "calleth names to all of them", an
expression marking not only God's power in marshalling them all
as a host (Isa 40:26), but also the most intimate knowledge and
watchful care, as that of a shepherd for his flock. Joh 10:3.—J.J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verse 4. He calleth them all by their names.
They render a due obedience to him, as servants to their master.
When he singles them out and calls them by name to do some
official service, he calls them out to their several offices, as
the general of an army appoints the station of every regiment in
a battalion; or, "he calls them by name", i.e.
he imposes names upon them, a sign of dominion, the giving names
to the inferior creatures being the first act of Adam's
derivative dominion over them. These are under the sovereignty
of God. The stars by their influences fight against Sisera (Jud
5:20); and the sun holds in its reins, and stands stone still to
light Joshua to a complete victory: Jos 10:12. They are all
marshalled in their ranks to receive his word of command, and
fight in close order, as being desirous to have a share in the
ruin of the enemies of their sovereign.—Stephen Charnock.
Verse 4. The immense distance at which the nearest
stars are known to be placed, proves that they are bodies of a
prodigious size, not inferior to our own sun, and that they
shine, not, by reflected rays, but by their own native light.
But bodies encircled with such refulgent splendour, would be of
little use in Jehovah's empire, unless surrounding worlds were
cheered by their benign influence, and enlightened by their
beams. Every star is therefore concluded to be a sun surrounded
by planetary globes. Nearly a thousand of these luminaries may
be seen in a clear winter's night by the naked eye. But these do
not form the eighty-thousandth part of what may be descried by
the help of telescopes. While Dr. Herschel was exploring the
most crowded part of the milky way, in one quarter of an hour's
time no less than 116,000 stars passed through the field of view
of his telescope. It has been computed, that nearly one hundred
millions of stars might be perceived by our most perfect
instruments, if all the regions of the sky were thoroughly
explored. But immeasurable regions of space lie beyond the
utmost boundaries of human vision, even thus assisted, into
which imagination itself can scarcely penetrate, but which are
doubtless filled with operations of divine wisdom and divine
omnipotence.—Thomas Dick, in "The Christian
Philosopher."
Verse 5. His understanding is infinite. Hebrew:
"Of his understanding there is no number." God
is incomprehensible. In place; in time; in understanding;
in love. First, in place; because no place, no
space, can be imagined so great, but God exceeds it, and may be
found beyond it. Secondly, in time; because he exceeds
all time: for be was before all time that can be conceived, and
shall be after all lime. Time is a created thing, to attend upon
the creation and continuance of all things created and continued
by God. Thirdly, in understanding; because no created
understanding can comprehend him so that nothing of God may be
hid from it. Fourthly, in love because God doth exceed
all love: no creature can love God according to his worth. All
these ways of incomprehensibleness follow upon his
infiniteness.—Thomas Larkham, in "The Attributes of
God Unfolded, and Applied," 1656.
Verse 5. His understanding is infinite. The
Divine wisdom is said to be "without number";
that is, the objects of which this wisdom of God can take
cognisance are innumerable.—Simon de Muis.
Verse 5. In this verse we have three of God's
attributes, his greatness, his power, and his knowledge; and
though only the last of these be expressly said to be infinite,
yet is the same implied also of the two former; for all the
perfections of God being essential to him, must need be infinite
as he himself is; and therefore what is affirmed of one must, by
a parity of reason, be extended to the rest.—John Conant,
1608-1693.
Verse 6. The Lord lifteth up the meek, etc. The
meek need not envy the lofty who sweep the earth with their gay
robes, any more than real royalty is jealous of the kingly hero
who struts his hour upon the stage. They shall be princes and
rulers long after these actors have laid aside their tinselled
crowns. How wonderful shall be the reversal when God shall place
the last first and the first last! Moralists have often pointed
us to the ruler of a hundred broad kingdoms lying down at last
in six feet of imprisoning clay; but God shall show us the
wayside cottager lifted into the inheritance of the universe.—Evangelical
Magazine.
Verses 7-9. God creates, and then fails not to supply.
Analogically, the Lord buildeth Jerusalem, and provides for the
wants of the inhabitants; by spiritual inference, the saints
argue that Christ establishes his church and gives all the
gracious gifts which are needed in that institution.—John
Lorinus.
Verses 8-9. Mountains . . . ravens. Wonderful
Providence which takes cognisance of the mountainous and the
minute alike. The All Provider descends from august and sublime
heights to save the meanest creature from starvation—extending
constant care to the wants of even those abject little objects,
the young ravens, Heb. "the sons of the raven."—Martin
Geier.
Verse 8. Clouds...rain...grass. There is a
mutual dependence and subordination between all second causes.
The creatures are serviceable to one another by mutual
ministries and supplies; the earth is cherished by the heat of
the heavens, moistened by the water, and by the temperament of
both made fruitful; and so sendeth forth innumerable plants for
the comfort and use of living creatures, and living creatures
are for the supply of man. It is wonderful to consider the
subordination of all causes, and the proportion they bear to one
another. The heavens work upon the elements, the elements upon
the earth, and the earth yieldeth fruits for the use of man. The
prophet taketh notice of this admirable gradation: "I will
hear the heavens, and the heavens shall hear the earth; and the
earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and the
corn, and the wine, and the oil, shall hear Jezreel" (Ho
2:21-22). We look to the fields for the supplies of corn, wine,
and oil; but they can do nothing without clouds, and the clouds
can do nothing without God. The creatures are beholden to one
another, and all to God. In the order of the world there is an
excellent chain of causes, by which all things hang together,
that so they may lead up the soul to the Lord.—Thomas
Manton.
