Psa 135-146 | TDavid | STEP | PSALM 135 OVERVIEW . General Remarks. This Psalm has no title. It is mainly made up of selections from other Scriptures. It has been called a mosaic, and compared to a tessellated pavement. At the outset, its first two verses ( ) are taken from ; while the latter part of and the commencement of put us in mind of ; and suggests . Does not remind us of ? As for , it is almost identical with , which may have been taken from it. The passage contained in Ps 135:13 is to be found in , and in . The closing verses, Ps 135:8-12, are in Psalms 136. From to the end the strain is a repetition of Ps 115:1-18 This process of tracing the expressions to other sources might be pushed further without straining the quotations; the whole Psalm is a compound of many choice extracts, and yet it has all the continuity and freshness of an original poem. The Holy Spirit occasionally repeats himself; not because he has any lack of thoughts or words, but because it is expedient for us that we hear the same things in the same form. Yet, when our great Teacher uses repetition, it is usually with instructive variations, which deserve our careful attention. Division . The first fourteen verses contain an exhortation to praise Jehovah for his goodness ( ), for his electing love ( ), his greatness ( ) his judgments ( ), his unchanging character ( ), and his love towards his people. This is followed by a denunciation of idols ( ), and a further exhortation to bless the name of the Lord. It is a song full of life, vigour, variety, and devotion. EXPOSITION Verse 1 . Praise ye the LORD, or, Hallelujah. Let those who are themselves full of holy praise labour to excite the like spirit in others. It is not enough for us to praise God ourselves, we are quite unequal to such a work; let us call in all our friends and neighbours, and if they have been slack in such service, let us stir them up to it with loving exhortations. Praise ye the name of the LORD. Let his character be extolled by you, and let all that he has revealed concerning himself be the subject of your song; for this is truly his name. Specially let his holy and incommunicable name of "Jehovah" be the object of your adoration. By that name he sets forth his self existence, and his immutability; let these arouse your praises of his Godhead. Think of hint with love, admire him with heartiness, and then extol him with ardour. Do not only magnify the Lord because he is God; but study his character and his doings, and thus render intelligent, appreciative praise. Praise him, O ye servants of the Lord. If others are silent, you must not be; you must be the first to celebrate his praises. You are "servants", and this is part of your service; his "name" is named upon you, therefore celebrate his name with praises; you know what a blessed Master he is, therefore speak well of him. Those who shun his service are sure to neglect his praise; but as grace has made you his own personal servants, let your hearts make you his court musicians. Here we see the servant of the Lord arousing his fellow servants by three times calling upon them to praise. Are we, then, so slow in such a sweet employ? Or is it that when we do our utmost it is all too little for such a Lord? Both are true. We do not praise enough; we cannot praise too much. We ought to be always at it; answering to the command here given -- Praise, Praise, Praise. Let the Three-in-one have the praises of our spirit, soul, and body. For the past, the present, and the future, let us render threefold hallelujahs. Jehovah, infinitude, immensity itself, in all things, to all things, beyond all things, everywhere, wholly, essentially, continually present: as Jehovah, constancy, immutability, eternity itself, without any variableness, or shadow of change; yesterday, today, and for ever the same. In a word, when we think of the Most High God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, we should think of him as Jehovah, Unity in Trinity, Trinity in Unity, Three Persons, One Being, One Essence, One Lord, One Jehovah, blessed for ever. This is that glorious, that Almighty Being, which the Psalmist here means when he saith, "Praise ye the name of the LORD." -- William Beveridge, 1636-1708. Verse 1 . Praise him, O ye servants of the LORD. For ye will do nothing out of place by praising your Lord as servants. And if ye were to be for ever only servants, ye ought to praise the Lord; how much more ought those servants to praise the Lord who have obtained the privilege of sons? --Augustine. Verse 1 . Praise, praise, praise. When duties are thus inculcated, it notes the necessity and excellency thereof; together with our dulness and backwardness thereunto. --John Trapp. Verse 1-2,21 . Praise. To prevent any feeling of weariness which might arise from the very frequent repetition of this exhortation to praise God, it is only necessary to remember that there is no sacrifice in which he takes greater delight than in the expression of praise. Thus ( ), "Sacrifice unto the Lord thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High;" and ( ), "What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD." Particular attention is to be paid to those passages of Scripture which speak in such high terms of that worship of God which is spiritual; otherwise we may be led, in the exercise of a misguided zeal, to spend our labour upon trifles, and in this respect imitate the example of too many who have wearied themselves with ridiculous attempts to invent additions to the service of God, while they have neglected what is of all other things most important. That is the reason why the Holy Spirit so repeatedly inculcates the duty of praise. It is that we may not undervalue, or grow careless in this devotional exercise. It implies, too, an indirect censure of our tardiness in proceeding to the duty; for he would not reiterate the admonition were we ready and active in the discharge of it. --John Calvin. Verse 1-3 . As Gotthold was one day passing a tradesman's house, he heard the notes of a Psalm, with which the family were concluding their morning meal. He was deeply affected, and, with a full heart, said to himself: O my God, how pleasing to my ears is the sound of thy praise, and how comforting to my soul the thought that there are still a few who bless thee for thy goodness. Alas, the great bulk of mankind have become brutalized, and resemble the swine, which in harvest gather and fatten upon the acorns beneath the oak, but show to the tree, which bore them, no other thanks than rubbing off its bark, and tearing up the sod around it. In former times, it was the law in certain monasteries, that the chanting of the praise of God should know no interruption, and that one choir of monks should, at stated intervals, relieve another in the holy employment. To the superstition and trust in human works, of which there may have been here a mixture, we justly assign a place among the wood, hay, and stubble ( ). At the same time it is undeniably right that thy praise should never cease; and were men to be silent, the very stones would cry out. We must begin eternal life here below, not only in our conscience, but also with our praise. Our soul ought to be like a flower, not merely receiving the gentle influence of heaven, but, in its turn, and as if in gratitude, exhaling also a sweet and pleasant perfume. It should be our desire, as it once was that of a pious man, that our hearts should melt and dissolve like incense in the fire of love, and yield the sweet fragrance of praise: or we should be like the holy martyr who professed himself willing to be consumed, if from his ashes a little flower might spring and blossom to the glory of God. We should be ready to give our very blood to fertilize the garden of the church, and render it more productive of the fruit of praise. Well then, my God, I will praise and extol thee with heart and mouth to the utmost of my power. Oh, that without the interruptions which eating, and drinking, and sleep require, I could apply myself to this heavenly calling! Every mouthful of air which I inhale is mixed with the goodness which preserves my life; let every breath which I exhale be mingled at least with a hearty desire for thy honour and praise. Hallelujah! Ye holy angels, ye children of men, and all ye creatures, praise the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. --Christian Scriver Gotthold, 1629-1693. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 1-4 . The Employment. Praise three times commended, and in three respects. With respect to God: not his works merely, but himself. b) With respect to ourselves: it is pleasant and profitable. c) With respect to others: it best recommends our religion to all who hear it. All others are religions of fear, ours of joy and praise. The Persons: servants in attendance at his house, who stand there by appointment, ready to hear, ready to obey. The Motives. In general. It is due to God, because he is good; and it is pleasant to us: Ps 135:3. b) In particular. Those who are specially privileged by God should specially praise him. . "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." --G. R. Verse 1 . Praise ye the LORD. The Lord ought to be praised. He ought to be praised by you. He ought to be praised now: let us remember his present favours. He ought to be praised in everything for ever. Verse 1 . Praise him, O ye servants of the LORD. Praise him for the privilege of serving him. Praise him for the power to serve him. Praise him for the acceptance of your service. Praise him as the chief part of your service. Praise him that others may be induced to engage in his service. --W. H. J. P.

Psalms 135

PSALM 135 OVERVIEW.

General Remarks. This Psalm has no title. It is mainly made up of selections from other Scriptures. It has been called a mosaic, and compared to a tessellated pavement. At the outset, its first two verses (Psalms 135:1-2) are taken from Psalms 134:1-3; while the latter part of Psalms 135:2 and the commencement of Psalms 135:3 put us in mind of Psalms 116:19; and Psalms 135:4 suggests Deuteronomy 7:6. Does not Psalms 135:5 remind us of Psalms 95:3? As for Psalms 135:7, it is almost identical with Jeremiah 10:13, which may have been taken from it. The passage contained in Ps 135:13 is to be found in Exodus 3:15, and Psalms 135:14 in Deuteronomy 32:36. The closing verses, Ps 135:8-12, are in Psalms 136. From Psalms 135:15 to the end the strain is a repetition of Ps 115:1-18 This process of tracing the expressions to other sources might be pushed further without straining the quotations; the whole Psalm is a compound of many choice extracts, and yet it has all the continuity and freshness of an original poem. The Holy Spirit occasionally repeats himself; not because he has any lack of thoughts or words, but because it is expedient for us that we hear the same things in the same form. Yet, when our great Teacher uses repetition, it is usually with instructive variations, which deserve our careful attention.

Division. The first fourteen verses contain an exhortation to praise Jehovah for his goodness (Psalms 135:3), for his electing love (Psalms 135:4), his greatness (Psalms 135:5-7) his judgments (Psalms 135:8-12), his unchanging character (Psalms 135:13), and his love towards his people. This is followed by a denunciation of idols (Psalms 135:15-18), and a further exhortation to bless the name of the Lord. It is a song full of life, vigour, variety, and devotion.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. Praise ye the LORD, or, Hallelujah. Let those who are themselves full of holy praise labour to excite the like spirit in others. It is not enough for us to praise God ourselves, we are quite unequal to such a work; let us call in all our friends and neighbours, and if they have been slack in such service, let us stir them up to it with loving exhortations. Praise ye the name of the LORD. Let his character be extolled by you, and let all that he has revealed concerning himself be the subject of your song; for this is truly his name. Specially let his holy and incommunicable name of "Jehovah" be the object of your adoration. By that name he sets forth his self existence, and his immutability; let these arouse your praises of his Godhead. Think of hint with love, admire him with heartiness, and then extol him with ardour. Do not only magnify the Lord because he is God; but study his character and his doings, and thus render intelligent, appreciative praise. Praise him, O ye servants of the Lord. If others are silent, you must not be; you must be the first to celebrate his praises. You are "servants", and this is part of your service; his "name" is named upon you, therefore celebrate his name with praises; you know what a blessed Master he is, therefore speak well of him. Those who shun his service are sure to neglect his praise; but as grace has made you his own personal servants, let your hearts make you his court musicians. Here we see the servant of the Lord arousing his fellow servants by three times calling upon them to praise. Are we, then, so slow in such a sweet employ? Or is it that when we do our utmost it is all too little for such a Lord? Both are true. We do not praise enough; we cannot praise too much. We ought to be always at it; answering to the command here given -- Praise, Praise, Praise. Let the Three-in-one have the praises of our spirit, soul, and body. For the past, the present, and the future, let us render threefold hallelujahs.

Jehovah, infinitude, immensity itself, in all things, to all things, beyond all things, everywhere, wholly, essentially, continually present: as Jehovah, constancy, immutability, eternity itself, without any variableness, or shadow of change; yesterday, today, and for ever the same. In a word, when we think of the Most High God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, we should think of him as Jehovah, Unity in Trinity, Trinity in Unity, Three Persons, One Being, One Essence, One Lord, One Jehovah, blessed for ever. This is that glorious, that Almighty Being, which the Psalmist here means when he saith, "Praise ye the name of the LORD." -- William Beveridge, 1636-1708.

Verse 1. Praise him, O ye servants of the LORD. For ye will do nothing out of place by praising your Lord as servants. And if ye were to be for ever only servants, ye ought to praise the Lord; how much more ought those servants to praise the Lord who have obtained the privilege of sons? --Augustine.

Verse 1. Praise, praise, praise. When duties are thus inculcated, it notes the necessity and excellency thereof; together with our dulness and backwardness thereunto. --John Trapp.

Verse 1-2,21. Praise. To prevent any feeling of weariness which might arise from the very frequent repetition of this exhortation to praise God, it is only necessary to remember that there is no sacrifice in which he takes greater delight than in the expression of praise. Thus (Psalms 1:14), "Sacrifice unto the Lord thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High;" and (Psalms 116:12-13), "What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD." Particular attention is to be paid to those passages of Scripture which speak in such high terms of that worship of God which is spiritual; otherwise we may be led, in the exercise of a misguided zeal, to spend our labour upon trifles, and in this respect imitate the example of too many who have wearied themselves with ridiculous attempts to invent additions to the service of God, while they have neglected what is of all other things most important. That is the reason why the Holy Spirit so repeatedly inculcates the duty of praise. It is that we may not undervalue, or grow careless in this devotional exercise. It implies, too, an indirect censure of our tardiness in proceeding to the duty; for he would not reiterate the admonition were we ready and active in the discharge of it. --John Calvin.

Verse 1-3. As Gotthold was one day passing a tradesman's house, he heard the notes of a Psalm, with which the family were concluding their morning meal. He was deeply affected, and, with a full heart, said to himself: O my God, how pleasing to my ears is the sound of thy praise, and how comforting to my soul the thought that there are still a few who bless thee for thy goodness. Alas, the great bulk of mankind have become brutalized, and resemble the swine, which in harvest gather and fatten upon the acorns beneath the oak, but show to the tree, which bore them, no other thanks than rubbing off its bark, and tearing up the sod around it. In former times, it was the law in certain monasteries, that the chanting of the praise of God should know no interruption, and that one choir of monks should, at stated intervals, relieve another in the holy employment. To the superstition and trust in human works, of which there may have been here a mixture, we justly assign a place among the wood, hay, and stubble (1 Corinthians 3:12). At the same time it is undeniably right that thy praise should never cease; and were men to be silent, the very stones would cry out. We must begin eternal life here below, not only in our conscience, but also with our praise. Our soul ought to be like a flower, not merely receiving the gentle influence of heaven, but, in its turn, and as if in gratitude, exhaling also a sweet and pleasant perfume. It should be our desire, as it once was that of a pious man, that our hearts should melt and dissolve like incense in the fire of love, and yield the sweet fragrance of praise: or we should be like the holy martyr who professed himself willing to be consumed, if from his ashes a little flower might spring and blossom to the glory of God. We should be ready to give our very blood to fertilize the garden of the church, and render it more productive of the fruit of praise.

Well then, my God, I will praise and extol thee with heart and mouth to the utmost of my power. Oh, that without the interruptions which eating, and drinking, and sleep require, I could apply myself to this heavenly calling! Every mouthful of air which I inhale is mixed with the goodness which preserves my life; let every breath which I exhale be mingled at least with a hearty desire for thy honour and praise.

Hallelujah! Ye holy angels, ye children of men, and all ye creatures, praise the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. --Christian Scriver Gotthold, 1629-1693.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1-4.

b) With respect to ourselves: it is pleasant and profitable.

c) With respect to others: it best recommends our religion to all who hear it. All others are religions of fear, ours of joy and praise.

b) In particular. Those who are specially privileged by God should specially praise him. Psalms 135:4. "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." --G. R.

Verse 1. Praise ye the LORD.

Verse 1. Praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. You are highly favoured; you are the domestics of the palace, nearest to the Father of the heavenly family, privileged to find your home in his house; therefore you must, beyond all others, abound in thanksgiving. You "stand;" or abide in the temple; you are constant occupants of its various courts; and therefore from you we expect unceasing praise. Should not ministers be celebrated for celebrating the praises of Jehovah? Should not church officers and church members excel all others in the excellent duty of adoration? Should not all of every degree who wait even in his outer courts unite in his worship? Ought not the least and feeblest of his people to proclaim his praises, in company with those who live nearest to him? Is it not a proper thing to remind them of their obligations? Is not the Psalmist wise when he does so in this case and in many others? Those who can call Jehovah "our God" are highly blessed, and therefore should abound in the work of blessing him. Perhaps this is the sweetest word in these two verses. "This God is our God for ever and ever." "Our God" signifies possession, communion in possession, assurance of possession, delight in possession. Oh the unutterable joy of calling God our own!

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 2. What is at this day "the house of the Lord"? Who may be said to stand in it? What special reasons have they for praise?

Verse 2. The nearer to God, the dearer to God; and the better our place, the sweeter our praise. --W. B. H.

Verse 2-5. Our God, Our Lord. Sweet subject. See our Exposition.

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. Praise the LORD. Do it again; continue to do it; do it better and more heartily; do it in growing numbers; do it at once. There are good reasons for praising the Lord, and among the first is this -- for the LORD is good. He is so good that there is none good in the same sense or degree. He is so good that all good is found in him, flows from him, and is rewarded by him. The word God is brief for good; and truly God is the essence of goodness. Should not his goodness be well spoken of? Yea, with our best thoughts, and words, and hymns let us glorify his name. Sing praises unto his name, for it is pleasant. The adjective may apply to the singing and to the name -- they are both pleasant. The vocal expression of praise by sacred song is one of our greatest delights. We were created for this purpose, and hence it is a joy to us. It is a charming duty to praise the lovely name of our God. All pleasure is to be found in the joyful worship of Jehovah; all joys are in his sacred name as perfumes lie slumbering in a garden of flowers. The mind expands, the soul is lifted up, the heart warms, the whole being is filled with delight when we are engaged in singing the high praises of our Father, Redeemer, Comforter. When in any occupation goodness and pleasure unite, we do well to follow it up without stint: yet it is to be feared that few of us sing to the Lord at all in proportion as we talk to men.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. Praise the LORD. Hallelujah (praise to Jah!) for good (is) Jehovah. Make music to his name, for it is lovely. The last words may also he translated, he is lovely, i.e. an object worthy of supreme attachment. -- Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 3. Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good. That is, originally, transcendently, effectively; he is good, and doeth good (Psalms 119:68), and is therefore to be praised with mind, mouth, and practice. --John Trapp.