Verse 8. Who prepareth rain? The rain cloud
parts with its contents only when God commands it, and as he
commands, whether in the soft gentle shower or in the drenching
downpour that floods the fields and obstructs the labours of the
husbandman.—Thomas Robinson, in "Homiletical
Commentary on the Book of Job," 1876.
Verse 8. Who maketh grass to grow upon the
mountains. The wild grasses are taken, as it were, under the
special providence of God. In the perennial verdure in regions
above the zone of man's cultivation, we have a perpetual proof
of God's care of the lower animals that neither sow nor reap.
The mountain grasses grow spontaneously; they require no culture
but such as the rain and the sunshine of heaven supply. They
obtain their nourishment directly from the inorganic soil, and
are independent of organic materials. Nowhere is the grass so
green and vigorous as on the beautiful slopes of lawn like
pasture high up in the Alps, radiant with the glory of wild
flowers, and ever musical with the hum of grasshoppers, and the
tinkling of cattle bells. Innumerable cows and goats browse upon
them; the peasants spend their summer months in making cheese
and hay from them for winter consumption in the valleys. This
exhausting system of husbandry has been carried on during untold
centuries; no one thinks of manuring the Alpine pastures; and
yet no deficiency has been observed in their fertility, though
the soil is but a thin covering spread over the naked rocks. It
may be regarded as a part of the same wise and gracious
arrangement of Providence, that the insects which devour the
grasses on the Kuh and Schaf Alpen, the pastures
of the cows and sheep, are kept in check by a predominance of
carnivorous insects. In all the mountain meadows it has been
ascertained that the species of carnivorous are at least four
times as numerous as the species of herb eating insects. Thus,
in the absence of birds, which are rare in Switzerland, the
pastures are preserved from a terrible scourge. To one not aware
of this check, it may seem surprising how the verdure of the
Alpine pastures should be so rich and luxuriant considering the
immense development of insect life. The grass, whenever the sun
shines, is literally covered with them—butterflies of gayest
hues, and beetles of brightest iridescence; and the air is
filled with their loud murmurs. I remember well the vivid
feeling of God's gracious providence, which possessed me when
passing over the beautiful Wengern Alp at the foot of the
Jungfrau, and seeing, wherever I rested on the green turf, alive
with its tiny inhabitants, the balance of nature so wonderfully
preserved between the herb which is for man's food and the moth
before which he is crushed. Were the herbivorous insects allowed
to multiply to their full extent, in such favourable
circumstances as the warmth of the air and the verdure of the
earth in Switzerland produce, the rich pastures which now yield
abundant food for upwards of a million and a half of cattle
would speedily become bare and leafless deserts. Not only in
their power of growing without cultivation, but also in the
peculiarities of their structure, the mountain grasses proclaim
the hand of God. Many of them are viviparous. Instead of
producing flowers and seed, as the grasses in the tranquil
valleys do, the young plants spring from them perfectly formed.
They cling round the stem and form a kind of blossom. In this
state they remain until the parent stalk withers and falls
prostrate on the ground, when they immediately strike root and
form independent grasses. This is a remarkable adaptation to
circumstances; for it is manifest that were seeds instead of
living plants developed in the ears of the mountain grasses,
they would be useless in the stormy regions where they grow.
They would be blown away far from the places they were intended
to clothe, to spots foreign to their nature and habits, and thus
the species would speedily perish. The more we think of it, the
more we are struck with the wise foresight which suggested the
creative fiat, "Let the earth bring forth grass." It
is the most abundant and the most generally diffuse of all
vegetation. It suits almost every soil and climate.—Hugh
Macmillan, in "Bible Teachings in Nature," 1868.
Verses 8-9. The Hebrews had no notion of what we
denominate "secondary laws", but believed that God
acted directly upon matter, and was the immediate, efficient
cause of the solemn order, and the varied and wonderful
phenomena of nature. Dispensing thus with the whole machinery of
cause and effect, as we employ those terms in philosophical
language, their minds were brought into immediate contact with
God in his manifold works, and this gave, both to devotion and
the spirit of poetry, the liveliest inspiration and the freest
scope of action. Heaven and earth were governed by his commands;
the thunder was his "voice", the lightning his
"arrows." It is he who "causeth the vapour to
ascend from the ends of the earth." When the famished city
should call upon the corn, the wine, and the oil, and those
should call upon the earth for nourishment, and the parched
earth should call upon the heavens for moisture, and the heavens
should call upon the Lord for permission to refresh the earth,
then Jehovah would hear and supply. He gave the rain, and he
sent the drought and famine. The clouds were not looked upon
merely as sustained by a law of specific gravity, but God spread
them out in the sky; these clouds were God's chariot. The
curtains of his pavilion, the dust of his feet. Snow and hail
were fearful manifestations of God, often sent as the messengers
of his wrath.—G. Hubbard, in "Bate's Encylopeaedia,"
1865.