Verse 3. Sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant. The work of praising God hath a sort of reward joined with it. When we praise God most we get much benefit by so doing: it is so comely in itself, so pleasant unto God, and profitable to the person that offereth praises, so fit to cheer up his spirit, and strengthen his faith in God, whose praises are the pillars of the believer's confidence and comfort, that a man should be allured thereunto: "Sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant;" and this is the second motive or reason to praise God the first being that "the Lord is good". -- David Dickson.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 3. Praise the Lord,

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself. Jehovah hath chosen Jacob. Should not the sons of Jacob praise him who has so singularly favoured them Election is one of the most forcible arguments for adoring love. Chosen! chosen unto himself! -- who can be grateful enough for being concerned in this privilege "Jacob have I loved", said Jehovah, and he gave no reason for his love except that he chose to love. Jacob had then done neither good nor evil, yet thus the Lord determined, and thus he spake. If it be said that the choice was made upon foresight of Jacob's character, it is, perhaps, even more remarkable; for there was little enough about Jacob that could deserve special choice. By nature Jacob was by no means the most lovable of men. No, it was sovereign grace which dictated the choice. But, mark, it was not a choice whose main result was the personal welfare of Jacob's seed: the nation was chosen by God unto himself, to answer the divine ends and purposes in blessing all mankind. Jacob's race was chosen to be the Lord's own, to be the trustees of his truth, the maintainers of his worship, the mirrors of his mercy. Chosen they were; but mainly for this end, that they might be a peculiar people, set apart unto the service of the true God.

And Israel for his peculiar treasure. God's choice exalts; for here the name is changed from Jacob, the supplanter, to Israel, the prince. The love of God gives a new name and imparts a new value; for the comparison to a royal treasure is a most honourable one. As kings have a special regalia, and a selection of the rarest jewels, so the Lord deigns to reckon his chosen nation as his wealth, his delight, his glory. What an honour to the spiritual Israel that they are all this to the Lord their God! We are a people near and dear unto him; precious and honourable in his sight. How can we refuse our loudest, heartiest, sweetest music? If we did not extol him, the stones in the street would cry out against us.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. For the LORD hath chosen, etc. God's distinguishing grace should make his elect lift up many a humble, joyful, and thankful heart to him. --John Trapp.

Verse 4. Jacob, Israel. Praise the Lord for enroling you in this company. To quicken you in this work of praise, consider what you were; you were not a people, God raised you up from the very dunghill to this preferment; remember your past estate. Look, as old Jacob considered what he had been when God preferred him (Genesis 32:10); "With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands;" so do you say, I am a worthless creature, it is God that hath taken me into his grace, praised be the Lord that hath chosen me. Then consider how many are left to perish in the wide world. Some live out of the church's pale that never heard of Christ, and many others have only a loose general form of Christianity. Oh! blessed be God that hath chosen me to be of the number of his peculiar people. It is said (Zechariah 13:8), "And it shall come to pass in all the land, saith the Lord, that two parts shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein." We pass through many bolters before we come to be God's peculiar people, as the corn is ground, bolted, searched before it comes to be fine flour. Many have not the knowledge of God, and others live in the church but are carnal; and for me to be one of his peculiar people, a member of Christ's mystical body, oh! what a privilege is this! And then what moved him to all this? Nothing but his own free grace. Therefore praise the Lord. -- Thomas Manton.

Verse 4. His peculiar treasure. The Hebrew word scgullah signifieth God's special jewels, God's proper ones, or God's secret ones, that he keeps in store for himself, and for his own special service and use. Princes lock up with their own hands in secret their most precious and costly jewels; and so doth God his: "For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure", or for his secret gain. --Thomas Brooks.

Verse 4. His peculiar treasure. Will not a man that is not defective in his prudentials secure his jewels? "They shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a father his son that serveth him:" Malachi 3:17. If a house be on fire, the owner of it will first take care of his wife and children, then of his jewels, and last of all, of his lumber and rubbish. Christ secures first his people, for they are his jewels; the world is but lumber and rubbish. --Richard Mayhew.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4. It is a song of praise, and therefore election is mentioned because it is a motive for song.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. The greatness of God is as much a reason for adoration as his goodness, when we are once reconciled to him. God is great positively great comparatively, and great superlatively -- "above all gods." Of this the Psalmist had an assured personal persuasion. He says positively, "I know." It is knowledge worth possessing. He knew by observation, inspiration, and realization; he was no agnostic, he was certain and clear upon the matter. He not only knows the greatness of Jehovah, but that as the Adonai, or Ruler, "our Lord" is infinitely superior to all the imaginary deities of the heathen, and to all great ones besides. "Let princes hear, let angels know,

How mean their natures seem;

Those gods on high, and gods below,

When once compared with him."

Many have thought to worship Jehovah, and other gods with him; but this holy man tolerated no such notion. Others have thought to combine their religion with obedience to the unrighteous laws of tyrannical princes; this, also, the sweet singer of Israel denounced; for he regarded the living God as altogether above all men, who as magistrates and princes have been called gods. Observe here the fourth of the five "fors." Psalms 135:3-5,14 contain reasons for praise, each set forth with "for." A fruitful meditation might be suggested by this.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. For I know. The word "I" is made emphatic in the original. Whatever may be the case with others, I have had personal and precious experience of the greatness of Jehovah's power, and of his infinite supremacy above all other gods. The author of the Psalm may either speak for all Israel as a unit, or he may have framed his song so that every worshipper might say this for himself as his own testimony. --Henry Cowles.

Verse 5. For I know that the LORD is great, etc. On what a firm foundation does the Psalmist plant his foot -- "I know!" One loves to hear men of God speaking in this calm, undoubting, and assured confidence, whether it be of the Lord's goodness or of the Lord's greatness. You may perhaps say, that it required no great stretch of faith or knowledge, or any amount of bravery, to declare that God was great; but I think that not many wise nor mighty had in the Psalmist's days attained unto his knowledge or made his confession, that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was "above all gods." Baal and Chemosh, and Milcom and Dagon, claimed the fealty of the nations round about; and David, in the Court of Achish, would have found his declaration as unwelcome, as it would have been rejected as untrue. Moses once carried a message from Jehovah to the king of Egypt, and his reply was, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? I know not the Lord;" and even of Jehovah's peculiar treasure, all were not Israel that were of Israel.

There is a knowledge that plays round the head, like lightning on a mountain's summit, that leaves no trace behind; and there is a knowledge that, like the fertilizing stream, penetrates into the very recesses of the heart, and issues forth in all the fruits of holiness, of love, and peace, and joy for evermore. --Barton Bouchier.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5. I know that the LORD is great.

Verse 5. Delicious dogmatism. "I know", etc.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. His will is carried out throughout all space. The king's warrant runs in every portion of the universe. The heathen divided the great domain; but Jupiter does not rule in heaven, nor Neptune on the sea, nor Pluto in the lower regions; Jehovah rules over all. His decree is not defeated, his purpose is not frustrated: in no one point is his good pleasure set aside. The word "whatsoever" is of the widest range and includes all things, and the four words of place which are mentioned comprehend all space; therefore the declaration of the text knows neither limit nor exception. Jehovah works his will: he pleases to do, and he performs the deed. None can stay his hand. How different this from the gods whom the heathen fabled to be subject to all the disappointments, failures, and passions of men! How contrary even to those so called Christian conceptions of God which subordinate him to the will of man, and make his eternal purposes the football of human caprice. Our theology teaches us no such degrading notions of the Eternal as that he can be baffled by man. "His purpose shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure." No region is too high, no abyss too deep, no land too distant, no sea too wide for his omnipotence: his divine pleasure travels post over all the realm of nature, and his behests are obeyed.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he, etc. He was not forced to make all that he made, but all that he willed he made. His will was the cause of all things which he made. Thou makest a house, because if thou didst not make it thou wouldest be left without a habitation: necessity compels thee to make a home, not free will. Thou makest a garment, because thou wouldest go about naked if thou didst not make it; thou art therefore led to making a garment by necessity, not by free will. You plant a mountain with vines, you sow seed, because if thou didst not do so, thou wouldest not have food; all such things thou doest of necessity. God has made all things of his goodness. He needed nothing that he made; and therefore he hath made all things that he willed.

He did whatsoever he willed in the heaven and earth: do you do all that you will even in your field? You will many things, but can not do all you wish in thy own house. Thy wife, perchance, gainsays thee, thy children gainsay thee, sometimes even thy servant contumaciously gainsays thee, and thou doest not what thou wiliest. But thou sayest, I do what I will, because I punish the disobedient and gainsayer. Even this you do not when you will. --Augustine.

Verse 6. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he, etc. God's will obtains and hath the upper hand everywhere. Down man, down pope, down devil; you must yield; things shall not be as you will, but as God will! We may well say, "Who hath resisted his will?" Ro 9:19. Many, indeed, disobey, and sin against the will of his precept; but none ever did, none ever shall, frustrate or obstruct the will of his purpose; for he will do all his pleasure, and in his way mountains shall become a plain. --William Slater (- 1704), in "The Morning Exercises."

Verse 6. Upon the Arminian's plan (if absurdity can deserve the name of a plan), the glorious work of God's salvation, and the eternal redemption of Jesus Christ, are not complete, unless a dying mortal lends his arm; that is, unless he, who of himself can do nothing, vouchsafe to begin and accomplish that which all the angels in heaven cannot do; namely, to convert the soul from Satan to God. How contrary is all this to the language of Scripture -- how repugnant to the oracles of truth "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth." --Ambrose Serle (-1815), in "Horoe Solitariae."

Verse 6. In heaven and in the earth, etc. His power is infinite. He can do what he will do everywhere; all places are there named but purgatory; perhaps he can do nothing there, but leaves all that work for the Pope. --Thomas Adams.

Verse 6. In the seas, and all deep places. He did wonders in the mighty waters: more than once he made the boisterous sea a calm, and walked upon the surface of it; and as of old he broke up the fountains of the great deep, and drowned the world; and at another time dried up the sea, and led his people through the depths, as through a wilderness; so he will hereafter bind the old serpent, the devil, and cast him into the abyss, into the great deep, the bottomless pit, where he will continue during the thousand years' reign of Christ with his saints. --John Gill.

Verse 6. The word "pleaseth" limits the general note or particle "all" unto all works which in themselves are good, or else serve for good use, and so are pleasing to the Lord for the use sake. He doth not say that the Lord doth all things which are done, but all things which he pleaseth, that is, he doth not make men sinful and wicked, neither doth he work rebellion in men, which is displeasing unto him; but he doth whatsoever is pleasing, that is, all things which are agreeable to his nature. And whatsoever is according to his will and good pleasure, that he doth, for none can hinder it. This is the true sense and meaning of the words. --George Walker, in "God made visible in his Works", 1641.

Verse 6. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did, etc. With reference to, the government of Providence, it is said of God, that "he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." Even insensible matter is under his control. Fire and hail, snow and vapour, and stormy wind, fulfil his word: and with reference to intelligent agents, we are told that he maketh the most refractory, even the Wrath of man, to praise him, and the remainder of wrath he restrains. The whole Bible exhibits Jehovah as so ordering the affairs of individuals, and of nations, as to secure the grand purpose he had in view in creating the world, -- viz., the promotion of his own glory, in the salvation of a multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues. One of the most prominent distinctions between divine revelation and ordinary history is, that when the same general events are narrated, the latter exhibits -- (it is its province so to do -- it is not able indeed to do more,) the agency of man, the former, the agency of God. Profane history exhibits the instruments by which Jehovah works; the finger of divine revelation points to the unseen but almighty hand which wields and guides the instrument, and causes even Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Jews and the people of Israel, to do what the hand and the counsel of God determined before to be done. --George Payne, in "Lectures on Christian Theology", 1850.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 6. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he. God's good pleasure in the work of grace. Seen, not in the death of the wicked, Ezekiel 33:11; but in the election of his people, 1 Samuel 12:22; in the infliction of suffering on the substitute, Isaiah 53:10; in the provision of all fulness for his people in Christ, Colossians 1:19; in the arrangement of salvation by faith in Christ, John 6:39; in instituting preaching as the means of salvation, 1 Corinthians 1:21; in the adoption of believers as his children, Ephesians 1:5; in their sanctification, 1 Thessalonians 4:3; in their ultimate triumph and reign, Luke 12:32. --C. A. D.

Verse 6. (last words). The power of God in places of trouble, change, and danger -- seas; and in conditions of sin, weakness, despair, perplexity -- in all deep places.

Verse 6-12. The Resistless Pleasure of Jehovah.

b) Overturning a rebellious nation.

c) Making sport of kings and crowns.

d) Laying a fertile country at the feet of the chosen.

b) Think not to hide from it: the "ends of the earth" and "all deep places" are open to it; it is swifter than its own lightnings.

c) Be awed by its majesty: God's way is strewn with crowns and the bones of kings.

d) Seek its protection: its mightiest efforts are in defence of those it favours.

e) Let the Lord's people fear not with so great a God, and so exhaustless an armoury. --W. B. H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth. Here we are taught the power of God in creation. The process of evaporation is passed by unnoticed by the many, because they see it going on all around them; the usual ceases to be wonderful to the thoughtless, but it remains a marvel to the instructed. When we consider upon what an immense scale evaporation is continually going on, and how needful it is for the existence of all life, we may well admire the wisdom and the power which are displayed therein. All around us from every point of the horizon the vapour rises, condenses into clouds, and ultimately descends as rain. Whence the vapours originally ascended from which our showers are formed it would be impossible to tell; most probably the main part of them comes from the tropical regions, and other remote places at "the ends of the earth." It is the Lord who causes them to rise, and not a mere law. What is law without a force at the back of it? He maketh lightnings for the rain. There is an intimate connection between lightning and rain, and this would seem to be more apparent in Palestine than even with ourselves; for we constantly read of thunderstorms in that country as attending heavy down pours of rain. Lightning is not to be regarded as a lawless force, but as a part of that wonderful machinery by which the earth is kept in a fit condition: a force as much under the control of God as any other, a force most essential to our existence. The ever changing waters, rains, winds, and electric currents circulate as if they were the life blood and vital spirits of the universe. He bringeth the wind out of his treasuries. This great force which seems left to its own wild will is really under the supreme and careful government of the Lord. As a monarch is specially master of the contents of his own treasure, so is our God the Lord of the tempest and hurricane; and as princes do not spend their treasure without taking note and count of it, so the Lord does not permit the wind to be wasted, or squandered without purpose. Everything in the material world is under the immediate direction and control of the Lord of all. Observe how the Psalmist brings before us the personal action of Jehovah: "he causeth", "he maketh", "he bringeth." Everywhere the Lord worketh all things, and there is no power which escapes his supremacy. It is well for us that it is so: one bandit force wandering through the Lord's domains defying his control would cast fear and trembling over all the provinces of providence. Let us praise Jehovah for the power and wisdom with which he rules clouds, and lightnings, and winds, and all other mighty and mysterious agencies.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. He causeth the vapours to ascend, etc. Dr. Halley made a number of experiments at St. Helena as to the quantity of water that is daily evaporated from the sea, and he found that ten square inches of the ocean's surface yielded one cubic inch of water in twelve hours -- a square mile therefore yields 401,448,960 cubic inches, or 6,914 tons of water. From the surface of the Mediterranean Sea during a summer's day there would pass off in invisible vapour five thousand millions of tons of water. This being only for one day, the quantity evaporated in a year would be 365 times greater, and in two thousand years it would amount to four thousand billions of tons, which evaporation would in time empty the Mediterranean Sea; but we have good reason for believing that there is as much water there now as in the time of the Romans, therefore the balance is kept up by the downpour of rain, the influx of the rivers, and the currents from the Atlantic.

Now let us consider the amount of power required for all this evaporation. Mr. Joule, whose experiments have given to the world so much valuable information, says that if we had a pool of water one square mile and six inches in depth to be evaporated by artificial heat, it would require the combustion of 30,000 tons of coal to effect it; therefore to evaporate all the water that ascends from the earth it would take 6,000,000,000,000 (six billion) tons, or more than all the coal that could be stowed away in half a dozen such worlds as this; and yet silently and surely has the process of evaporation been going on for millions of years. --Samuel Kinns, in "Moses and Geology", 1882.

Verse 7. He causeth the vapours to ascend, etc. There is no physical necessity that the boiling point of water should occur at two hundred and twelve degrees of the Fahrenheit scale. As far as we know, it might have been the same with the boiling points of oil of turpentine, alcohol or ether. We shall see the benevolence of the present adjustment by noticing some of the consequences which would follow if any change were made.

The amount of vapour given off at ordinary temperatures by any liquid depends on the temperature at which it boils. If the boiling point of water were the same as that of alcohol, the vapour given off by the ocean would be two and a half times as much as at present. Such an excess of aqueous vapour would produce continual rains and inundations, and would make the air too damp for animal, and too cloudy for vegetable, life. If water boiled at the same temperature as ether, the vapour rising from the ocean would be more than twenty-five times as much as at present. In such a state of things no man could see the sun on account of the clouds; the rain would be so excessive as to tear up the soil and wash away plants; inundations would be constant, and navigation would be impossible in the inland torrents which would take the place of our rivers. In winter the snow of one day might bury the houses. If, on the other hand, water boiled at the same temperature with oil of turpentine, the vapour given off by the ocean would be less than one fourth of its present amount. In this case rain would be a rarity, like an eclipse of the sun, the dryness of the desert of Sahara would be equalled in a large part of the globe, which would, therefore, be bare of vegetation, and incapable of sustaining animal life. Plants would be scorched by unclouded sunshine, springs and rivulets would be dry, and inland navigation would cease; for nearly all the rain would be absorbed by the porous earth.

We see, then, that the boiling point of water has been adjusted to various relations. It is adjusted to the capacity of space to contain aqueous vapour h transparent state; if it were higher than two hundred and twelve degrees, earth would be scorched by an unclouded sun; if it were lower, it would under continual shade. It is suited to the demand of plants for water; if it were higher, they would suffer from drought; if it were lower, they would torn up by floods. It is in harmony with the texture of the soil: if it higher, the earth would absorb all the rain which falls; if it were lower, the would often be washed away by the surface torrents after a shower. It is to the elevation of the continents above the sea; if it were higher, rivers their present inclination would be so shallow as to be often dry; if it lower, most rivers would be so deep as to be torrents, while the land would covered with floods. --Professor Hemholtz.

Verse 7. To ascend from the ends of the earth. Rains in England are introduced by a southeast wind. "Vapour brought to us by such a wind have been generated in countries to the south and east of our island. It is fore, probably, in the extensive valleys watered by the Meuse, the Moselle, the Rhine, if not from the more distant Elbe, with the Oder and the Weser, the water rises, in the midst of sunshine, which is soon afterwards to form our clouds, and pour down our thundershowers." "Drought and sunshine in part of Europe may be necessary to the production of a wet season in another" (Howard on the Climate of London). --William Whewell (1795-1866), in "The Bridgewater Treatise" Astronomy and General Physics. 1839.

Verse 7. From the surface of the earth raising the vapours. The whole description is beautifully exact and picturesque. Not "the ends", or even "summits" or "extreme mountains", for the original is in the singular number (hcq), but from the whole of the [xtr[m[ lay[r, the superficies or surface of the earth; from every point of which the great process of exhalation is perpetually going on to supply the firmament with refreshing and fruitful clouds. --John Mason Good.

Verse 7. He maketh lightnings for the rain. When the electrical clouds are much agitated, the rain generally falls heavily, and if the agitation is excessive, it hails. As the electricity is dissipated by the frequent discharges the cloud condenses, and there comes a sudden and heavy rain; but the greater the accumulation of electricity, the longer is the rain delayed. Thus connected as the electrical phenomena of the atmosphere are with clouds, vapour, and rain, how forcibly are we struck with these appropriate words in the Scriptures. --Edwin Sidney, in "Conversations on the Bible and Science", 1866.

Verse 7. He maketh lightnings for the rain. Dr. Russell, in his description of the weather at Aleppo, in September, tells us, that seldom a night passes without much lightning in the north west quarter, but not attended with thunder, and that when this lightning appears in the west or south west points, it is a sure sign of the approaching rain, which is often followed with thunder. This last clause, which is not perfectly clear, is afterwards explained in his more enlarged account of the weather of the year 1746, when he tells us that though it began to be cloudy on the 4th of September, and continued so for a few days, and even thundered, yet no rain fell till the 11th, which shows that his meaning was, that the lightning in the west or south west points, which is often followed with thunder, is a sure sign of the approach of rain. I have before mentioned that a squall of wind and clouds of dust are the usual forerunners of these first rains. Most of these things are taken notice of in Psalms 135:7 Jeremiah 10:13 51:16; and serve to illustrate them. Russell's account determines, I think, that the Nesiim, which our translators render vapours, must mean, as they elsewhere translate the word, clouds. It shows that God "maketh lightnings for the rain", they, in the west and south west points, being at Aleppo the sure prognostics of rain. The squalls of wind bring on these refreshing showers, and are therefore "precious things" of the "treasuries" of God. --Thomas Harmer.

Verse 7. He maketh lightnings for the rain. The Psalmist mentions it as another circumstance calling for our wonder, that lightnings are mixed with rain, things quite opposite in their nature one from another. Did not custom make us familiar with the spectacle, we would pronounce this mixture of fire and water to be a phenomenon altogether incredible. The same may be said of the phenomena of the winds. Natural causes can be assigned for them, and philosophers have pointed them out; but the winds, with their various currents, are a wonderful work of God. He does not merely assert the power of God, be it observed, in the sense in which philosophers themselves grant it, but he maintains that not a drop of rain falls from heaven without a divine commission or dispensation to that effect. All readily allow that God is the author of rain, thunder, and wind, in so far as he originally established this order of things in nature; but the Psalmist goes farther than this, holding that when it rains, this is not effected by a blind instinct of nature, but is the consequence of the decree of God, who is pleased at one time to darken the sky with clouds, and at another to brighten it again with sunshine. --John Calvin.

Verse 7. He maketh lightnings for the rain. It is a great instance of the divine wisdom and goodness, that lightning should be accompanied by rain, to soften its rage, and prevent its mischievous effects. Thus, in the midst of judgment, does God remember mercy. The threatenings in his word against sinners are like lightning; they would blast and scorch us up, were it not for his promises made in the same word to penitents, which, as a gracious rain, turn aside their fury, refreshing and comforting our frightened spirits. -- George Horne.

Verse 7. He bringeth the wind out of his treasuries. That is, say some, out of the caves and hollow places of the earth; but I rather conceive that because the wind riseth many times on a sudden, and as our Saviour saith (John 3:8), we cannot tell whence it cometh, therefore God is said here to bring it forth, as if he had it locked up in readiness in some secret and hidden treasuries or store houses. --Arthur Jackson.

Verse 7. He bringeth the wind. The winds are, with great beauty, represented as laid up by him as jewels in a treasure house. Indeed, few verses better express creative control, than those in which the winds, which make sport of man's efforts and defy his power, are represented as thus ready to spring forth at God's bidding from the quarters where they quietly sleep. The occasion comes, the thoughts of Jehovah find expression in his providence, and his ready servants leap suddenly forth: "He bringeth the winds out of his treasuries." But this bringing forth is not for physical purposes only; it is for great moral and spiritual ends also. Take one illustration out of many. His people were on the edge of deepest and most brutish idolatry. They were ready to fall into a most degraded form of idol worship, when he offered to them that ever yearning heart of Fatherly love:

"Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen." Their god is only "the tree cut out of the forest", silvered over, or decked with gold; "upright as the palm tree, but speaks not: the stock is a doctrine of vanities; but the Lord is the true God; he maketh lightnings with rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasures." Jeremiah 10:2-16. Thus, too, the words of Agur to Ithiel and Ucal, "He hath gathered the wind in his fists." Proverbs 30:4. -- John Duns, in "Science and Christian Thought", 1868.

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast. Herein the Lord is to be praised; for this deadly smiting was an act of justice against Egypt, and of love to Israel. But what a blow it was! All the firstborn slain in a moment! How it must have horrified the nation, and cowed the boldest enemies of Israel! Beasts because of their relationship to man as domestic animals are in many ways made to suffer with him. The firstborn of beasts must die as well as the firstborn of their owners, for the blow was meant to astound and overwhelm, and it accomplished its purpose. The firstborn of God had been sorely smitten, and they were set free by the Lord's meting out to their oppressors the like treatment.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. Who smote the firstborn of Egypt. The first born only were smitten; these were singled out in every family with unerring precision, the houses of the Israelites, wherever the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the door posts, being passed over. The death of all those thousands, both of man and beast, took place at the same instant -- "at midnight."

Is God unrighteous, then, that taketh vengeance? No; this is an act of retribution. The Egyptians had slain the children of the Israelites, casting their infants into the river. Now the affliction is turned upon themselves; the delight of their eyes is taken from them; all their firstborn are dead, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat upon his throne, unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon. --Thomas S. Millington, in "Signs and Wonders in the Land of Ham", 1873.

Verse 8. And beast. The Egyptians worshipped many animals, and when the firstborn of the sacred animals died the circumstance greatly increased the impressiveness of the plague as an assault upon the gods of Egypt. --C. H. S. Suggested by Otto Von Gerlach.

Verse 8-12. Worthy is Jahve to be praised, for he is the Redeemer out of Egypt. Worthy is he to be praised, for he is the Conqueror of the Land of Promise. --Franz Delitzsch.

EXPOSITION

Verse 9. Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants. The Lord is still seen by the Psalmist as sending judgments upon rebellious men; he keeps before us the personal action of God, "who sent tokens", etc. The more distinctly God is seen the better. Even in plagues he is to be seen, as truly as in mercies. The plagues were not only terrible wonders which astounded men, but forcible tokens or signs by which they were instructed. No doubt the plagues were aimed at the various deities of the Egyptians, and were a grand exposure of their impotence; each one had its own special significance. The judgments of the Lord were no side blows, they struck the nation at the heart; he sent his bolts "into the midst of thee, O Egypt!" These marvels happened in the centre of the proud and exclusive nation of Egypt, which thought itself far superior to other lands; and many of these plagues touched the nation in points upon which it prided itself. The Psalmist addresses that haughty nation, saying, "O Egypt", as though reminding it of the lessons which it had been taught by the Lord's right hand. Imperious Pharaoh had been the ringleader in defying Jehovah, and he was made personally to smart for it; nor did his flattering courtiers escape, upon each one of them the scourge fell heavily. God's servants are far better off than Pharaoh's servants: those who stand in the courts of Jehovah are delivered, but the courtiers of Pharaoh are smitten all of them, for they were all partakers in his evil deeds. The Lord is to be praised for thus rescuing his own people, and causing their cruel adversaries to bite the dust. Let no true Israelite forget the song of the Red Sea, but anew let us hear a voice summoning us to exulting praise: "Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 9. Who sent tokens and wonders. -- "Tokens", that is, signs or evidences of the Divine power. "Wonders", things fitted to impress the mind with awe; things outside of the ordinary course of events; things not produced by natural laws, but by the direct power of God. The allusion here is, of course, to the plagues of Egypt, as recorded in Exodus. --Albert Barnes.

EXPOSITION

Verse 10. Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings. The nations of Canaan joined in the desperate resistance offered by their monarchs, and so they were smitten; while their kings, the ringleaders of the fight, were slain. Those who resist the divine purpose will find it hard to kick against the pricks. The greatness of the nations and the might of the kings availed nothing against the Lord. He is prepared to mete out vengeance to those who oppose his designs: those who dream of him as too tender to come to blows have mistaken the God of Israel. He intended to bless the world through his chosen people, and he would not be turned from his purpose: cost what it might, he would preserve the candle of truth which he had lighted, even though the blood of nations should be spilt in its defence. The wars against the Canaanite races were a price paid for the setting up of a nation which was to preserve for the whole world the lively oracles of God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 10. Who smote great nations, etc. It is better that the wicked should be destroyed a hundred times over than that they should tempt those who are as yet innocent to join their company. Let us but think what might have been our fate, and the fate of every other nation under heaven at this hour, had the sword of the Israelites done its work more sparingly. Even as it was, the small portions of the Canaanites who were left, and the nations around them, so tempted the Israelites by their idolatrous practices that we read continually of the whole people of God turning away from his service. But, had the heathen lived in the land in equal numbers, and, still more, had they intermarried largely with the Israelites, how was it possible, humanly speaking, that any sparks of the light of God's truth should have survived to the coming of Christ? Would not tim Israelites have lost all their peculiar character; and if they had retained the name of Jehovah as of their God, would they not have formed as unworthy notions of his attributes, and worshipped him with a worship as abominable as that which the Moabites paid to Chemosh or the Philistines to Dagon?

But this was not to be, and therefore the nations of Canaan were to be cut off utterly. The Israelites' sword, in its bloodiest executions, wrought a work of mercy for all the countries of the earth to the very end of the world. They seem of very small importance to us now, those perpetual contests with the Canaanites, and the Midianites, and the Ammonites, and the Philistines, with which the Books of Joshua and Judges and Samuel are almost filled. We may half wonder that God should have interfered in such quarrels, or have changed the course of nature, in order to give one of the nations of Palestine the victory over another. But in these contests, on the fate of one of these nations of Palestine the happiness of the human race depended. The Israelites fought not for themselves only, but for us. It might follow that they should thus be accounted the enemies of all mankind, -- it might be that they were tempted by their very distinctness to despise other nations; still they did God's work, -- still they preserved unhurt the seed of eternal life, and were the ministers of blessing to all other nations, even though they themselves failed to enjoy it. --Thomas Arnold, 1795-1842.

Verse 10. Who smote great nations, etc. Let us not stand in fear of any enemies that rise up against us, and conspire to hinder the peace of the church, and stop the passage of the gospel; when God begins to take the cause of his people into his own hand, and smiteth any of his enemies on the jawbone, the rest are reserved to the like destruction. For wherefore doth God punish his adversaries, and enter into judgment with them? Wherefore doth he visit them, and strike them down with his right hand? Is it only to take vengeance, and to show his justice in their confusion? No, it serveth for the comfort and consolation of his servants, that howsoever God be patient, yet in the end they shall not escape. --William Attersoll, 1618.

EXPOSITION

Verse 11. Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan. These two kings were the first to oppose, and they were amongst the most notable of the adversaries: their being smitten is therefore a special object of song for loyal Israelites. The enmity of these two kings was wanton and unprovoked, and hence their overthrow was the more welcome to Israel. Sihon had been victorious in his war with Moab, and thought to make short work with Israel, but he was speedily overthrown: Og was of the race of the giants, and by his huge size inspired the tribes with dread; but they were encouraged by the previous overthrow of Sihon, and soon the giant king fell beneath their sword. And all the kingdoms Of Canaan. Many were these petty principalities, and some of them were populous and valiant; but they all fell beneath the conquering hand of Joshua, for the Lord was with him. Even so shall all the foes of the Lord's believing people in these days be put to the rout: Satan and the world shall be overthrown, and all the hosts of sin shall be destroyed, for our greater Joshua leads forth our armies, conquering and to conquer. Note that in this verse we have the details of matters which were mentioned in the bulk in the previous stanza: it is well when we have sting of mercies in the gross to consider them one by one, and give to each individual blessing a share in our song. It is well to preserve abundant memorials of the Lord's deliverance, so that we not only sing of mighty kings as a class but also of "Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan" as distinct persons.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 11. Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og. Notice is taken of two kings, Sihon and Og, not as being more powerful than the rest, but because shutting up the entrance to the land in front they were the most formidable enemies met with, and the people, besides, were not as yet habituated to war. --John Calvin.

Verse 11. Sihon king of the Amorites. When Israel arrived on the borders of the Promised Land they encountered Sihon. (Numbers 21:21.) He was evidently a man of very great courage and audacity. Shortly before the time of Israel's arrival he had dispossessed the Moabites of a splendid territory, driving them south of the natural bulwark of the Arnon with great slaughter and the loss of a great number of captives (Numbers 21:26-29). When the Israelite host appears, he does not hesitate or temporize like Balak, but at once gathers his people together and attacks them. But the battle was his last. He and all his host were destroyed, and their district from Arnon to Jabbok became at once the possession of the conqueror.

Josephus (Ant. 4:5,2) has preserved some singular details of the battle, which have not survived in the text either of the Hebrew or 70. He represents the Amorite army as containing every man in the nation fit to bear arms. He states that they were unable to fight when away from the shelter of their cities, and that being especially galled by the slings and arrows of the Hebrews, and at last suffering severely from thirst, they rushed to the stream and to the recesses of the ravine of the Arnon. Into these recesses they were pursued by their active enemy and slaughtered in vast numbers.

Whether we accept these details or not, it is plain, from the manner in which the name of Sihon fixes itself in the national mind, and the space which his image occupies in the official records, and in the later poetry of Israel, that he was a truly formidable chieftain. -- George Grove, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. 1863.

EXPOSITION

Verse 12. And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people. Jehovah is Lord Paramount, and permits men to hold their lands upon lease, terminable at his pleasure. The nations of Canaan had become loathsome with abominable vices, and they were condemned by the great Judge of all the earth to be cut off from the face of the country which they defiled. The twelve tribes were charged to act as their executioners, and as their fee they were to receive Canaan as a possession. Of old the Lord had given this land to Abraham and his seed by a covenant of salt, but he allowed the Amorites and other tribes to sojourn in it till their iniquity was full, and then he bade his people come and take their own out of the holders' hands. Canaan was their heritage because they were the Lord's heritage, and he gave it to them actually because he had long before given it to them by promise.

The Lord's chosen still have a heritage from which none can keep them back. Covenant blessings of inestimable value are secured to them; and, as surely as God has a people, his people shall have a heritage. To them it comes by gift, though they have to fight for it. Often does it happen when they slay a sin or conquer a difficulty that they are enriched by the spoil: to them even evils work for good, and trials ensure triumphs. No enemy shall prevail so as to really injure them, for they shall find a heritage where once they were opposed by "all the kingdoms of Canaan."

EXPOSITION

Verse 13. Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever. God's name is eternal, and will never be changed. His character is immutable; his fame and honour also shall remain to all eternity. There shall always be life in the name of Jesus, and sweetness and consolation. Those upon whom the Lord's name is named in verity and truth shall be preserved by it, and kept from all evil, world without end. JEHOVAH is a name which shall outlive the ages, and retain the fulness of its glory and might for ever. And thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations. Never shall men forget thee, O Lord. The ordinances of thine house shall keep thee in men's memories, and thine everlasting gospel and the grace which goes therewith shall be abiding reminders of thee. Grateful hearts will for ever beat to thy praise, and enlightened minds shall continue to marvel at all thy wondrous works. Men's memorials decay, but the memorial of the Lord abideth evermore. What a comfort to desponding minds, trembling for the ark of the Lord! No, precious Name, thou shalt never perish! Fame of the Eternal, thou shalt never grow dim!

This verse must be construed in its connection, and it teaches us that the honour and glory gained by the Lord in the overthrow of the mighty kings would never die out. Israel for long ages reaped the benefit of the prestige which the divine victories had brought to the nation. Moreover, the Lord in thus keeping his covenant which he made with Abraham, when he promised to give the land to his seed, was making it clear that his memorial contained in promises and covenant would never be out of his sight. His name endures in all its truthfulness, for those who occupied Israel's land were driven out that the true heirs might dwell therein in peace.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 13. Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever.