Verses 8-9. God by his special providence prepares food
for those who have no other care taken for them. Beasts
that live among men are by men taken care of; they enrich the
ground with manure and till the ground; and that brings forth
corn for the use of these cattle as well as men. But the wild
beasts that live upon the mountains, and in the woods
and desert places, are fed only from the heavens: the rain
that from thence distils enriches those dry hills and maketh
grass to grow there, which else would not, and so God giveth
to these wild beasts their food after the same manner of
Divine Providence as in the end of the verse he is said to
provide for the young ravens.—Henry Hammond.
Verse 9. The young ravens cry. The strange
stories told by Jewish and Arabian writers, on the raven's
cruelty to its young, in driving them out of their nests before
they are quite able to provide for themselves, are entirely
without foundation, as no bird is more careful of its young ones
than the raven. To its habit of flying restlessly about in
search of food to satisfy its own appetite and that of its young
ones, may perhaps be traced the reason of its being selected by
the sacred writers as an especial object of God's protecting
care.—W. Houghton, in "The Bible Educator."
Verse 9. The young ravens cry. While still
unfledged the young ravens have a strange habit of falling out
of their nests, and flapping their wings heavily to the ground.
Next morning they are found by the shepherds sitting croaking on
the ground beneath their former homes, and are then captured and
taken away with comparative ease.—J.G. Wood, in "The
Illustrated Natural History," 1869.
Verse 9. The young ravens cry. The evening
proceedings and manoeuvres of the rooks are curious and amusing
in the autumn. Just before dusk they return in long strings from
the foraging of the day, and rendezvous by thousands over
Selbourne down, where they wheel round in the air, and sport and
dive in a playful manner, all the while exerting their voices,
and making a loud cawing, which, being blended and softened by
the distance that we at the village are below them, becomes a
confused noise or chiding; or rather a pleasing murmur, very
engaging to the imagination, and not unlike the cry of a pack of
hounds in hollow, echoing woods, or the rushing of the wind in
tall trees, or the tumbling of the tide upon a pebbly shore.
When this ceremony is over, with the last gleam of day, they
retire for the night to the deep beechen woods of Tisted and
Ropley. We remember a little girl, who, as she was going to bed,
use to remark on such all occurrence, in the true spirit of
physico-theology, that the rooks were saying their prayers, and
yet this child was much too young to be aware that the
Scriptures had said of the Deity that He feedeth the ravens
that call upon him.—Gilbert White (1720-1793), in
"The Natural History of Selborne."
Verse 9.
Behold, and look away your low despair;
See the light tenants of the barren air:
To them, nor stores, nor granaries belong,
Nought but the woodlands and the pleasing song;
Yet, your kind heavenly Father bends his eye
On the least wing that flits along the sky.
To him they sing when Spring renews the plain;
To him they cry in Winter's pinching reign;
Nor is the music, nor their plaint, in vain.
He hears the gay, and the distressful call,
And with unsparing bounty fills them all.
Will he not care for you, ye faithless, say?
Is he Unwise? Or, are ye less than they?
—James Thomson, 1700-1748.
Verse 9. It is related of Edward Taylor, the sailor
preacher of Boston, that on the Sunday before he was to sail for
Europe, he was entreating the Lord to care well for his church
during his absence. All at once he stopped, and ejaculated,
"What have I done? Distrust the Providence of heaven! A God
that gives a whale a ton of herrings for a breakfast, will he
not care for my children?" and then went on, closing his
prayer in a more confiding manner.—From "Eccentric
Preachers," by C.H.S.
Verse 10. The two clauses of this verse are probably
intended to describe cavalry and infantry, as
forming the military strength of nations. It is not to those who
trust in such resources that Jehovah shows favour, but to those
who rely on his protection (Ps 147:11).—Annotated Paragraph
Bible.
Verses 10-11. When a sinner is brought upon his knees,
and becomes a suppliant, when as he is laid low by affliction,
so he lieth low in prayer and supplication, then the Lord will
be favourable to him, and show his delight in him. The Lord
delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not
pleasure in the legs of a man. No man is favoured by God
because of his outward favour, because he hath a beautiful face,
or strong, clean limbs; yea, not only hath the Lord no pleasure
in any man's legs, but not in any man's brains, how reaching
soever, not in any man's wit how quick soever, nor in any man's
judgment how deep soever, nor in any man's tongue how eloquent
or well spoken soever; but The Lord taketh pleasure in them
that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy, in those
that walk humbly with him, and call upon him...All the beauties
and rarities both of persons and things are dull and flat, yea,
wearisome and loathsome to God, in comparison of a gracious,
honest, humble soul. Princes have their favourites (Job 33:26);
they are favourable to some above many, either because they are
beautiful and goodly persons, or because they are men of
excellent speech, prudence and deportment. All godly men are
God's favourites; he is favourable to them not only above many
men in the world, but above all the men of this world, who have
their portion in this life; and he therefore favours them,
because they are the purchase of his Son and the workmanship of
his Spirit, convincing them of, and humbling them for, their
sins, as also creating them after God in righteousness and true
holiness. Such shall be his favourites.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse 11. Them that fear him, those that hope in
his mercy. Patience and fear are the fences of hope. There
is a beautiful relation between hope and fear. The two are
linked in this verse. They are like the cork in a fisherman's
net, which keeps it from sinking, and the lead, which prevents
it from floating. Hope without fear is in danger of being too
sanguine; fear without hope would soon become desponding.—George
Seaton Bowes, in "In Prospect of Sunday"; 1880.