EXPOSITION

Verse 14. For the LORD will judge his people. He will exercise personal discipline over them, and not leave it to their foes to maltreat them at pleasure. When the correction is ended he will arise and avenge them of their oppressors, who for a while were used by him as his rod. He may seem to forget his people, but it is not so; he will undertake their cause and deliver them. The judges of Israel were also her deliverers, and such is the Lord of hosts: in this sense -- as ruling, preserving, and delivering his chosen -- Jehovah will judge his people. And he will repent himself concerning his servants. When he has smitten them, and they lie low before him, he will pity them as a father pitieth his children, for he doth not afflict willingly. The Psalm speaks after the manner of men: the nearest description that words can give of the Lord's feeling towards his suffering servants is that he repents the evil which he inflicted upon them. He acts as if he had changed his mind and regretted smiting them. It goes to the heart of God to see his beloved ones oppressed by their enemies: though they deserve all they suffer, and more than all, yet the Lord cannot see them smart without a pang. It is remarkable that the nations by which God has afflicted Israel have all been destroyed as if the tender Father hated the instruments of his children's correction. The chosen nation is here called, first, "his people", and then "his servants:" as his people he judges them, as his servants he finds comfort in them, for so the word may be read. He is most tender to them when he sees their service; hence the Scripture saith, "I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." Should not the "servants" of God praise him? He plagued Pharaoh's servants; but as for his own he has mercy upon them, and returns to them in love after he has in the truest affection smitten them for their iniquities. "Praise him, O ye servants of the Lord."

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 14. The LORD will judge his people. Others would like to do it, but must not. The world has seven judgment days in every week, but shall not be able to condemn the saints. He himself will judge. How will he judge them

Verse 14.

EXPOSITION

Verse 15. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. Their essential material is dead metal, their attributes are but the qualities of senseless substances, and what of form and fashion they exhibit they derive from the skill and labour of those who worship them. It is the height of insanity to worship metallic manufactures. Though silver and gold are useful to us when we rightly employ them, there is nothing about them which can entitle them to reverence and worship. If we did not know the sorrowful fact to be indisputable, it would seem to be impossible that intelligent beings could bow down before substances which they must themselves refine from the ore, and fashion into form. One would think it less absurd to worship one's own hands than to adore that which those hands have made. What great works can these mock deities perform for man when they are themselves the works of man? Idols are fitter to be played with, like dolls by babes, than to be adored by grown up men. Hands are better used in breaking than in making objects which can be put to such an idiotic use. Yet the heathen love their abominable deities better than silver and gold: it were well if we could say that some professed believers in the Lord had as much love for him.

Verse 15. The work of men's hands. Therefore they should rather, if it were possible, worship man, as their creator and lord, than be worshipped by him. --Matthew Pool, 1624-1679.

Verse 15-17. The Rev. John Thomas, a missionary in India, was one day travelling alone through the country, when he saw a great number of people waiting near an idol temple. He went up to them, and as soon as the doors were opened, he walked into the temple. Seeing an idol raised above the people, he walked boldly up to it, held up his hand, and asked for silence. He then put his fingers on its eyes, and said, "It has eyes, but it cannot see! It has ears, but it cannot hear! It has a nose, but it cannot smell! It has hands, but it cannot handle! It has a mouth, but it cannot speak! Neither is there any breath in it!" Instead of doing injury to him for affronting their god and themselves, the natives were all surprised; and an old Brahmin was so convinced of his folly by what Mr. Thomas said, that he also cried out, "It has feet, but cannot run away!" The people raised a shout, and being ashamed of their stupidity, they left the temple, and went to their homes. -- From "The New Cyclopcedia of Illustrative Anecdote", 1875.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 15. Silver and gold. These are idols in our own land, among worldlings, and with some professors. Show the folly and wickedness of loving riches, and the evils which come of it.

EXPOSITION

Verse 16. They have mouths. For their makers fashioned them like themselves. An opening is made where the mouth should be, and yet it is no mouth, for they eat not, they speak not. They cannot communicate with their worshippers; they are dumb as death. If they cannot even speak, they are not even so worthy of worship as our children at school. Jehovah speaks, and it is done: but these images utter never a word. Surely, if they could speak, they would rebuke their votaries. Is not their silence a still more powerful rebuke? When our philosophical teachers deny that God has made any verbal revelation of himself they also confess that their god is dumb.

Eyes have they, but they see not. Who would adore a blind man -- how can the heathen be so mad as to bow themselves before a blind image? The eyes of idols have frequently been very costly; diamonds have been used for that purpose; but of what avail is the expense, since they see nothing? If they cannot even see us, how can they know our wants, appreciate our sacrifices, or spy out for us the means of help! What a wretched thing, that a man who can see should bow down before an image which is blind! The worshipper is certainly physically in advance of his god, and yet mentally he is on a level with it; for assuredly his foolish heart is darkened, or he would not so absurdly play the feel.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 16-17. Mouths, eyes, ears. So many members as the images have, serving to represent perfections ascribed to them, so many are the lies. --David Dickson.

Verse 16-17. They can neither speak in answer to your prayers and inquiries, nor see what you do or what you want, nor hear your petitions, nor smell your incenses and sacrifices, nor use their hands either to take anything from you, or to give anything to you; nor so much as mutter, nor give the least sign of apprehending your condition or concerns. --Matthew Pool.

Verse 16-17. Mouths, but they speak not: ears, but they hear not. A heated fancy or imagination

May be mistaken for an inspiration.

True; but is this conclusion fair to make --

That inspiration must be all mistake?

A pebble stone is not a diamond: true;

But must a diamond be a pebble too?

To own a God who does not speak to men,

Is first to own, and then disown again;

Of all idolatry the total sum

lase having gods that are both deaf and dumb. --John Byron, 1691-1763.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 16-17. The Portrait of many,

EXPOSITION

Verse 17. They have ears, and very large ones, too, if we remember certain of the Hindu idols. But they hear not. Useless are their ears; in fact, they are mere counterfeits and deceits. Ears which men make are always deaf: the secret of hearing is wrapped up with the mystery of life, and both are in the unsearchable mind of the Lord. It seems that these heathen gods are dumb, and blind, and deaf -- a pretty bundle of infirmities to be found in a deity! Neither is there any breath in their mouths; they are dead, no sign of life is perceptible; and breathing, which is of the essence of animal life, they never knew. Shall a man waste his breath in crying to an idol which has no breath? Shall life offer up petitions to death? Verily, this is a turning of things upside down.

EXPOSITION

Verse 18. They that make them are like unto them. they are as blockish, as senseless, as stupid as the gods they have made, and, like them they are the objects of divine abhorrence, and shall be broken in pieces in due time. So is every one that trusteth in them. The idol worshippers are as bad as the idol makers; for if there were none to worship, there would be no market for the degrading manufacture. Idolaters are spiritually dead, they are the mere images of men, their best being is gone, they are not what they seem. Their mouths do not really pray, their eyes see not the truth, their ears hear not the voice of the Lord, and the life of God is not in them. Those who believe in their own inventions in religion betray great folly, and an utter absence of the quickening Spirit. Gracious men can see the absurdity of forsaking the true God and setting up rivals in his place; but those who perpetrate this crime think not so: on the contrary, they pride themselves upon their great wisdom, and boast of "advanced thought" and "modern culture." Others there are who believe in a baptismal regeneration which does not renew the nature, and they make members of Christ and children of God who have none of the spirit of Christ, or the signs of adoption. May we be saved from such mimicry of divine work lest we also become like our idols.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 18. Like them shall be those making them, every one who (is) trusting in them. If the meaning had been simply, those who make them are like them, Hebrew usage would have required the verb to be suppressed. Its insertion, therefore, in the future form (wyhy) requires it to be rendered strictly shall be, i.e., in fate as well as character. Idolaters shall perish with their perishable idols. See Isaiah 1:31. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 18. People never rise above the level of their gods, which are to them their better nature. --Andrew Robert Faussett.

Verse 18. They that make them are like unto them. Idolatry is a benumbing sin, which bereaveth the idolater of the right use of his senses. --David Dickson.

Verse 18. They that make them, etc. Teacheth us, that the idol, the idol maker, and all such also as serve idols, are not only beastly and blockish before men, but shall before God, in good time, come to shame and confusion. --Thomas Wilcocks, 1549-1608.

Verse 18. Like unto them. A singular phenomenon, known as the Spectre of the Brocken, is seen on a certain mountain in Germany. The traveller who at dawn stands on the topmost ridge beholds a colossal shadowy spectre. But in fact it is only his own shadow projected upon the morning mists by the rising sun; and it imitates, of course, every movement of its creator. So heathen nations have mistaken their own image for Deity. Their gods display human frailties and passions and scanty virtues, projected and magnified upon the heavens, just as the small figures on the slide of a magic lantern are projected, magnified, and illuminated upon a white sheet. --From Elan Foster's New Cyclopoedia of Illustrations, 1870.

Verse 18. Like unto them. How many are like idol images, when they have eyes, ears, and mouths as though they had none: that is, when they do not use them when and how they should! --Christoph Starke.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 18.

EXPOSITION

Verse 19. Bless the LORD, O house of Israel. All of you, in all your tribes, praise the one Jehovah. Each tribe, from Reuben to Benjamin, has its own special cause for blessing the Lord, and the nation as a whole has substantial reasons for pouring out benedictions upon his name. Those whom God has named "the house of Israel", a family of prevailing princes, ought to show their loyalty by thankfully bowing before their sovereign Lord. Bless the LORD, O house of Aaron. These were elected to high office and permitted to draw very near to the divine presence; therefore they beyond all others were bound to bless the Lord. Those who are favoured to be leaders in the church should be foremost in adoration. In God's house the house of Aaron should feel bound to speak well of his name before all the house of Israel.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 19. Bless the LORD. Blessing of God is to wish well to, and speak well of God, out of goodwill to God himself, and a sense of his goodness to ourselves. God loves your good word, that is, to be spoken of well by you; he rejoiceth in your well wishes, and to hear from you expressions of rejoicings in his own independent blessedness. Though God hath an infinite ocean of all blessedness, to which we can add nothing, and he is therefore called by way of eminency, "The Blessed One" (Mark 14:61), a title solely proper and peculiar to him, yet he delights to hear the amen of the saints, his creatures, resounding thereto; he delights to hear us utter our "so be it." --Thomas Goodwin.

Verse 19. Bless the LORD. And not an idol (Isaiah 66:3), as the Philistines did their Dagon, and as Papists still do their he saints and she saints. --John Trapp.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 19. House of Israel. The Lord's great goodness to all his people, perceived and proclaimed, and the Lord praised for it.

Verse 19. House of Aaron. God's blessing on Aaron's house typical of his grace to those who are priests unto God.

Verse 19-21.

b) To bless him in his own house.

b) To the house of Aaron, or ministers of the sanctuary.

c) To the house of Levi, or the attendants upon ministers, and assistants in the services.

d) To all who fear God, wherever they may be. Even they who fear God are invited to praise him, which is a sure sign that he delighteth in mercy. -- G. R.

EXPOSITION

Verse 20. Bless the LORD, O house of Levi. These helped the priests in other things, let them aid them in this also. The house of Israel comprehends all the chosen seed; then we come down to the smaller but more central ring of the house of Aaron, and now we widen out to the whole tribe of Levi. Let reverence and adoration spread from man to man until the whole lump of humanity shall be leavened. The house of Levi had choice reasons for blessing God: read the Levite story and see. Remember that the whole of the Levites were set apart for holy service, and supported by tim tribes allotted to them; therefore they were in honour bound above all others to worship Jehovah with cheerfulness.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 20. Bless the LORD, O house Of Levi. In Psalms 115:1-18 the exhortation given is to trust or hope in the Lord; here, to bless him. The Levites are mentioned in addition to the house of Aaron, there being two orders of priesthood. Everything else in the two Psalms is the same, except that, in the last verse, the Psalmist here joins himself, along with the rest of the Lord's people, in blessing God. -- Franz Delitzsch.

Verse 20. Ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD. These are distinct from the Israelites, priests, and Levites, and design the proselytes among them of other nations that truly feared God, as Jarchi notes; and all such persons, whoever and wherever they are, have reason to bless the Lord for the fear of him they have, which is not from nature but from grace; and for the favours shown them, the blessings bestowed upon them, the good things laid up for them, and the guard that is about them, which the Scriptures abundantly declare, and experience confirms. --John Gill.

Verse 20. Ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD. In Scripture it is quite common to find this "fear" put for holiness itself, or the sum of true religion. It is not, therefore, such a fear as seized the hearts of our first parents when, hearing the voice of the Lord God, they hid themselves amongst the trees of the garden; nor such as suddenly quenched the noise of royal revelry in the night of Babylon's overthrow; nor such as, on some day yet future, shall drive despairing sinners to the unavailing shelter of the mountains and rocks. It is not the fear of guilty distrust, or of hatred, or of bondage -- that fear which hath torment, and which perfect love casteth out; but a fear compatible with the highest privileges, attainments, and hopes of the Christian life. It is the fear of deep humility and reverence, of filial subjection, and adoring gratitude; the fear which "blesseth the Lord", saying, "His mercy endureth for ever." --John Lillie (1812-1867), in "Lectures on the Epistles of Peter."

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 20. The Levites, their history, duties, rewards, and obligations to bless God.

Verse 20. (second clause).

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 21. The conclusion, Psalms 135:21, alludes to the conclusion of the preceding Psalm. There, the Lord blesses thee out of Zion; here, let him be blessed out of Zion. The praise proceeds from the same place from which the blessing issues. For Zion is the place where the community dwells with God. --E. W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 21. Praise ye the LORD. When the song of praise is sung unto God, the work of his praise is not ended, but must be continued, renewed, and followed still: "Praise ye the LORD." --David Dickson.

Verse 21. Bless, Praise. We are not only to bless God, but to praise him: "All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee." Blessing relateth to his benefits, praise to his excellencies. We bless him for what he is to us, we praise him for what he is in himself. Now, whether we bless him, or praise him; it is still to increase our love to him, and delight in him; for God is not affected with the flattery of empty praises; yet this is an especial duty, which is of use to you, as all other duties are. It doth you good to consider him as an infinite and eternal Being, and of glorious and incomprehensible majesty. It is pleasant and profitable to us. --Thomas Manton.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 21.

b) God perpetually blessing his people by dwelling with them in Zion.

Psalms 136

PSALM 136 OVERVIEW . We know not by whom this Psalm was written, but we do know that it was sung in Solomon's temple ( 2 Chronicles 7:3,6 ), and by the armies of Jehoshaphat when they sang themselves into victory in the wilderness of Tekoa. From the striking form of it we should infer that it was a popular hymn among the Lord's ancient people. Most hymns with a solid, simple chorus become favourites with congregations, and this is sure to have been one of the best beloved. It contains nothing but praise. It is tuned to rapture, and can only be fully enjoyed by a devoutly grateful heart. It commences with a threefold praise to the Triune Lord ( Psalms 136:1-3 ), then it gives us six notes of praise to the Creator ( Psalms 136:4-9 ), six more upon deliverance from Egypt ( Psalms 134:10-15 ), and seven upon the journey through the wilderness and the entrance into Canaan. Then we have two happy verses of personal gratitude for present mercy ( Psalms 134:23-24 ), one ( Psalms 134:25 ) to tell of the Lord's universal providence, and a closing verse to excite to never ending praise. EXPOSITION Verse 1 . O give thanks unto the LORD. The exhortation is intensely earnest: the Psalmist pleads with the Lord's people with an "O", three times repeated. Thanks are the least that we can offer, and these we ought freely to give. The inspired writer calls us to praise Jehovah for all his goodness to us, and all the greatness of his power in blessing his chosen. We thank our parents, let us praise our heavenly Father; we are grateful to our benefactors, let us give thanks unto the Giver of all good. For he is good. Essentially he is goodness itself, practically all that he does is good, relatively he is good to his creatures. Let us thank him that we have seen, proved, and tasted that he is good. He is good beyond all others: indeed, he alone is good in the highest sense; he is the source of good, the good of all good, the sustainer of good, the perfecter of good, and the rewarder of good. For this he deserves the constant gratitude of his people. For his mercy endureth for ever. We shall have this repeated in every verse of this song, but not once too often. It is the sweetest stanza that a man can sing. What joy that there is mercy, mercy with Jehovah, enduring mercy, mercy enduring for ever. We are ever needing it, trying it, praying for it, receiving it: therefore let us for ever sing of it. "When all else is changing within and around, In God and his mercy no change can be found." EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm . This Psalm was very probably composed by David, and given to the Levites to sing every day: 1 Chronicles 16:41 . Solomon his son followed his example, and made use of it in singing at the dedication of the Temple ( 2 Chronicles 7:3-6 ); as Jehoshaphat seems to have done when he went out to war against his enemies ( 2 Chronicles 20:21 ). --John Gill. Whole Psalm . The grand peculiarity of form in this Psalm ... is the regular recurrence, at the close of every verse, of a burden or refrain ... It has been a favourite idea with interpreters that such repetitions necessarily imply alternate or responsive choirs. But the other indications of this usage in the Psalter are extremely doubtful, and every exegetical condition may be satisfied by simply supposing that the singers, in some cases, answered their own questions, and that in others, as in that before us, the people united in the burden or chorus, as they were wont to do in the Amen. --Joseph Addison Alexander. Whole Psalm . The Psalm is called by the Greek church Polyeleos, from its continual mention of the mercy of God. --Neale and Littledale. Whole Psalm . In the liturgical language this Psalm is called par excellence the great Hallel, for according to its broadest compass the great Hallel comprehends Psalms 120:1-136:26 , whilst the Hallel which is absolutely so called extends from Psalms 113:1-118:29 . --Franz Delitzsch. Whole Psalm . Praise ye (wdwh) Jehovah; not as in Psalms 135:1 , "Hallelujah", but varying the words, "Be ye Judahs to the Lord!" Praise him for what he is ( Psalms 136:1-3 ). Praise him for what he is able to do ( Psalms 136:4 ). Praise him for what he has done in creation ( Psalms 136:5-9 ). Praise him for what he did in redeeming Israel from bondage ( Psalms 136:10-15 ). Praise him for what he did in his providence toward them ( Psalms 136:16-22 ). Praise him for his grace in times of calamity ( Psalms 136:23-24 ). Praise him for his grace to the world at large ( Psalms 136:25 ). Praise him at the remembrance that this God is the God of heaven ( Psalms 136:26 ). --Andrew A. Bonar. Whole Psalm . When, in the time of the Emperor Constantius, S. Athanasius was assaulted by night in his church at Alexandria by Syrianus and his troops, and many were wounded and murdered, the Bishop of Alexandria sat still in his chair, and ordered the deacon to begin this Psalm, and the people answered in prompt alternation, For his mercy endureth for ever. --Christopher Wordsworth. Verse 1 . O give thanks unto the LORD . When we have praised God for reasons offered unto us in one Psalm, we must begin again, and praise him for other reasons; and even when we have done this, we have not overtaken our task, the duty lieth still at our door, to be discharged afresh, as this Psalm doth show. --David Dickson. Verse 1 . For he is good . Observe what we must give thanks for not as the Pharisee that made all his thanksgivings terminate in his own goodness -- "God, I thank thee" that I am so and so -- but directing them all to God's glory: "for he is good." --Matthew Heary. Verse 1 . His mercy endureth forever . This appears four times in Psalms 118:1-4 . This sentence is the wonder of Moses, the sum of revelation, and the hope of man. --James G. Murphy. Verse 1 . His mercy . Many sweet things are in the word of God, but the name of mercy is the sweetest word in all the Scriptures, which made David harp upon it twenty-six times in this Psalm: "For his mercy endureth for ever:" It was such a cheerful note in his ears when he struck upon mercy, that, like a bird that is taught to pipe, when he had sung it, he sang it again, and when he had sung it again, he recorded it again, and made it the burden of his song: "For his mercy endureth for ever." Like a nightingale which, when she is in a pleasant vein, quavers and capers, and trebles upon it, so did David upon his mercy: "For his mercy endureth for ever." --Henry Smith. Verse 1 . Mercy . By "mercy" we understand the Lord's disposition to compassionate and relieve those whom sin has rendered miserable and base; his readiness to forgive and to be reconciled to the most provoking of transgressors, and to bestow all blessings upon them; together with all the provision which he has made for the honour of his name, in the redemption of sinners by Jesus Christ. --Thomas Scott. Verse 1 . His mercy endureth for ever . It is everlasting. Everlastingness, or eternity, is a perfect possession, all at once, of an endless life (saith Boethius). Everlasting mercy, then, is perfect mercy, which shuts out all the imperfections of time, beginning, end, succession, and such is God's mercy. First, his essential mercy is eternity itself; for it is himself, and God hath not, but is, things. He is beginning, end, being; and that which is of himself and even himself is eternity itself. Secondly, his relative mercy (which respects us, and makes impression on us), is everlasting, too, in a sense; for the creatures, ever since they had being in him, or existence in their natural causes, ever did and ever will need mercy, either preserving or conserving. Preventing or continuing mercy in the first sense is negatively endless, that is, incapable of end, because unboundable for being: in the second sense, it is privatively endless, it shall never actually take end, though in itself it may be, and in some ways is, bounded; the first is included in the latter, but the latter is chiefly here intended; and therefore the point arises to be this, -- God's mercy (chiefly to his church) is an endless mercy; it knows no end, receives no interruption. Reasons hereof from the word are these (for as touching testimony this Psalm shall be our security), first, from God's nature, "he is good". Mercy pleaseth him. It is no trouble for him to exercise mercy. It is his delight: we are never weary of receiving, therefore he cannot be of giving; for it is a more blessed thing to give than to receive; so God takes more content in the one than we in the other. -- Robert Harris, 1578-1658. Verse 1 . His mercy endureth for ever . God's goodness is a fountain; it is never dry. As grace is from the world's beginning ( Psalms 25:6 ), so it is to the world's end, à seculo in seculum, from one generation to another. Salvation is no termer; grace ties not itself to times. Noah as well as Abel, Moses as well as Jacob, Jeremy as well as David, Paul as well as Simeon hath part in this salvation. God's gracious purpose the Flood drowned not, the smoke of Sinai smothered not, the Captivity ended not, the ends of the world (Saint Paul calls them so) determined not. For Christ, by whom it is, was slain from the beginning, -- Saint John saith so. He was before Abraham, he himself saith so. And Clemens Alexandrinus (tom. 5. page 233) doth Marcion wrong, though otherwise an heretic, in blaming him for holding that Christ saved those also that believed in him before his incarnation. The blood of the beasts under the law was a type of his. And the scars of his wounds appear yet still, and will for ever, till he cometh to judgment. The Apostle shall end this: he is heri, and hodi, and semper idem: Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. --Richard Clerke, 1634. Verse 1-3 . The three first verses of this Psalm contain the three several names of the Deity , which are commonly rendered Jehovah, God, and Lord, respectively; the first having reference to his essence as self existent, and being his proper name; the second designating him under the character of a judge or of an all powerful being, if Aleim be derived from Al; and the third, Adoni, representing him as exercising rule. -- Daniel Cresswell. Verse 1-3 . O give thanks . What! give God thanks for everything, Whatever may befall -- Whatever the dark clouds may bring? Yes, give God thanks for all; For safe he leads thee, hand in hand, To thy blessed Fatherland. What! thank him for the lonely way He to me hath given -- For the path which, day by day Seems farther off from heaven? Yes, thank him, for he holds thy hand And leads thee to thy Fatherland. Close, close he shields thee from all harm; And if the road be steep, Thou know'st his everlasting arm In safety doth thee keep, Although thou canst not understand The windings to thy Fatherland. What blessing, thinkest thou, will he, Who knows the good and ill, Keep back, if it is good for thee, While climbing up the hill? Then trust him, and keep fast his hand, He leads thee to thy Fatherland. --B.S., in "The Christian Treasury", 1865. Verse 1-9 . Like the preceding Psalm , this Psalm allies itself to the Book of Deuteronomy. The first clauses of Psalms 136:2-3 (God of gods and Lord of Lords) are taken from Deuteronomy 10:17 ; Psalms 136:12 , first clause (with a strong hand and stretched out arm) from Deuteronomy 4:34 , and De 5:15. Psalms 136:16 , first clause, is like Deuteronomy 8:15 (cf. Jeremiah 2:6 ). --Franz Delitzsch. Verse 1-26 . All repetitions are not vain , nor is all length in prayer to be accounted babbling. For repetitions may be used, When they express fervency and zeal: and so we read, Christ prayed over the same prayer thrice ( Matthew 26:44 ); "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." And another evangelist showeth that he did this out of special fervency of spirit ( Luke 22:44 ); "Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly." This repetition is not to be disapproved when there is a special emphasis, and spiritual elegancy in it, as in Psalms 136:1-26 you have it twenty-six times repeated, For his mercy endureth for ever, because there was a special reason in it, the Psalmist's purpose there being to show the unweariedness, and the unexhausted riches of God's free grace; that notwithstanding all the former experiences they had had, God is where he was at first. We waste by giving, our drop is soon spent; but God is not wasted by bestowing, but hath the same mercy to do good to his creatures, as before. Though he had done all those wonders for them, yet his mercy was as ready to do good to them still. All along God saved and blessed his people, "For his mercy endureth for ever." -- Thomas Manton. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 1 . Consider his name -- "Jehovah." Carry out your joyful duty: "O give thanks." Contemplate the two reasons given -- goodness and enduring mercy. Verse 1 . Many subjects for praise. For the goodness of God: "He is good" ( Psalms 136:1 ). For his supremacy: "God of gods; Lord of lords" ( Psalms 136:2-3 ). For his works in general ( Psalms 136:4 ). For his works of creation in particular ( Psalms 136:5-9 ). For his works of Providence ( Psalms 136:10-26 ). The chief subject for praise: For his mercy endureth for ever. For mercy. This is the sinner's principal need. For mercy in God. This is the sinner's attribute, and is as essential to God as justice. For mercy enduring for ever. If they who have sinned need mercy for ever, they must exist for ever; and their guilt must be for ever. --G. R. Verse 1 . The Lord is good. God is originally good -- good of himself. He is infinitely good. He is perfectly good, because infinitely good. He is immutably good. -- Charnock. Verse 1-3 . The triplet of names: "Jehovah", "the God of gods", "the Lord of lords." The threefold adjuration, "O give thanks." The irrepressible attribute and argument "for his mercy", etc. -- W.B.H. Verse 1-26 . For his mercy endureth for ever. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 787: "A Song, a Solace, a Sermon, and a Summons."

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. O give thanks unto the God of gods. If there be powers in heaven or on earth worthy of the name of gods he is the God of them; from him their dominion comes, their authority is derived from him, and their very existence is dependent upon his will. Moreover, for the moment assuming that the deities of the heathen were gods, yet none of them could be compared with our Elohim, who is infinitely beyond what they are fabled to be. Jehovah is our God, to be worshipped and adored, and he is worthy of our reverence to the highest degree. If the heathen cultivate the worship of their gods with zeal, how much more intently should we seek the glory of the God of gods -- the only true and real God. Foolish persons have gathered from this verse that the Israelites believed in the existence of many gods, at the same time believing that their Jehovah was the chief among them; but this is an absurd inference, since gods who have a God over them cannot possibly be gods themselves. The words are to be understood after the usual manner of human speech, in which things are often spoken of not as they really are, but as they profess to be. God as God is worthy of our warmest thanks, for his mercy endureth for ever. Imagine supreme Godhead without everlasting mercy! It would then have been as fruitful a source of terror as it is now a fountain of thanksgiving. Let the Highest be praised in the highest style, for right well do his nature and his acts deserve the gratitude of all his creatures. Praise your God with right good will,

For his love endureth still.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. The God of gods. "God of gods" is an Hebrew superlative, because he is far above all gods, whether they be so reputed or deputed. --Robert Harris.

Verse 2. The God of gods. One, as being Creator, infinitely higher than all others, his creatures, who have at any time been regarded as gods. --Freneh and Skinner, 1842.

Verse 2-3. Before proceeding to recite God's works, the Psalmist declares his supreme Deity, and dominion: not that such comparative language implies that there is anything approaching Deity besides him, but there is a disposition in men, whenever they see any part of his glory displayed, to conceive of a God separate from him, thus impiously dividing the Godhead into parts, and even proceeding so far as to frame gods of wood and stone. There is a depraved tendency in all to take delight in a multiplicity of gods. For this reason, apparently, the Psalmist uses the plural number not only in the word Elohim but in the word Adonim, so that it reads literally, Praise ye the Lords of lords: he would intimate, that the fullest perfection of all dominion is to be found in the one God. --John Calvin.

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. O give thanks to the Lord of lords. There are lords many, but Jehovah is the Lord of them. All lordship is vested in the Eternal. He makes and administers law, he rules and governs mind and matter, he possesses in himself all sovereignty and power. All lords in the plural are summed up in this Lord in the singular; he is more lordly than all emperors and kings condensed into one. For this we may well be thankful, for we know the superior Sovereign will rectify the abuses of the underlings who now lord it over mankind. He will call these lords to his bar, and reckon with them for every oppression and injustice. He is as truly the Lord of lords as he is Lord over the meanest of the land, and he rules with a strict impartiality, for which every just man should give heartiest thanks.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Yes, he mingles mercy with his justice, and reigns for the benefit of his subjects. He pities the sorrowful, protects the helpless, provides for the needy, and pardons the guilty; and this he does from generation to generation, never wearying of his grace, "because he delighteth in mercy." Let us arouse ourselves to laud our glorious Lord! A third time let us thank him who is our Jehovah, our God, and our Lord; and let this one reason suffice us for three thanksgivings, or for three thousand -- "For his mercy shall endure,

Ever faithful, ever sure."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. The Lord of lords. The meaning of the title "Lord", as distinct from "Jehovah" and "God", is "Governor." And in this view also he is eminently entitled to praise and thanksgiving, in that his rule and government of the world are also eminently marked by "mercy" and "goodness": not the display of power only, but of power declared chiefly in showing mercy and pity: as again all subject to that rule are witnesses. Such is God in himself. Nor is it without intention that the doxology is threefold, indicating, doubtless, like the threefold invocation of the Name of the Lord in the blessing of the people (Numbers 6:24-26) God in Trinity, "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost", as now fully revealed. --William De Burgh.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. To him who alone doeth great wonders. Jehovah is the great Thaumaturge, the unrivalled Wonder worker. None can be likened unto him, he is alone in wonderland, the Creator and Worker of true marvels, compared with which all other remarkable things are as child's play. His works are all great in wonder even when they are not great in size; in fact, in the minute objects of the microscope we behold as great wonders as even the telescope can reveal. All the works of his unrivalled skill are wrought by him alone and unaided, and to him, therefore, must be undivided honour. None of the gods or the lords helped Jehovah in creation, or in the redemption of his people: his own right hand and his holy arm have wrought for him these great deeds. What have the gods of the heathen done? If the question be settled by doings, Jehovah is indeed "alone." It is exceedingly wonderful that men should worship gods who can do nothing, and forget the Lord who alone doeth great wonders. Even when the Lord uses men as his instruments, yet the wonder of the work is his alone; therefore let us not trust in men, or idolize them, or tremble before them. Praise is to be rendered to Jehovah, for his mercy endureth for ever. The mercy of the wonder is the wonder of the mercy; and the enduring nature of that mercy is the central wonder of that wonder. The Lord causes us often to sit down in amazement as we see what his mercy has wrought out and prepared for us: "wonders of grace to God belong", yea, great wonders and unsearchable. Oh the depth! Glory be to his name world without end! Doing wondrous deeds alone,

Mercy sits upon his throne.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. To him who alone doeth great wonders. God hath preserved to himself the power of miracles, as his prerogative: for the devil does no miracles; the devil and his instruments do but hasten nature or hinder nature, antedate nature or postdate nature, bring things sooner to pass or retard them; and however they pretend to oppose nature, yet still it is but upon nature and by natural means that they work. Only God shakes the whole frame of nature in pieces, and in a miracle proceeds so, as if there were no creation yet accomplished, no course of nature yet established. Facit mirabilia magna solus, says David here. There are mirabilia parva, some lesser wonders, that the devil and his instruments, Pharaoh's sorcerers can do; but when it comes to mirabilias magna, great wonders, so great that they amount to the nature of a miracle, facit solus, God and God only does them. --Abraham Wright.

Verse 4. To him who alone doeth great wonders. Does he "alone" do great wonders? That means, he does so by himself, unaided, needing nothing from others, asking no help from his creatures. As the Nile from Nubia to the Mediterranean rolls on 1,300 miles in solitary grandeur, receiving not one tributary, but itself alone dispensing fertility and fatness wherever it comes; so our God "alone" does wonders. (See Deuteronomy 32:12 Psalms 72:18, etc.) No prompter, no helper; spontaneously he goes forth to work, and all he works is worthy of God. Then we have no need of any other; we are independent of all others; all our springs are in him. --Andrew A. Bonar.

Verse 4. Who alone doeth great wonders. There are three things here declared of God; that he doeth wonders, that the wonders he doeth are great; that he only doeth them. --Augustine, in Neale and Littledale.

Verse 4. Who alone doeth great wonders. Whatsoever instruments the Lord is pleased to use in any of his wonderful works, he alone is the worker, and will not share the glory of the work with any creature. --David Dickson.

Verse 4. It becomes the great God to grant great things. To him who alone doeth great wonders. When you ask great things, you ask such as it becomes God to give, "whose mercy is great above the heavens!" Nothing under heaven can be too great for him to give. The greater things he bestows, the greater glory redounds to his Name. -- David Clarkson, 1622-1686.

Verse 4. Christians should not be ashamed of the mysteries and miracles of their religion. Sometimes of late years there has been manifested a disposition to recede from the defence of the supernatural in religion. This is a great mistake. Give up all that is miraculous in true religion and there is nothing left of power sufficient to move any heart to worship or adore; and without worship there is no piety. --William Swan Plumer.

Verse 4. The longer I live, O my God, the more do I wonder at all the works of thy hands. I see such admirable artifice in the very least and most despicable of all thy creatures, as doth every day more and more astonish my observation. I need not look so far as heaven for matter of marvel, though therein thou art infinitely glorious; while I have but a spider in my window, or a bee in my garden, or a worm under my foot: every one of these overcomes me with a just amazement: yet can I see no more than their very outsides; their inward form, which gives their being and operations, I cannot pierce into. The less I can know, O Lord, the more let me wonder; and the less I can satisfy myself with marvelling at thy works, the more let me adore the majesty and omnipotence of thee, that wroughtest them. --Joseph Hall.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4.

Verse 4. The great lone Wonder worker.

Verse 4. The merciful in the wonderful. The wonderful in the merciful.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. To him that by wisdom made the heavens. His goodness appears in creating the upper regions. He set his wisdom to the task of fashioning a firmament, or an atmosphere suitable for a world upon which mortal men should dwell. What a mass of wisdom lies hidden in this one creating act! The discoveries of our keenest observers have never searched out all the evidences of design which are crowded together in this work of God's hands. The lives of plants, animals, and men are dependent upon the fashioning of our heavens: had the skies been other than they are we had not been here to praise God. Divine foresight planned the air and the clouds, with a view to the human race.