Verse 11. Them that fear him, those that hope in
his mercy. A sincere Christian is known by both these; a
fear of God, or a constant obedience to his commands, and an
affiance, trust, and dependence upon his mercies. Oh, how
sweetly are both these coupled, a uniform sincere obedience to
him, and an unshaken constant reliance on his mercy and
goodness! The whole perfection of the Christian life is
comprised in these two—believing God and fearing him, trusting
in his mercy and fearing his name; the one maketh us careful in
avoiding sin, the other diligent to follow after righteousness;
the one is a bridle from sin and temptations, the other a spur
to our duties. Fear is our curb, and hope our motive and
encouragement; the one respects our duty, and the other our
comfort; the one allayeth the other. God is so to be feared, as
also to be trusted; so to be trusted, as also to be feared; and
as we must not suffer our fear to degenerate into legal bondage,
but hope in his mercy, so our trust must not degenerate into
carnal sloth and wantonness, but so hope in his word as to fear
his name. Well, then, such as both believe in God and fear to
offend him are the only men who are acceptable to God and his
people. God will take pleasure in them, and they take pleasure
in one another.—Thomas Manton.
Verse 11. Fear and Hope are the great vincula
of Old Testament theology, bracketing and including in their
meaning all its ideas.—Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse 11. Fear and hope are passions of
the mind so contrary the one to the other, that with regard to
the same object, it is strange they should meet in the same
laudable character; yet here we see they do so, and it is the
praise of the same persons, that they both fear God, and hope in
him. Whence we may gather this doctrine: That in every concern
that lies upon our hearts, we should still endeavour to keep the
balance even between hope and fear. We know how much the health
of the body depends upon a due temperament of the humours, such
as preserves any one from being predominant above the rest; and
how much the safety and peace of the nations result from a due
balance of trade and power, that no one grow too great for its
neighbours; and so necessary is it to the health and welfare of
our souls, that there be a due proportion maintained between
their powers and passions, and that the one may always be a
check upon the other, to keep it from running into extremes; as
in these affections mentioned in the text. A holy fear of God
must be a check upon our hope, to keep that from swelling into
presumption; and a pious hope in God must be a check upon our
fear, to keep that from sinking into despondency. This balance
must, I say, by a wise and steady hand, be kept even in every
concern that lies upon our hearts, and that we have thoughts
about. I shall enumerate those that are of the greatest
importance. We must keep up both hope and fear. 1. As to the
concerns of our souls, and our spiritual and eternal state. 2.
As to our outward concerns, relating to the body and the life
that now is. 3. As to the public concerns of the church of God,
and our own land and nation. In reference to each of these, we
must always study and strive to support that affection, whether
it be hope or fear, which the present temper of our minds and
circumstances of our case make necessary to preserve us from an
extreme.—Matthew Henry.
Verse 12. That all Creation must involuntarily praise
the Lord, and that the primary duty of conscious intelligence is
the willing praise of the same Deity, are the two axioms
of the Psalmist's theology. He has in the first part of this
Psalm been stating the first, and now he is about to announce
the second.—Martin Geier.
Verse 13. He hath strengthened the bars of thy
gates. Blessed is the city whose gates God barreth up with
his power, and openeth again with his mercy. There is nothing
can defend where his justice will strike; and there is nothing
can offend where his goodness will preserve.—Thomas Adams.
Verses 13-14. The Psalmist recites four arguments from
which he would have Zion sing praises: 1. Security and defence.
2. Benediction. 3. Peace. 4. Sustenance or provision.
1. Security. Jerusalem is a city secure, being
defended by God: For he hath strengthened the bars of thy
gates. Gates and bars do well to a city, but then only is
the city secure when God makes them strong. The true munition of
a city is God's defence of it. Arms, laws, wealth, etc., are the
bars, but God must put strength into them.
2. Benediction. Jerusalem is a happy city, for he
hath blessed thy children, within, thee, thy kings, princes,
magistrates, etc., with wisdom, piety, etc.
3. Peace. Jerusalem is a peaceable city. He maketh
peace in thy borders, the very name intimates so much; for
Jerusalem interpreted is visio pacis—Vision of peace.
4. Abundance. Jerusalem is a city provided by God with
necessary food and provision; for He filleth thee with the
finest of the wheat.—William Nicholson.
Verse 14. He maketh peace in thy borders, etc.
There is a political peace—peace in city and country; this is
the fairest flower of a Prince's crown; peace is the best
blessing of a nation. It is well with bees when there is a
noise; but it is best with Christians when, as in the building
of the Temple, there is no noise of hammer heard. Peace brings
plenty along with it; how many miles would some go on pilgrimage
to purchase this peace! Therefore the Greeks made Peace to be
the nurse of Pluto, the God of wealth. Political plants thrive
best in the sunshine of peace. "He maketh peace in thy
borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat."