For his mercy endureth for ever. The Psalmist's details of mercy begin in the loftiest regions, and gradually descend from the heavens to "our low estate" (Psalms 134:23); and this is an ascent, for mercy becomes greater as its objects become less worthy. Mercy is far reaching, long enduring, all encompassing. Nothing is too high for its reach, as nothing is beneath its stoop. High as heaven his wisdom reigns,

Mercy on the throne remains.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. To him that by wisdom made the heavens. We find that God has built the heavens in wisdom, to declare his glory, and to show forth his handiwork. There are no iron tracks, with bars and bolts, to hold the planets in their orbits. Freely in space they move, ever changing, but never changed; poised and balancing; swaying and swayed; disturbing and disturbed, onward they fly, fulfilling with unerring certainty their mighty cycles. The entire system forms one grand complicated piece of celestial machinery; circle within circle, wheel within wheel, cycle within cycle; revolutions go swift as to be completed in a few hours; movements so slow, that their mighty periods are only counted by millions of years. --From "The Orbs of Heaven", 1859.

Verse 5. To him that by wisdom made the heavens. Not only the firmament, but the third heavens, too, where all is felicity, where is the throne of glory. Then, I infer, that if the mercy which visits earth is from the same Jehovah who built that heaven and filled it with glory, there must be in his mercy something of the same "understanding" or "wisdom." It is wise, prudent mercy; not rashly given forth; and it is the mercy of him whose love has filled that heaven with bliss. The same architect, the same skill, the same love! --Andrew A. Bonar.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters. Lifting it up from the mingled mass, the dank morass, the bottomless bog, of mixed land and sea; and so fitting it to be the abode of man. Who but the Lord could have wrought this marvel? Few even think of the divine wisdom and power which performed all this of old; yet, if a continent can be proved to have risen or fallen an inch within historic memory, the fact is recorded in the "transactions" of learned societies, and discussed at every gathering of philosophers.

For his mercy endureth for ever, as is seen in the original upheaval and perpetual upstanding of the habitable land, so that no deluge drowns the race. By his strength he sets fast the mountains and consolidates the land upon which we sojourn. From the flood he lifts the land:

Firm his mercies ever stand.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. Stretched out the earth above the waters. The waters of the great deep (Genesis 7:11) are meant; above which the crust of the earth is outspread. In Proverbs 8:27 the great deep encircles the earth. --Speaker's Commentary.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. To him that made great lights. This also is a creating miracle worthy of our loudest thanks. What could men have done without light? Though they had the heavens above them, and dry land to move upon, yet what could they see, and where could they go without light? Thanks be to the Lord, who has not consigned us to darkness. In great mercy he has not left us to an uncertain, indistinct light, floating about fitfully, and without order; but he has concentrated light upon two grand luminaries, which, as far as we are concerned, are to us "great lights." The Psalmist is making a song for common people, not for your critical savans, -- and so he sings of the sun and moon as they appear to us, -- the greatest of lights. These the Lord created in the beginning; and for the present age of man made or constituted them light bearers for the world.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Mercy gleams in every ray of light, and it is most clearly seen in the arrangement by which it is distributed with order and regularity from the sun and moon. Lamps he lit in heaven's heights,

For in mercy he delights.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Great lights. The luminaries of heaven are unspeakable blessings to the children of men. The sun, in the greatness of his strength, measures their day, and exerts an influence over animal and vegetable life, which surrounds them with innumerable comforts; and the moon and stars walking forth in their brightness, give direction to them amidst the sable hours of night, and both by land and sea proclaim the wisdom, and benignity, and gracious arrangement of the adorable Creator. By these luminaries, day and night, heat and cold, summer and winter are continually regulated: so that God's covenant with the earth is maintained through their medium. How truly, then, may we exclaim, "His mercy endureth for ever!" --John Morison.

Verse 7. To him that made great lights. Light is the life and soul of the universe, the noblest emblem of the power and glory of God, who, in the night season, leaves not himself without witness, but gives us some portion of that light reflected, which by day we behold flowing from its great fountain in the heart of heaven. Thy church and thy saints, O Lord, "are the moon and the stars", which, by the communication of doctrine, and the splendour of example, guide our feet, while we travel on in the night that hath overtaken us, waiting for the dawn of everlasting day. Then we shall behold thy glory, and see thee as thou art. --George Horne.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7. The mercy which dwells in the creation and distribution of light.

Verse 7-9.

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. The sun to rule by day. We cannot be too specific in our praises; after mentioning great lights, we may sing of each of them, and yet not outwear our theme. The influences of the sun are too many for us to enumerate them all, but untold benefits come to all orders of beings by its light, warmth, and other operations. Whenever we sit in the sunshine, our gratitude should be kindled. The sun is a great ruler, and his government is pure beneficence, because by God's mercy it is moderated to our feebleness; let all who rule take lessons from the sun which rules to bless. By day we may well give thanks, for God gives cheer. The sun rules because God rules; it is not the sun which we should worship, like the Parsees; but the Creator of the sun, as he did who wrote this sacred song.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Day unto day uttereth speech concerning the mercy of the Lord; every sunbeam is a mercy, for it falls on undeserving sinners who else would sit in doleful darkness, and find earth a hell. Milton puts it well: "He, the golden tressed sun

Caused all day his course to run;

For his mercy shall endure

Ever faithful, ever sure."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. The sun to rule by day. This verse showeth that the sun shineth in the day, by the order which God hath set, and not for any natural cause alone, as some imagine and conjecture. --Thomas Wilcocks.

Verse 8. The sun. The lantern of the world (lucerna Mundi), as Copernicus names the sun, enthroned in the centre -- according to Theon of Smyrna, the all vivifying, pulsating heart of the universe, is the primary source of light and of radiating heat, and the generator of numerous terrestrial, electromagnetic processes, and indeed of the greater part of the organic vital activity upon our planet, more especially that of the vegetable kingdom. In considering the expression of solar force, in its widest generality, we find that it gives rise to alterations on the surface of the earth, -- partly by gravitative attraction, -- as in the ebb and flow of the ocean (if we except the share taken in the phenomenon by lunar attraction), partly by light and heat generating transverse vibrations of ether, as in the fructifying admixture of the aerial and aqueous envelopes of our planet, from the contact of the atmosphere with the vaporizing fluid element in seas, lakes, and rivers. The solar action operates, moreover, by differences of heat, in exciting atmospheric and oceanic currents; the latter of which have continued for thousands of years (though in an inconsiderable degree) to accumulate or waste away alluvial strata, and thus change the surface of the inundated land; it operates in the generation and maintenance of the electromagnetic activity of the earth's crust, and that of the oxygen contained in the atmosphere; at one time calling forth calm and gentle forces of chemical attraction, and variously determining organic life in the endosmose of cell walls and in tissue of muscular and nervous fibres; at another time evoking light processes in the atmosphere, such as the coloured coruscations of the polar light, thunder and lightning, hurricanes and waterspouts.

Our object in endeavouring to compress in one picture the influences of solar action, in as far as they are independent of the orbit and the position of the axis of our globe, has been clearly to demonstrate, by an exposition of the connection existing between great, and at first sight heterogeneous, phenomena, how physical nature may be depicted in the History of the Cosmos as a whole, moved and animated by internal and frequently self adjusting forces. But the waves of light not only exert a decomposing and combining action on the corporeal world; they not only call forth the tender germs of plants from the earth, generate the green colouring matter (chlorophyll) within the leaf, and give colour to the fragrant blossom -- they not only produce myriads of reflected images of the Sun in the graceful play of the waves, as in the moving grass of the field -- but the rays of celestial light, in the varied gradations of their intensity and duration, are also mysteriously connected with the inner life of man, his intellectual susceptibilities, and the melancholy or cheerful tone of his feelings. This is what Pliny the elder referred to in these words, "Caeli tristram discutit sol, et humani nubila animi serenat." ("The sun chases sadness from the sky, and dissipates the clouds which darken the human heart.") -- F.H. Alexandar Von Humboldt (1769-1859), "Cosmos."

Verse 8. The sun. O sun! what makes thy beams so bright?

The word that said, "Let there be light." --James Montgomery.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 8-9.

EXPOSITION

Verse 9. The moon and stars to rule by night. No hour is left without rule. Blessed be God, he leaves us never to the doom of anarchy. The rule is one of light and benediction. The moon with her charming changes, and the stars in their fixed spheres gladden the night. When the season would be dark and dreary because of the absence of the sun, forth come the many minor comforters. The sun is enough alone; but when he is gone a numerous band cannot suffice to give more than a humble imitation of his radiance. Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, alone, can do more for us than all his servants put together. He makes our day. When he is hidden, it is night, and remains night, let our human comforters shine at their full. What mercy is seen in the lamps of heaven gladdening our landscape at night! What equal mercy in all the influences of the moon upon the tides, those life floods of the earth! The Lord is the Maker of every star, be the stars what they may; he calleth them all by their names, and at his bidding each messenger with his torch enlightens our darkness.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Let our thanks be as many as the stars, and let our lives reflect the goodness of the Lord, even as the moon reflects the light of the sun. The nightly guides and illuminators of men on land and sea are not for now and then, but for all time.

They shone on Adam, and they shine on us. Thus they are tokens and pledges of undying grace to men; and we may sing with our Scotch friends -- "For certainly

His mercies dure

Most firm and sure

Eternally."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 9. The moon and stars to rule by night. While the apparent revolution of the sun marks out the year and the course of the seasons, the revolution of the moon round the heavens marks out our months; and by regularly changing its figure at the four quarters of its course, subdivides the months into two periods of weeks, and thus exhibits to all the nations of the earth a "watch light", or signal, which every seven days presents a form entirely new, for marking out the shorter periods of duration. By its nearness to the earth, and the consequent increase of its gravitating power, it produces currents in the atmosphere, which direct the course of the winds, and purify the aerial fluid from noxious exhalations; it raises the waters of the ocean, and perpetuates the regular returns of ebb and flow, by which the liquid element is preserved from filth and putrefaction. It extends its sway even over the human frame, and our health and disorders are sometimes partially dependent on its influence. Even its eclipses, and those it produces of the sun, are not without their use. They tend to arouse mankind to the study of astronomy, and the wonders of the firmament; they serve to confirm the deductions of chronology, to direct the navigator, and to settle the geographical position of towns and countries; they assist the astronomer in his celestial investigations, and exhibit an agreeable variety of phenomena in the scenery of the heavens. In short, there are terrestrial scenes presented in moonlight, which, in point of solemnity, grandeur, and picturesque beauty, far surpass in interest, to a poetic imagination, all the brilliancy and splendours of noonday. Hence, in all ages, a moonlight scene has been regarded, by all ranks of men, with feelings of joy and sentiments of admiration. The following description of Homer, translated into English verse by Pope, has been esteemed one of the finest night pieces in poetry: -- "Behold the moon, refulgent lamp of night,

O'er Heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light,

When not a breath disturbs the deep serene,

And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene;

Around her throne the vivid planets roll,

And stars unnumbered gild the glowing pole;

O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,

And tip with silver every mountain's head;

Then shine the vales; the rocks in prospect rise;

A flood of glory bursts from all the skies;

The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight,

Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light."

Without the light of the moon, the inhabitants of the polar regions would be for weeks and months immersed in darkness. But the moon, like a kindly visitant, returns at short intervals, in the absence of the sun, and cheers them with her beams for days and weeks together. So that, in this nocturnal luminary, as in all the other arrangements of nature, we behold a display of the paternal care and beneficence of that Almighty Being who ordained "the moon and the stars to rule by night", as an evidence of his superabundant goodness, and of "his mercy which endureth for ever." --Thomas Dick (1774-1857), in "Celestial Scenery."

Verse 9. Stars to rule by night. The purpose of the sacred narrative being to describe the adaption of the earth to the use of man, no account is taken of the nature of the stars, as suns or planets, but merely as signs in the heavens. --"Speaker's Commentary."

Verse 9. Stars. The stars not only adorn the roof of our sublunary mansion, they are also in many respects useful to man. Their influences are placid and gentle. Their rays, being dispersed through spaces so vast and immense, are entirely destitute of heat by the time they arrive at our abode; so that we enjoy the view of a numerous assemblage of luminous globes without any danger of their destroying the coolness of the night or the quiet of our repose. They serve to guide the traveller both by sea and land; they direct the navigator in tracing his course from one continent to another through the pathless ocean. They serve "for signs and for seasons, and for days and years." They direct the labours of the husbandman, and determine the return and conclusion of the seasons. They serve as a magnificent "time piece", to determine the true length of the day and of the year, and to mark with accuracy all their subordinate divisions. They assist us in our commerce, and in endeavouring to propagate religion among the nations, by showing us our path to every region of the earth. They have enabled us to measure the circumference of the globe, to ascertain the density of the materials of which it is composed, and to determine the exact position of all places upon its surface. They cheer the long nights of several months in the polar regions, which would otherwise be overspread with impenetrable darkness. Above all, they open a prospect into the regions of other worlds, and tend to amplify our views of the Almighty Being who brought them into existence by his power, and "whose kingdom ruleth over all." In these arrangements of the stars in reference to our globe, the Divine wisdom and goodness may be clearly perceived. We enjoy all the advantages to which we have alluded as much as if the stars had been created solely for the use of our world, while, at the same time, they serve to diversify the nocturnal sky of other planets, and to diffuse their light and influence over ten thousands of other worlds with which they are more immediately connected, so that, in this respect, as well as in every other, the Almighty produces the most sublime and diversified effects by means the most simple and economical, and renders every part of the universe subservient to another, and to the good of the whole. --Thomas Dick.

Verse 9. Stars. When the First Consul crossed the Mediterranean on his Egyptian expedition, he carried with him a cohort of savans, who ultimately did good service in many ways. Among them, however, as might be expected at that era, were not a few philosophers of the Voltaire Diderot school. Napoleon, for his own instruction and amusement on shipboard, encouraged disputation among these gentlemen; and on one occasion they undertook to show, and, according to their own account, did demonstrate, by infallible logic and metaphysic, that there is no God. Bonaparte, who hated all idealogists, abstract reasoners, and logical demonstrators, no matter what they were demonstrating, would not fence with these subtle dialecticians, but had them immediately on deck, and, pointing to the stars in the clear sky, replied, by way of counter argument, "Very good, messieurs! But who made all these?" --George Wilson, in "Religio Chemici", 1862.

EXPOSITION

Verse 10. We have heard of the glory of the world's creation, we are now to praise the Lord for the creation of his favoured nation by their Exodus from Egypt. Because the monarch of Egypt stood in the way of the Lord's gracious purposes it became needful for the Lord to deal with him in justice; but the great design was mercy to Israel, and through Israel mercy to succeeding ages, and to all the world.

To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn. The last and greatest of the plagues struck all Egypt to the heart. The sorrow and the terror which it caused throughout the nation it is hardly possible to exaggerate. From king to slave each one was wounded in the most tender point. The joy and hope of every household was struck down in one moment, and each family had its own wailing. The former blows had missed their aim compared with the last; but that "smote Egypt." The Lord's firstborn had been oppressed by Egypt, and at last the Lord fulfilled his threatening, "I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn." Justice lingered but it struck home at last. "For his mercy endureth for ever." Yes, even to the extremity of vengeance upon a whole nation the Lord's mercy to his people endured. He is slow to anger, and judgment is his strange work; but when mercy to men demands severe punishments he will not hold back his hand from the needful surgery. What were all the firstborn of Egypt compared with those divine purposes of mercy to all generations of men which were wrapped up in the deliverance of the elect people? Let us even when the Lord's judgments are abroad in the earth continue to sing of his unfailing grace. "For evermore his love shall last,

For ever sure, for ever fast."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 10. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn. The Egyptians are well said to have been smitten in their firstborn; because they continued in their outrageous obstinacy under the other plagues, though occasionally terrified by them, but were broken and subdued by this last plague, and submitted. -- John Calvin.

Verse 10. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn, for his mercy, etc. Remember his sovereign grace, when righteousness would show itself upon the guilty. There was mercy even then to Israel -- drops of that mercy that for ever endureth -- at the very time when judgment fell on others. Should not this give emphasis to our praises? The dark background makes the figures in the foreground more prominent. --Andrew A. Bonar.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 10. Mercy and judgment. In the stroke that filled Egypt with anguish there was conspicuous mercy.

EXPOSITION

Verse 11. And brought out Israel from among them. Scattered as the tribes were up and down the country, and apparently held in a grasp which would never be relaxed, the Lord wrought their deliverance, and severed them from their idolatrous task masters. None of them remained in bondage. The Lord brought them out; brought them all out; brought them out at the very hour when his promise was due; brought them out despite their being mingled among the Egyptians; brought them out never to return. Unto his name let us give thanks for this further proof of his favour to the chosen ones,

For his mercy endureth for ever. Once the Israelites did not care to go out, but preferred to bear the ills they had rather than risk they knew not what; but the Lord's mercy endured that test also, and ceased not to stir up the nest till the birds were glad to take to their wings. He turned the land of plenty into a house of bondage, and the persecuted nation was glad to escape from slavery. The unfailing mercy of the Lord is gloriously seen in his separating his elect from the world. He brings out his redeemed and they are henceforth a people who show forth his praise. "For God doth prove

Our constant friend;

His boundless love

Shall never end."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 11. And brought out Israel from among them. Such an emigration as this the world never saw. On the lowest computation, the entire multitude must have been above two millions, and in all probability the number exceeded three millions. Is the magnitude of this movement usually apprehended? Do we think of the emigration of the Israelites from Egypt as of the emigration of a number of families twice as numerous as the population of the principality of Wales, or considerably more than the whole population of the British Metropolis (in 1841), with all their goods, property, and cattle? The collecting together of so immense a multitude -- the arranging the order of their march -- the provision of the requisite food even for a few days, must, under the circumstances, have been utterly impossible, unless a very special and overruling Providence had graciously interfered to obviate the difficulties of the case. To the most superficial observer it must be evident, that no man, or number of men, having nothing but human resources, could have ventured to undertake this journey. Scarcely any wonder, wrought by Divine power in Egypt, appears greater than this emigration of a nation, when fairly and fully considered. -- George Smith, in "Sacred Annals", 1850.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 11. The bringing out of God's people from their natural state, from their misery, and from association with the ungodly, a great marvel of everlasting mercy.

Verse 11. Effectual calling; the intervention at the determined moment of the mercy of infinite ages. --W.B.H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 12. With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm. Not only the matter but the manner of the Lord's mighty acts should be the cause of our praise. We ought to bless the Lord for adverbs as well as adjectives. In the Exodus the great power and glory of Jehovah were seen. He dashed in pieces the enemy with his right hand. He led forth his people in no mean or clandestine manner. "He brought them forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person in all their tribes." Egypt was glad when they departed. God worked with great display of force, and with exceeding majesty; he stretched out his arm like a workman intent on his labour, he lifted up his hand as one who is not ashamed to be seen. Even thus was it in the deliverance of each one of us from the thraldom of sin; "according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."

For his mercy endureth for ever -- therefore his power is put forth for the rescue of his own. If one plague will not set them free there shall be ten; but free they shall all be at the appointed hour; not one Israelite shall remain under Pharaoh's power. God will not only use his hand but his arm -- his extraordinary power shall be put to the work sooner than his purpose of mercy shall fail. See, he lifts his strong right hand,

For his mercies steadfast stand.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 12. With a stretched out arm. The figure of an outstretched arm is appropriate, for we stretch out the arm when any great effort is required; so that this implies that God put forth an extraordinary and not a common or slight display of his power in redeeming his people. --John Calvin.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 12. Displays of divine power in the history of the saints a reason for song.

EXPOSITION

Verse 13. To him which divided the Red sea into parts. He made a road across the sea bottom, causing the divided waters to stand like walls on either side. Men deny miracles; but, granted that there is a God, they become easy of belief. Since it requires me to be an atheist that I may logically reject miracles, I prefer the far smaller difficulty of believing in the infinite power of God. He who causes the waters of the sea ordinarily to remain as one mass can with equal readiness divide them. He who can throw a stone in one direction can with the same force throw it another way: the Lord can do precisely what he wills, and he wills to do anything which is ten the deliverance of his people.

For his mercy endureth for ever, and therefore it endures through the sea as well as over the dry land. He will do a new thing to keep his old promise. His way is in the sea, and he will make a way for his people in the same pathless region. Lo, the Red Sea he divides,

For his mercy sure abides.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 13. Divided the Red Sea into parts. The entire space between the mountains of Ataka and Abon Deradj was dry. At the former point the gulf is eight miles across, at the latter more than double that distance. The waters that had filled this broad and deep chasm stood in two huge mounds on the right hand and on the left. The light of God shone brightly on the astonished multitude. The word was given, they advanced abreast; awe stricken, but quiet and confident ... "Then the Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, even his chariots and his fleet horses": Ex 14:23. --William Osburn, in "Israel in Egypt", 1856.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 13-14. God to be praised not only,

Verse 13-15. Mercy queen of the Exodus.

EXPOSITION

Verse 14. And made Israel to pass through the midst of it. HE gave the people courage to follow the predestined track through the yawning abyss, which might well have terrified a veteran host. It needed no little generalship to conduct so vast and motley a company along a way so novel and apparently so dangerous. He made them to pass, by the untrodden road; he led them down into the deep and up again on the further shore in perfect order, keeping their enemies back by the thick darkness of the cloudy pillar. Herein is the glory of God set forth, as all his people see it in their own deliverance from sin. By faith we also give up all reliance upon works and trust ourselves to pass by a way which we have not known, even by the way of reliance upon the atoning blood: thus are we effectually sundered from the Egypt of our former estate, and our sins themselves are drowned. The people marched dry shod through the heart of the sea. Hallelujah!

For his mercy endureth for ever. Mercy cleared the road, mercy cheered the host, mercy led them down, and mercy brought them up again. Even to the depth of the sea mercy reaches, -- there is no end to it, no obstacle in the way of it, no danger to believers in it, while Jehovah is all around. "Forward?" be our watchword as it was that of Israel of old, for mercy doth compass us about; Through the fire or through the sea

Still his mercy guards thee.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 14. And made Israel to pass through the midst of it, etc. Willingly, without reluctance; with great spirit and courage, fearless of danger, and with the utmost safety, so that not one was lost in the passage; see Psalms 78:53; and thus the Lord makes his people willing to pass through afflictions, he being with them; and able to bear them, he putting underneath the everlasting arms, even when in the valley of the shadow of death. He carries them safely through them, so that they are not hurt by them; the waters do not overflow them, nor the flames kindle upon them; nor are any suffered to be lost: but all come safe to land. --John Gill.

Verse 14. And made Israel to pass through the midst of it. It is a work of no less mercy and power to give his people grace to make use of an offered means of delivery, than to prepare the deliverance for them; but the constancy of God's mercy doth not only provide the means, but also giveth his people grace to make use thereof in all ages. --David Dickson.

Verse 14. And made Israel to pass through the midst of it. It is many times hail with the saints, when ill with the wicked. Abraham from the hill seeth Sodom on fire. -- John Trapp.

EXPOSITION

Verse 15. But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea. Here comes the thunder clap. Though we hear them sounding peal upon peal, yet the judgments of the Lord were only loud mouthed mercies speaking confusion to the foe, that the chosen might tremble before him no longer. The chariots were thrown over, the horses were overthrown. The King and his warriors were alike overwhelmed; they were hurled from their chariots as locusts are tossed to and fro in the wind. Broken was the power and conquered was the pride of Egypt. Jehovah had vanquished the enemy. "Art thou not it which cut Rahab and wounded crocodile?" None are too great for the Lord to subdue, none too high for Lord to abase. The enemy in his fury drove after Israel into the sea, but his wrath found a terrible recompense beneath the waves.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Yes, mercy continued to protect its children, and therefore called in the aid of justice to fulfil the capital sentence on their foes. Taken red handed, in the very act of rebellion against their sovereign Lord, the adversaries met the fate which they had themselves invited. He that goes into the midst of the sea asks to be drowned. Sin is self damnation. The sinner goes downward of his own choice, and if he finds out too late that he return, is not his blood upon his own head? The finally impenitent, terrible their doom, will not be witnesses against mercy; but rather this shall aggravate their misery, that they went on in defiance of mercy, and would yield themselves to him whose mercy endureth for ever. To the Israelites as they sung this song their one thought would be of the rescue of their fathers from fierce oppressor. Taken like a lamb from between the teeth of the lion, justly praises her Deliverer and chants aloud: Evermore his love shall reign;

Pharaoh and his host are slain.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 15. But overthrew Pharaoh, etc. Thus fell Sethos the Second. It was his terrible destiny to leave to after times the strongest exemplification of daring wickedness and mad impiety in his life, and of the vengeance of God in his death, that ever was enacted on the earth. Never had such a judgment befallen any nation, as his reign in Egypt. Accordingly the memory of this fearful event has never departed from among men. The gulf in which he perished is named Bahr Kolzoum, "the sea of destruction", to this day.

The memory and name of Sethos the Second were infamous in Egypt. His tomb was desecrated, and his sarcophagus publicly and judicially broken. The vault seems to have been used as a burying place for slaves. The distinctive title of his name, Sethos, has been mutilated on all the monuments of Egypt. In Lower Egypt the mutilation has even been extended to the same title in the rings of his great grandfather (Sethos the First), such was the deep abhorrence in which the name had fallen, after it had been borne by this wicked king. His is the only one in the whole range of the kings of Egypt which has suffered this mark of public infamy. --William Osburn.

Verse 15. But overthrew Pharaoh, etc. Margin, as in Hebrew, shaked off. The word is applicable to a tree shaking off its foliage, Isaiah 33:9. The same word is used in Exodus 14:27: "And the Lord overthrew (Margin, shook off) the Egyptians in the midst of the sea." He shook them off as if he would no longer protect them. He left them to perish. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 15. But shook off Pharaoh. This translation gives an image of locusts. They fell into the sea like a swarm of locusts. --Zachary Mudge, 1769.

Verse 15. But overthrew Pharaoh, etc. I know that the Gospel is a book of mercy; I know likewise that in the prophets there are many expressions of mercy; I know likewise that in the ten commandments, which are the ministration of death, there is made express mention of mercy, "I will have mercy on thousands": yet, notwithstanding all this, if every leaf, and every line, and every word in the Bible were nothing but mercy, it would nothing avail the presumptuous sinner. Our God is not an impotent God with one arm; but as he is slow to anger, so is he great in power. And therefore though in this Psalm there is nothing but his mercy endureth for ever, which is twenty-six times in twenty-six verses: yet mark what a rattling thunder clap is here in this verse. In our addresses therefore unto God, let us so look upon him as a just God, as well as a merciful; and not either despair of or presume upon his mercy. --Abraham Wright.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 15. Final victory.

EXPOSITION

Verse 16. To him which led his people through the wilderness. He led them into it, and therefore he was pledged to lead them through it. They were "his people", and yet they must go into the wilderness, and the wilderness must remain as barren as ever it was; but in the end they must come out of it into the promised land. God's dealings are mysterious, but they must be right, simply because they are his. The people knew nothing of the way, but they were led; they were a vast host, yet they were all led; there were neither roads nor tracks, but being led by unerring wisdom they never lost their way. He who brought them out of Egypt, also led them through the wilderness. By Moses, and Aaron, and Jethro, and the pillar of cloud he led them. What a multitude of mercies are comprehended in the conduct of such an enormous host through a region wherein there was no provision even for single travellers; yet the Lord by his infinite power and wisdom conducted a whole nation for forty years through a desert land, and their feet did not swell, neither did their garments wax old in all the journey.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Their conduct in the wilderness tested his mercy most severely, but it bore the strain; many a time he forgave them; and though he smote them for their transgressions, yet he waited to be gracious and speedily turned to them in compassion. Their faithfulness soon failed, but his did not: the fiery, cloudy pillar which never ceased to lead the van was the visible proof of his immutable love -- "For his, mercy, changing never,

Still endureth, sure for ever."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 16. Led his people through the wilderness. When Israel, of the Lord beloved,

Out of the land of bondage came,

Her father's God before her moved,

An awful guide, in smoke and flame.

By day, along the astonished lands,

The cloudy pillar glided slow;

By night Arabia's crimsoned sands

Returned the fiery columun's glow.

--Sir Walter Scott, 1771-1832.

Verse 16. He led his people through the wilderness. It was an astonishing miracle of God to support so many hundreds of thousands of people in a wilderness totally deprived of all necessaries for the life of man, and that for the space of forty years. --Adam Clarke.

Verse 16. He led his people through the wilderness, etc. It is a very sweet truth which is enunciated in this verse, and one which I think we need very much to realize. His own people, his peculiar people, his chosen, loved, and favoured ones, whom he cherished as the apple of his eye, who were graven on the palms of his hands, and loved with an everlasting love, even these he led through the wilderness; and all this because "His mercy endureth for ever." In another Psalm it is said, "He leadeth them beside the still waters, he maketh them to lie down in green pastures"; but the barren wilderness has no green pastures, the parched and arid desert has no still waters. And yet "in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert, and an highway shall be there; and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" It is one of the Lord's sweet truths that so perplex those that are without, but which are so full of consolation to his own children, that the wilderness and mercy are linked together of God in indissoluble union here. "I will allure her", saith the Lord, "and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." -- Barton Bouchier.

Verse 16. Who led his people. Note that in what precedes this, in this verse itself, and in what follows, God's three ways of leading are set forth. He leads out, he leads through, and he leads into; out of sin, through the world, into heaven; out by faith, through by hope, into by love. --Michael Ayguan (1416), in Neale and Littledale.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 16.

Verse 16. Led through the Wilderness.

--C.A.D.

EXPOSITION

Verse 17. To him which smote great kings. Within sight of their inheritance Israel had to face powerful enemies. Kings judged to be great because of the armies at their back blocked up their road. This difficulty soon disappeared, for the Lord smote their adversaries, and a single stroke sufficed for their destruction. He who had subdued the really mighty ruler of Egypt made short work of these petty sovereigns, great though they were in the esteem of neighbouring princes.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Mercy, which had brought the chosen tribes so far, would not be balked by the opposition of boastful foes. The Lord who smote Pharaoh at the beginning of the wilderness march, smote Sihon and Og at the close of it. How could these kings hope to succeed when even mercy itself was in arms against them. Evermore his mercy stands

Saving from the foe man's hands.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 17. Great kings. Great, as those times accounted them, when every small city almost had her king. Canaan had thirty and more of them. Great also in regard of their stature and strength; for they were of the giants' race. Deuteronomy 3:1-29 Amos 2:1-16 --John Trapp.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 17-22. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1285: "Sihon and Og; or, Mercies in Detail."

EXPOSITION

Verse 18. And slew famous kings. What good was their fame to them? As they opposed God they became infamous rather than famous. Their deaths made the Lord's fame to increase among the nations while their fame ended in disgraceful defeat.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Israelitish patriots felt that they, could never have too much of this music; God had protected their nation, and they chanted his praises with unwearied iteration. Kings he smote despite their fame,

For his mercy's still the same.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 18,20. The profane of our times may hence learn to take heed how they wrong the faithful. God is "wise in heart and mighty in strength:" Job 9:4. Who ever waxed fierce against his people and hath prospered? For their sakes he hath destroyed great kings and mighty, Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan. He can pluck off thy chariot wheels, strike thee in the hinder parts, cause thy heart to fail thee for fear, and in a moment fetch thy soul from thee: better were it for thee to have a millstone hanged about thy neck, and thou to be cast into the bottom of the sea, than to offend the least of these faithful ones; they are dear in his sight, tender to him, as the apple of his eye. --John Barlow, 1632.

EXPOSITION

Verse 19. Sihon king of the Amorites. Let the name be mentioned that the mercy may be the better remembered. Sihon smote Moab, but he could not smite Israel, for the Lord smote him. He was valiant and powerful, so as to be both great and famous; but as he wilfully refused to give a peaceful passage to the Israelites, and fought against them in malice, there was no choice for it but to let him run into that destruction which he courted. His fall was speedy and final, and the chosen people were so struck with it that they sung of his overthrow in their national songs.

For his mercy endureth for ever. His mercy is no respecter of persons, and neither the greatness nor the fame of Sihon could protect him after he had dared to attack Israel. The Lord will not forsake his people because Sihon blusters. Come what may

By night or day,

Still most sure,

His love shall dure.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 19. Sihon occupied the whole district between the Arnon and Jabbok, through which the approach to the Jordan lay. He had wrested it from the predecessor of Balak, and had established himself, not in the ancient capital of Moab Ar, but in the city still conspicuous to the modern traveller from its wide prospect and its cluster of stone pines -- Heshbon. The recollection of his victory survived in a savage war song, which passed into a kind of proverb in after times: -- "Come home to Heshbon;

Let the city of Sihon be built and prepared,

For there is gone out a fire from Heshbon,

A flame from the city of Sihon.

It hath consumed Ar of Moab,

And the lords of the high places of Arnon:

Woe to thee, Moab; thou art undone, thou people of

Chemosh!

He hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters,

into captivity

To the king of the Amorites, Sihon."

(Numbers 21:27-29, repeated, as is well known, in

Jeremiah 48:45-46.)

The decisive battle between Sihon and his new foes took place at Jahaz, probably on the confines of the rich pastures of Moab and the desert whence the Israelites emerged. It was the first engagement in which they were confronted with the future enemies of their nation. The slingers and archers of Israel, afterwards so renowned, now first showed their skill. Sihon fell; the army fled (Joseph. Ant. iv. 5, 2.) (so ran the later tradition), and devoured by thirst, like the Athenians in the Assinarus on their flight from Syracuse, were slaughtered in the bed of one of the mountain streams. The memory of this battle was cherished in triumphant strains, in which, after reciting, in bitter irony, the song just quoted of the Amorites' triumph, they broke out into an exulting contrast of the past greatness of the defeated chief and his present fall: -- "We have shot at them: Heshbon is perished:

We have laid them waste: even unto Nophah:

With fire: even unto Medeba." (Numbers 31:30.)

--Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, in "The History of the Jewish Church."

EXPOSITION

Verse 20. And Og the king of Bashan. He was of the race of the giants, but he was routed like a pygmy when he entered the lists with Israel's God. The Lord's people were called upon to fight against him, but it was God who won the victory. The fastnesses of Bashan were no defence against Jehovah. Og was soon ousted from his stronghold when the captain of the Lord's host led the war against him. He had to exchange his bedstead of iron for a bed in the dust, for he fell on the battle field. Glory be to the divine conqueror, for his mercy endureth for ever. Giant kings before him yield,

Mercy ever holds the field.

If Sihon could not turn the Lord from his purpose we may be sure that Og could not. He who delivers us out of one trouble will rescue us out of another, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his grace in us.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 20. Og the king of Bashan. There is continued victory. The second hindrance disappears after the first. "Og, king of Bashan", last of the giants (Deuteronomy 3:11), fared no better for all his strength than Sihon. It was not some peculiar weakness of Sihon that overthrew him. All enemies of God, however different in resource they may appear when they measure themselves among themselves, are alike to those who march in the strength of God. The power by which the Christian conquers one foe will enable him to conquer all. And yet because Og did look more formidable than Sihon, God gave his people special encouragement in meeting him: Numbers 21:34. God remembers that even the most faithful and ardent of his people cannot get entirely above the deceitfulness of outward appearances. --Pulpit Commentary.