The ancients made the harp the emblem of peace: how sweet would
the sounding of this harp be after the roaring of the cannon!
All should study to promote this political peace. The godly man,
when he dies, "enters into peace" (Isa 57:2); but
while he lives, peace must enter into him.—Thomas Watson.
Verse 14. He maketh peace. The Hebrews observe
that all the letters in the name of God are literae
quiescentes, letters of rest. God only is the centre where
the soul may find rest: God only can speak peace to the
conscience.—John Stoughton, —1639.
Verse 14. Finest of the wheat. If men give much
it is in cheap and coarse commodity. Quantity and quality are
only possible with human production in in verse ratio;
but the Lord gives the most and best of all
supplies to his pensioners. How truly the believer under the
gospel knows the inner spirit of the meaning here! The Lord
Jesus Christ says, "My peace I give unto you." And
when he sets us at rest and all is reconciliation and peace,
then he feeds us with himself—his body, the finest
wheat, and his blood, the richest wine.—Johannes Paulus
Palanterius.
Verse 15. His word runneth very swiftly. There
is not a moment between the shooting out of the arrow and the
fastening of it in the mark; both are done in the very same atom
and point of time. Therefore we read in the Scripture of the
immediate effects of the word of Christ. Saith he to the leprous
man; "Be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed": Mt 8:3. And to the blind man, "Go thy way;
thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his
sight"; Mr 10:52. No arrow makes so immediate an impression
in the mark aimed at as the arrow of Christ's word. No sooner
doth Christ say to the soul, Be enlightened, be quickened, be
comforted, but the work is done.—Ralph Robinson.
Verse 16. He giveth snow like wool. There are
three things considerable in snow, for which it is compared to
wool. First, for the whiteness of it. Snow is white as
wool; snow is so exceeding white that the whiteness of a soul
cleansed by pardoning grace, in the blood of Christ, is likened
unto it (Isa 1:18); and the latter part of the same verse
intimates that the whiteness of snow bears resemblance to that
of wool. The whiteness of snow is caused by the abundance of air
and spirits that are in that pellucid body, as the naturalists
speak. Any thing that is of a watery substance, being frozen or
much wrought upon by cold, appears more white; and hence it is
that all persons inhabiting cold climates or countries, are of a
whiter complexion than they who inhabit hot. Secondly, snow is
like wool for softness, 'tis pliable to the hand as a
lock or fleece of wool. Thirdly, snow is like wool (which may
seem strange) with respect to the warmness of it. Though
snow be cold in itself, yet it is to the earth as wool, or as a
woollen cloth or blanket that keeps the body warm. Snow is not
warm formally, yet it is warm effectively and virtually; and
therefore is it compared to wool.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse 16. Like wool. Namely, curled and tufted,
and as white as the snow in those countries. Isa 1:18 Re
1:14.—John Diodati.
Verse 16. Snow like wool. The ancients used to
call snow eriwdez udwr,
woolly water (Eustathius, in Dionys. Perieget. p. 91).
Martial gives it the name of densum vellus aquarum, a thick
fleece of waters (Epigram. l. iv. Ep. 3). Aristophanes calls
clouds, "flying fleeces of wool" (Nubes, p.
146). Pliny calls it the forth of the celestial waters
(Nat. His. lib. xvii. cap. 2).—Samuel Burder.
Verse 16. He giveth snow like wool. In
Palestine snow is not the characteristic feature of winter as it
is in northern latitudes. It is merely an occasional phenomenon.
Showers of it fall now and then in severer seasons on the
loftier parts of the land, and whiten for a day or two the
vineyards and cornfields: but it melts from the green earth as
rapidly as its sister vapours vanish from the blue sky...But the
Psalmist seized the occasional snow, as he seized the fleeting
vapour, and made it a text of his spiritual meditations. Let us
follow his example. "He giveth snow like wool", says
the Psalmist. This comparison expressly indicates one of the
most important purposes which the snow serves in the economy of
nature. It covers the earth like a blanket during that period of
winter sleep which is necessary to recruit its exhausted
energies, and prepare it for fresh efforts in the spring; and
being, like wool, a bad conductor, it conserves the latent heat
of the soil, and protects the dormant life of plant and animal
hid under it from the frosty rigour of the outside air. Winter
sown wheat, when defended by this covering, whose under surface
seldom falls much below 32 Fahr., can thrive even though the
temperature of the air above may be many degrees below the
freezing point. Our country, enjoying an equable climate, seldom
requires this protection; but in northern climates, where the
winter is severe and prolonged, its beneficial effects are most
marked. The scanty vegetation which blooms with such sudden and
marvellous loveliness in the height of summer, in the Arctic
regions and on mountain summits, would perish utterly were it
not for the protection of the snow that lies on it for three
quarters of a year.
But it is not only to Alpine plants and hibernating animals
that God gives snow like wool. The Eskimo take advantage of its
curious protective property, and ingeniously build their winter
huts of blocks of hardened snow; thus, strangely enough, by a
homoeopathic law, protecting themselves against cold by the
effects of cold. The Arctic navigator has been often indebted to
walls of snow banked up around his ship for the comparative
comfort of his winter quarters, when the temperature without has
fallen so low that even chloric ether became solid. And many a
precious life has been saved by the timely shelter which the
snow storm itself has provided against its own violence. But
while snow thus warms in cold regions, it also cools in warm
regions. It sends down from the white summits of equatorial
mountains its cool breath to revive and brace the drooping life
of lands sweltering under a tropic sun; and from its lofty
inexhaustible reservoirs it feeds perennial rivers that water
the plains when all the wells and streams are white and silent
in the baking heat. Without the perpetual snow of mountain
regions the earth would be reduced to a lifeless desert.
And not only does the Alpine snow thus keep always full
rivers that water the plains, but, by its grinding force as it
presses down the mountains, it removes particles from the rocks,
which are carried off by the rivers and spread over the plains.
Such is the origin of a large part of the level land of Europe.
It has been formed out of the ruins of the mountains by the
action of snow. It was by the snow of far off ages that our
valleys and lake basins were scooped out, the form of our
landscapes sculptured and rounded, and the soil formed in which
we grow our harvests. Who would think of such a connection? And
yet it is true! Just as each season we owe the bloom and
brightness of our summer fields to the gloom and blight of
winter, so do we owe the present summer beauty of the world to
the great secular winter of the glacial period. And does not God
bring about results as striking by agencies apparently as
contradictory in the human world? He who warms the tender latent
life of the flowers by the snow, and moulds the quiet beauty of
the summer landscape by the desolating glacier, makes the cold
of adversity to cherish the life of the soul, and to round into
spiritual loveliness the harshness and roughness of a carnal,
selfish nature. Many a profitable Christian life owes its
fairness and fruitfulness to causes which wrecked and wasted it
for a time. God giveth snow like wool; and chill and blighting
as is the touch of sorrow, it has a protective influence which
guards against greater evils; it sculptures the spiritual
landscape within into forms of beauty and grace, and deepens and
fertilizes the soil of the heart, so that in it may grow from
God's own planting the peaceable fruits of righteousness.
And now let us look at the Giver of the snow. "He
giveth snow like wool." "The snowflake", as
Professor Tyndall strikingly says, "leads back to the
sun"—so intimately related are all things to each other
in this wonderful universe. It leads further and higher
still—even to him who is our sun and shield, the light and
heat of all creation. The whole vast realm of winter, with its
strange phenomena, is but the breath of God—the Creative
Word—as it were, congealed against the blue transparency of
space, like the marvellous frost work on a window pane. The
Psalmist had not the shadow of a doubt that God formed and sent
the annual miracle of snow, as he had formed and sent the daily
miracle of manna in the desert. It was a common place thing; it
was a natural, ordinary occurrence; but it had the Divine sign
upon it, and it showed forth the glory and goodness of God as
strikingly as the most wonderful supernatural event in his
nation's history. When God would impress Job with a sense of his
power, it was not to some of his miraculous, but to some of his
ordinary works that he appealed. And when the Psalmist would
praise God for the preservation of Israel and the restoration of
Jerusalem—as he does in the Psalm from which my subject is
taken—it is not to the wonderful miraculous events with which
the history of Israel abounded that he directs attention, but to
the common events of Providence and the ordinary appearances and
processes of nature. He cannot think enough of the Omnipotent
Creator and Ruler of the Universe entering into familiar
relations with his people, and condescending to their humblest
wants. It is the same God that "giveth snow like
wool", who "shows his word unto Jacob, and his
statutes and commandments unto Israel." And the wonder of
the peculiarity is enhanced by thoughts borrowed from the
wonders of nature. We know a thousand times more of the nature,
formation, and purpose of the snow than the Psalmist did. But
that knowledge is dearly earned if our science destroys our
faith. What amount of precision of scientific knowledge can
compensate us for the loss of the spiritual sensibility, which
in all the wonders and beauties of the Creation brings us into
personal contact with an infinitely wise mind and an infinitely
loving heart?—Hugh Macmillan, in "Two Worlds are
Ours," 1880.
Verse 16. Snow. It is worth pausing to think
what wonderful work is going on in the atmosphere during the
formation and descent of every snow shower; what building power
is brought into play; and how imperfect seem the productions of
human minds and hands when compared with those formed by the
blind forces of nature. But who ventures to call the forces of
nature blind? In reality, when we speak thus, we are describing
our own condition. The blindness is ours; and what we really
ought to say, and to confess, is that our powers are absolutely
unable to comprehend either the origin or the end of the
operations of nature.—John Tyndall, in "The Forms of
Water," 1872.
Verses 16-17. The Lord takes the ice and frost and
cold to be his; it is not only his sun, but his ice,
and his frost: "he scattereth his hoar frost
like ashes." The frost is compared to ashes in a threefold
respect. First, because the hoar frost gives a little
interruption to the sight. If you scatter ashes into the air, it
darkens the light, so doth the hoar frost. Secondly, the hoary
frost is like ashes because near in colour to ashes. Thirdly,
'tis like, because there is a kind of burning in it: frost burns
the tender buds and blossoms, it nips them and dries them up.
The hoar frost hath its denomination in the Latin tongue from burning,
and it differs but very little from that word which is commonly
used in Latin for a coal of fire. The cold frost hath a kind of
scorching in it, as well as the hot sun. Unseasonable frosts in
the spring scorch the tender fruits, which bad effect of frost
is usually expressed by carbunculation or blasting.—Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 17. He casteth forth his ice like morsels.
Or, shivers of bread. It is a worthy saying of one from
this text,—The ice is bread, the rain is drink, the snow is
wool, the frost a fire to the earth, causing it inwardly to glow
with heat; teaching us what to do for God's poor.—John
Trapp.
Verse 17. He casteth forth his ice like morsels.
The word here translated "morsels", means, in
most of the places where it occurs in the Bible, pieces of
bread, exactly the LXX qwmouv;
for this very ice, this wintry cold, is profitable to the earth,
to fit it for bearing future harvests, and thus it matures the morsels
of bread which man will yet win from the soil in due
season.—Genebrardus, in Neale and Littledale.
Verse 17. Morsels. Or, crumbs. Ge 18:5 Jud
19:5. Doubtless the allusion is to hail.—A.S. Aglen.
Verse 17. "It is extremely severe", said his
sister to Archbishop Leighton one day, speaking of the season.
The good man only said in reply, "But thou, O God, hast
made summer and winter."—From J.J. Pearson's Life of
Archbishop Leighton, 1830.
Verse 18. He sendeth out his word, and melteth
them. Israel in the captivity had been icebound, like ships
of Arctic voyagers in the Polar Sea; but God sent forth the
vernal breeze of his love, and the water flowed, the ice melted,
and they were released. God turned their captivity, and, their
icy chains being melted by the solar beams of God's mercy, they
flowed in fresh and buoyant streams, like "rivers of the
south", shining in the sun. See Ps 126:4. So it was on the
day of Pentecost. The winter of spiritual captivity was thawed
and dissolved by the soft breath of the Holy Ghost, and the
earth laughed and bloomed with spring tide flowers of faith,
love, and joy.—Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 19. Here we see God in compassion bending down,
in order to communicate to the deeply fallen son of man
something of a blessed secret, of which, without his special
enlightenment, the eye would never have seen anything, nor the
ear ever have heard.—J.J. Van Oosterzee, on "The Image
of Christ."
Verses 19-20. If the publication of the law by the
ministry of angels to the Israelites were such a privilege that
it is reckoned their peculiar treasure—He hath shewed his
statutes unto Israel; he hath not dealt so with any nation—what
is the revelation of the gospel by the Son of God himself? For
although the law is obscured and defaced since the fall, yet
there are some ingrafted notions of it in human nature; but
there is not the least suspicion of the gospel. The law
discovers our misery, but the gospel alone shows the way to be
delivered from it. If an advantage so great and so precious doth
not touch our hearts; and, in possessing it with joy, if we are
not sensible of the engagements the Father of mercies hath laid
upon us; we shall be the most ungrateful wretches in the
world.—William Bates.
Verses 19-20. That some should have more means of
knowing the Creator, others less, it is all from the mercy and
will of God. His church hath a privilege and an advantage above
other nations in the world; the Jews had this favour above the
heathens, and Christians above the Jews; and no other reason can
be assigned but his eternal love.—Thomas Manton.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. Praise. Its profit, pleasure, and
propriety.—J.F.
Verse 1. The Reasonable Service.
1. The methods of praise: by word, song, life; individually,
socially.
2. The offerers of praise: "ye."
3. The objects of praise: "the Lord, our God."
4. The reasons for praise: it is "good",
"pleasant", "becoming."—C.A.D.
Verses 1-3.
1. The Privilege of Praising God.
a) It is good.
b) Pleasant.
c) Becoming.
2. The Duty of Praising God.
a) For gathering a church for himself among men: "The
Lord doth build up Jerusalem."
b) For the materials of which it is composed: "The
outcasts", etc.
c) For the preparation of those materials for his purpose:
"He healeth", etc. Ps 147:3.—G.R.
Verse 2. The Lord is Architect, Builder, Sustainer,
Restorer, and Owner of the Church. In each relation let him be
praised.
Verse 2. The Great Gatherer.
1. Strange persons sought for.
2. Special search and means made use of.
3. Selected centre to which he brings them.
4. Singular exhibition of them for ever and ever in heaven.
Verse 2. First the church built and then the sinners
gathered into it. A prosperous state of the church within
necessary to her increase from without.
Verse 2. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1302:
"Good Cheer for Outcasts."
Verse 2. Upbuilding and Ingathering.
1. The church may be in a fallen condition.
2. Its upbuilding is the Lord's work.
3. He accomplishes it by gathering together its outcast
citizens.—C.A.D.
Verse 3. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 53:
"Healing for the Wounded."
Verse 3. God a true physician, and a tender nurse.—J.F.
Verses 3-4. Heaven's Brilliants, and Earth's Broken
Hearts.
1. The Proprietor of the Stars with the Wounded. The stars
left kingless for broken hearts. Jehovah! with lint and liniment
and a woman's hand. Who binds together the stars, shall bind
firmly grieved hearts.
2. The Gentle Heart healer with the Stars. Be all power
intrusted to such tenderness. Its comely splendour. God guides
the stars with an eye on wounded hearts. The hopefulness of
prayer.
3. Hearts, Stars, and Eternity. Some hearts shall "shine
as the stars." Some stars shall expire in "blackness
of darkness." God's hand and eye are everywhere making
justice certain. Trust and sing.—W.B.H.
Verses 3-4. God's Compassion and Power.
1. Striking diversity of God's cares: "hearts" and
"stars."
2. Wonderful variety of God's operations. Gently caring for
human hearts. Preserving the order, regularity, and stability of
creation.
3. Blessed results of God's work. Broken hearts healed;
wounds bound up. Light, harmony, and beauty in the heavens.
4. Mighty encouragement to trust in God. God takes care of
the universe; may I not entrust my life, my soul, to him? Where
he rules unquestioned there is light and harmony; let me not
resist his will in my life.—C.A.D.
Verse 5. A contemplation of God's greatness.
1. Great in his essential nature.
2. Great in Power.
3. Great in wisdom. Let us draw inferences concerning the
insignificance of man, & c.
Verse 6. Reversal.
1. In the estimate of the world the meek are cast down and
the wicked lifted up.
2. In the judgment of heaven the meek are lifted up and the
wicked cast down.
3. The judgment of heaven will, in the end, be found the true
one.—C.A.D.
Verse 7. The use and benefit of singing.
Verse 8. God in all. The unity of his plan; the
cooperation of divine forces; the condescending mercy of the
result.
Verse 9. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 672:
"The Ravens' Cry."
Verse 11. The singularity of our God, and of his
favour. For which he is to be praised.
1. The objects of that favour distinguished.
a) From physical strength.
b) From mental vigour.
c) From self reliance.
d) From mere capacity for service.
2. The objects of that favour described.
a) By emotions relating to God.
b) By the weakest forms of spiritual life.
c) By the highest degrees of it; for the maturest saint fears
and hopes.
d) By the sacred blend of it. Fear of our guilt, hope of his
mercy. Fear of self, confidence in God. Hope of perseverance,
fear of sinning. Hope of heaven, fear of coming short. Hope of
perfection, mourning defects.
3. The blessing of that favour implied.
a) God loves to think of them.
b) To be with them.
c) To minister to them.
d) To meet them in their fears and their hopes.
e) To reward them for ever.
Verse 11. He takes pleasure in their persons,
emotions, desires, devotions, hopes, and characters.—W.W.
Verse 12.
1. The Lord whom we praise.
2. His praise in our houses—Jerusalem.
3. Our praise in his house—Zion.
Verse 13. A Strong Church.
1. The utility and value of a strong church.
2. The marks which distinguish it.
a) Gates well kept.
b) Increase of membership.
c) The converts blessed to others.
3. The important care of a strong church: to trace all
blessing to Zion's God.—W.B.H.
Verses 14-15. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No.
425: "Peace at Home, and Prosperity Abroad."
Verses 14-15. Church blessings.
1. Peace.
2. Food.
3. Missionary energy.
4. The presence of God: the source of all blessing.
Verse 15. (second clause). See "Spurgeon's
Sermons", No. 1607: "The Swiftly Running Word."
Verse 16. The unexpected results of adversity: snow
acting as wool.
Verses 16-18. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No.
670: "Frost and Thaw."
Verse 19.
1. God's people.
2. God's Word.
3. God's revelation to the soul.
4. God's praise for this special revelation.
Verse 20. He hath not dealt so with any nation...
Praise ye the Lord. The sweet Psalmist of Israel, a man
skilful in praises, doth begin and end this Psalm with Hallelujah.
In the body of the Psalm he doth set forth the mercy of God,
both towards all creatures in general in his common
providence, and towards his church in particular. So in
this close of the Psalm: "He sheweth his word unto Jacob,
and his statutes to Israel. He hath not dealt so with any
nation." In the original 'tis, "He hath not dealt so
with every nation": that is, with any nation.
In the text you may observe a position and a
conclusion. A position; and that is, that God deals in a
singular way of mercy with his people above all other people.
And then the conclusion: "Praise ye the Lord."
Doctrine. That God deals in a singular way of mercy with his
people, and therefore expects singular praises from his
people.—Joseph Alleine (1633-1668), in "A
Thanksgiving Sermon."
Verse 20. See the wonderful goodness of God, who
besides the light of nature, has committed to us the sacred
Scriptures. The heathen are enveloped in ignorance. As for
his judgments, they have not known them. They have the
oracles of the Sybils, but not the writings of Moses and the
apostles. How many live in the region of death, where the bright
star of Scripture has never appeared! We have the blessed Book
of God to resolve all our doubts, and to point out a way of life
to us. "Lord, how is it thou wilt manifest thyself unto us,
and not unto the world?" Joh 14:22.—Thomas Watson.
Verse 20. Electing Grace inspires the Heart with
Praise.
1. God's love has chosen us. Hallelujah.
2. God has intrusted us with his truth. Hallelujah.
3. God has made us almoners of his bounty. Hallelujah.
4. God through us is to save the world. Hallelujah.—W.B.H.