Verse 20. When Og king of Bashan took the field -- a giant, a new and more terrific foe -- he, too, fell. And the mercy that thus dealt with enemies so great, enemies so strong, one after another, endureth for ever. When Antichrist raises up his hosts in the latter days, one after another -- when the great, the famous, the mighty, the noble, the gigantic men, in succession assail the Church, they shall perish: "For his mercy endureth for ever." --Andrew A. Bonar.

EXPOSITION

Verse 21. And gave their land for an heritage. As Lord of the whole earth he transferred his estate from one tenant to another. The land did not become the property of the Israelites by their own sword and bow, but by a grant from the throne. This was the great end which all along had been aimed at from Egypt to Jordan. He who brought his people out also brought them in. He who had promised the land to the seed of Abraham also saw to it that the deed of gift did not remain a dead letter. Both our temporal and our spiritual estates come to us by royal charter. What God gives us is ours by the best of titles. Inheritance by God's gift is tenure which even Satan cannot dispute.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Faithful love endures without end, and secures its own end. "Thou wilt surely bring them in", said the prophet poet; and here we see the deed complete. Till they reach the promised land

Mercy still the same must stand.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 21.

EXPOSITION

Verse 22. Even an heritage unto Israel his servant. Repetitions are effective in poetry, and the more so if there be some little variation in them, bringing out into fuller light some point which else had not been noticed. The lands of the heathen kings were given to "Israel", the name by which the chosen seed is here mentioned for the third time in the Psalm, with the addition of the words, "his servant." The leasehold of Canaan to Israel after the flesh was made dependent upon suit and service rendered to the Lord of the manor by whom the lease was granted. It was a country worth singing about, richly justifying the two stanzas devoted to it. The division of the country by lot, and the laws by which the portions of ground were reserved to the owners and their descendants for a perpetual inheritance were fit subjects for song. Had other nations enjoyed land laws which ensured to every family a plot of ground for cultivation, much of the present discontent would never have arisen, beggary would soon have become uncommon, and poverty itself would have been rare.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Yes, mercy fights for the land, mercy divides the spoil among its favoured ones, and mercy secures each man in his inheritance. Glory be to God the faithful One. "For his mercy full and free.

Wins us full felicity."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 22. Israel his servant. He speaks of all that people as of one man, because they were united together in one body, in the worship of one and the same God. Thus God calleth them all his "firstborn": Exodus 4:22. --Matthew Pool.

EXPOSITION

Verse 23. Who remembered us in our low estate. Personal mercies awake the sweetest song -- "he remembered us." Our prayer is, "Lord, remember me", and this is our encouragement -- he has remembered us. For the Lord even to think of us is a wealth of mercy. Ours was a sorry estate, -- an estate of bankruptcy and mendicancy. Israel rested in its heritage, but we were still in bondage, groaning in captivity: the Lord seemed to have forgotten us, and left us in our sorrow; but it was not so for long: he turned again in his compassion, bethinking himself of his afflicted children. Our state was once so low as to be at hell's mouth; since then it has been low in poverty, bereavement, despondency, sickness, and heart sorrow, and we fear, also, sinfully low in faith, and love, and every other grace; and yet the Lord has not forgotten us as a dead thing out of mind; but he has tenderly remembered us still. We thought ourselves too small and too worthless for his memory to burden itself about us, yet he remembered us.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Yes, this is one of the best proofs of the immutability of his mercy, for if he could have changed towards any, it would certainly have been towards us who have brought ourselves low, kept ourselves low, and prepared ourselves to sink yet lower. It is memorable mercy to remember us in our low estate: in our highest joys we will exalt Jehovah's name, since of this we are sure, -- he will not now desert us - - For his mercy full and free

Lasteth to eternity.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 23. Who remembered us. We should echo in our thankfulness the first intimation that God gives in his providence of an approaching mercy. If you do but hear when the king is on his road towards your town you raise your bells to ring him in, and stay not till he be entered the gates. The birds rise betimes in the morning, and are saluting the rising sun with their sweet notes in the air. Thus should we strike up our harps in praising God at the first appearance of a mercy. --William Gurnall.

Verse 23. Who remembered us. The word "remembered" is a pregnant word, it bears twins twice told, it is big of a sixfold sense, as so many degrees of mercy in it.

I might draw considerations (for thanksgiving) from the Author of the mercy, God; a God that was offended by us, a God that needed us not, and a God that gains nothing by us; and yet this God remembered us in our low estate; that should engage us. I might also draw obligations from the objects, and that is us that were not only an undeserving but an ill deserving, and are not a suitable returning people. I might draw arguments from the mercy, itself, -- that God remembered us ... and I might draw arguments from the season, "in our low estate", and from the excellency of the duty of thanksgiving; 'tis a comely thing; it makes us like the angels, whose whole employment and liturgy is to give and live praise to God. And from this also I might enlarge the discoveries of the obligation, that his mercy endureth for ever.

For his mercy endureth for ever. There is no reason to be given for grace but grace; there is no reason to be given for mercy but mercy: who remembered us: "for his mercy endureth for ever." --Ralph Venning (1620-1673), in "Mercies Memorial."

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 23. Prayer of the dying thief turned into a song.

Verse 23-24. The gracious remembrance and the glorious redemption. --C.A.D.

EXPOSITION

Verse 24. And hath redeemed us from our enemies. Israel's enemies brought the people low; but the Lord intervened, and turned the tables by a great redemption. The expression implies that they had become like slaves, and were not set free without price and power; for they needed to be "redeemed." In our case the redemption which is in Christ Jesus is an eminent reason for giving thanks unto the Lord. Sin is our enemy, and we are redeemed from it by the atoning blood; Satan is our enemy, and we are redeemed from him by the Redeemer's power; the world is our enemy, and we are redeemed from it by the Holy Spirit. We are ransomed, let us enjoy our liberty; Christ has wrought our redemption, let us praise his name.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Even to redemption by the death of his Son did divine mercy stretch itself. What more can be desired? What more can be imagined? Many waters could not quench love, neither could the floods drown it. E'en to death upon the tree

Mercy dureth faithfully.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 24. And. If the end of one mercy were not the beginning of another, we were undone. --Philip Henry, 1631-1696.

Verse 24. And hath redeemed us. Or, broken us off, pulled us away, as by violence; for they would never else have loosed us. --John Trapp.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 24. Our enemies, our accomplished redemption, the author of it, and his reason for effecting it.

Verse 24. The multiplied redemptions of the Christian life, and their inexhaustible spring. - -W.B.H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 25. Who giveth food to all flesh. Common providence, which cares for all living things, deserves our most devout thanks. If we think of heavenly food, by which all saints are supplied, our praises rise to a still greater height; but meanwhile the universal goodness of God in feeding all his creatures is as worthy of praise as his special favours to the elect nation. Because the Lord feeds all life therefore we expect him to take special care of his own family.

For his mercy endureth for ever. Reaching downward even to beasts and reptiles, it is, indeed, a boundless mercy, which knows no limit because of the meanness of its object. "All things living he doth feed,

His full hand supplies their need;

For his mercy shall endure,

Ever faithful, ever sure."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 25. Who giveth food to all flesh, etc. The very air we breathe in, the bread we eat, our common blessings, be they never so mean, we have them all from grace, and all from the tender mercy of the Lord. Psalms 136:25, you have there the story of the notable effects of God's mercy, and he concludes it thus: "Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever." Mark, the Psalmist doth not only ascribe those mighty victories, those glorious instances of his love and power, to his unchangeable mercy, but he traces our daily bread to the same cause. In eminent deliverances of the church we will acknowledge mercy; yea, but we should do it in every bit of meat we eat; for the same reason is rendered all along. What is the reason his people smote Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan, and that they were rescued so often out of danger? "For his mercy endureth for ever." And what is the reason he giveth food to all flesh? "For his mercy endureth for ever." It is not only mercy which gives us Christ, and salvation by Christ, and all those glorious deliverances and triumphs over the enemies of the church; but it is mercy which furnishes our tables, it is mercy that we taste with our mouths and wear at our backs. It is notable, our Lord Jesus, when there were but five barley loaves and two fishes (John 6:11), "He lift up his eyes and gave thanks." Though our provision be never so homely and slender, yet God's grace and mercy must be acknowledged. -- Thomas Manton.

Verse 25. Who giveth food to all flesh. We might fancy that they who have so much to sing of in regard to themselves, so much done for their own souls, would have little care for others. We might fear that they would be found selfish. But not so; the love of God felt by a man makes the man feel as God does toward men; and as God's love is ever going forth to others, so is the heart of the man of God. We see how it is even as to patriotism -- a man's most intense patriotic feelings do not necessarily make him indifferent to the good of other countries, but rather make him wish all countries to be like his own; so it is, much more certainly and truly, with the Lord's people in their enjoyment of blessing. Their heart expands towards others; they would fain have all men share in what they enjoy. They therefore cannot close their song without having this other clause - - Praise him who is the giver of bread to all flesh. Not to Israel only does he give blessing. Israel had their manna; but, at the same time, the earth at large has its food. So in spiritual things. Israel's God is he who giveth Himself as the Bread of Life to the world. Perhaps at this point the Psalmist's eye may be supposed to see earth in its state of blessedness, after Israel is for the last time redeemed from all enemies, and become "life from the dead" to the world -- when Christ reigns and dispenses the bread of life to the New Earth, as widely as he gave common food -- "the feast of fat things to all nations", (Isaiah 25:6); for his mercy will not rest till this is accomplished. --Andrew A. Bonar.

Verse 25. Who giveth food to all flesh. In the close the Psalmist speaks of the paternal providence of God as extending not only to all mankind, but to every living creature, suggesting that we have no reason to feel surprise at his sustaining the character of a kind and provident father to his own people, when he condescends to care for the cattle, and the asses of the field, and the crow, and the sparrow. Men are much better than brute beasts, and there is a great difference between some men and others, though not in merit, yet as regards the privilege of the divine adoption, and the Psalmist is to be considered as reasoning from the less to the greater and enhancing the incomparably superior mercy which God shows to his own children. --John Calvin.

Verse 25. Who giveth food to all flesh. Of Edward Taylor, better known as "Father Taylor", the Sailor Preacher of Boston, it is said that his prayers were more like the utterances of an Oriental, abounding in imagery, than a son of these colder western climes. 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 strain. --C.H. Spurgeon, in "Eccentric Preachers", 1880.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 25. Divine housekeeping.

--W.B.H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 26. O give thanks unto the God of heaven. The title is full of honour. The Lord is God in the highest realms, and among celestial beings. His throne is set in glory, above all, out of reach of foes, in the place of universal oversight. He who feeds ravens and sparrows is yet the glorious God of the highest realms. Angels count it their glory to proclaim his glory in every heavenly street. See herein the greatness of his nature, the depth of his condescension, and the range of his love. Mark the one sole cause of his bounty --

For his mercy endureth for ever. He hath done all things from this motive; and because his mercy never ceases, he will continue to multiply deeds of love world without end. Let us with all our powers of heart and tongue give thanks unto the holy name of Jehovah for ever and ever. "Change and decay in all around I see,

O thou who changest not, abide with me."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 26. The God of heaven. The phrase "God of heaven" is not found in the earlier Scriptures. We meet it nowhere else in the Psalms; but we meet it in 2 Chronicles 36:23 Ezra 1:2 5:11-12 6:9 7:12,23 Nehemiah 1:4 2:4 Daniel 2:18-19,44 Jonah 1:9. It is twice found in the Apocalypse, Revelation 11:13 16:11. It is a sublime and appropriate designation of the true God, expressive of his glorious elevation above the passions and perturbations of earth. To him all flesh should give thanks, for all receive his mercy in many forms and ways. His favours come down on generation after generation, and to his willing, obedient people they shall flow on during eternal ages. --William Swan Plumer.

Verse 26. My brethren, God's mercies are from everlasting; and it is a treasure that can never be spent, never exhausted, unto eternity. In Isaiah 64:5, we read, "In thy mercy is continuance." If God will but continue to be merciful to me, will a poor soul say, I have enough. Why, saith he, "in his mercies is continuance, and we shall be saved." Hath God pardoned thee hitherto? but hast thou sinned again? Can he stretch his goodness and mercy a little further? Why, he will stretch them out unto eternity, unto everlasting; and if one everlasting be not enough, there are twenty-six everlastings in this one Psalm. In Isaiah 54:8, "In a little wrath I hid my face from thee, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee." --Thomas Goodwin.

Verse 26. O give thanks unto the God of heaven. His mercy in providing heaven for his people is more than all the rest. --John Trapp.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 26. Consider,

Psalms 137

PSALM 137 OVERVIEW . This plaintive ode is one of the most charming compositions in the whole Book of Psalms for its poetic power. If it were not inspired it would nevertheless occupy a high place in poesy, especially the former portion of it, which is tender and patriotic to the highest degree. In the later verses ( Psalms 137:7-9 ), we have utterances of burning indignation against the chief adversaries of Israel, -- an indignation as righteous as it was fervent. Let those find fault with it who have never seen their temple burned, their city ruined, their wives ravished, and after children slain; they might not, perhaps, be quite so velvet mouthed if they had suffered after this fashion. It is one thing to talk of the bitter feeling which moved captive Israelites in Babylon, and quite another thing to be captives ourselves under a savage and remorseless power, which knew not how to show mercy, but delighted in barbarities to the defenceless. The song is such as might fitly be sung in the Jews' wailing place. It is a fruit of the Captivity in Babylon, and often has it furnished expression for sorrows which else had been unutterable. It is an opalesque Psalm within whose mild radiance there glows afire which strikes the beholder with wonder. EXPOSITION Verse 1 . By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Water courses were abundant in Babylon, wherein were not only natural streams but artificial canals: it was place of broad rivers and streams. Glad to be away from the noisy streets, the captives sought the river side, where the flow of the waters seemed to be in sympathy with their tears. It was some slight comfort to be out of the crowd, and to have a little breathing room, and therefore they sat down, as if to rest a while and solace themselves in their sorrow. In little groups they sat down and made common lamentation, mingling their memories and their tears. The rivers were well enough, but, alas, they were the rivers of Babylon, and the ground whereon the sons of Israel sat was foreign soil, and therefore they wept. Those who came to interrupt their quiet were citizens of the destroying city, and their company was not desired. Everything reminded Israel of her banishment from the holy city, her servitude beneath the shadow of the temple of Bel, her helplessness under a cruel enemy; and therefore her sons and daughters sat down in sorrow, Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Nothing else could have subdued their brave spirits; but the remembrance of the temple of their God, the palace of their king, and the centre of their national life, quite broke them down. Destruction had swept down all their delights, and therefore they wept -- the strong men wept, the sweet singers wept! They did not weep when they remembered the cruelties of Babylon; the memory of fierce oppression dried their tears and made their hearts burn with wrath: but when the beloved city of their solemnities came into their minds they could not refrain from floods of tears. Even thus do true believers mourn when they see the church despoiled, and find themselves unable to succour her: we could bear anything better than this. In these our times the Babylon of error ravages the city of God, and the hearts of the faithful are grievously wounded as they see truth fallen in the streets, and unbelief rampant among the professed servants of the Lord. We bear our protests, but they appear to be in vain; the multitude are mad upon their idols. Be it ours to weep in secret for the hurt of our Zion: it is the least thing we can do; perhaps in its result it may prove to be the best thing we can do. Be it ours also to sit down and deeply consider what is to be done. Be it ours, in any case, to keep upon our mind and heart the memory of the church of God which is so dear to us. The frivolous may forget, but Zion is graven on our hearts, and her prosperity is our chief desire. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm . Observe that this very Psalm in which the question is asked, "How can we sing?" is itself a song, one of the Lord's songs, still. Nothing can be more sad, more desponding. It speaks of weeping in the remembrance of Zion; it speaks of harps hung upon the willows by exiles who have no heart to use them; and yet the very telling of these sorrows, of this incapacity for song, is a song still. We chant it in our congregations now, hundreds and thousands of years after its composition, as one of the Church's melodies, as one of the Lord's songs. It gives us a striking example of the variety, of the versatility of worship, even in that department which might seem to be all joyous, all praise. The very refusal to sing may be itself a song. Any real utterance of good thoughts, whether they be thoughts of gladness or thoughts of sorrow, may be a true hymn, a true melody for the congregation, even though it may not breathe at every moment the very thought of all the worshippers. "How shall we sing?" is itself a permanent hymn, an inspired song, for all the churches. --C. J. Vaughan. Whole Psalm . This Psalm is composed of two parts. The first is, an heavy complaint of the church, unto Psalms 137:7 . The other is an heavy imprecation and a prophetical denunciation against the enemies of the church, unto the end of the Psalm. -- Robert Rollock. Whole Psalm . What a wonderful mixture is the Psalm of soft melancholy and fiery patriotism! The hand which wrote it must have known how to smite sharply with the sword, as well as how to tune the harp. The words are burning words of a heart breathing undying love to his country, undying hate to his foe. The poet is indeed "Dower'd with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn, The love of love." --J. J. Stewart Perowne. Whole Psalm . Several of the Psalms obviously refer to the time of the Babylonian captivity ... The captives' mournful sentiments of pensive melancholy and weary longing during its long and weary continuance constitute the burden of the hundred and thirty- seventh. It was probably written by some gifted captive Levite at the time. Some suppose it to have been composed by Jeremiah, the prophet of tears, and sent to his countrymen in the land of their exile, in order to awaken fond memories of the past and sustain a lively hope for the future; and certainly the ode is worthy even of his pen, for it is one of the sweetest, most plaintive, and exquisitely beautiful elegies in any language. It is full of heart melting, tear bringing pathos. The moaning of the captive, the wailing of the exile, and the sighing of the saints are heard in every line. --W. Ormiston, in "The Study," 1874. Whole Psalm . Here, The melancholy captives cannot enjoy themselves, Psalms 137:1-2 . They cannot humour their proud oppressors, Psalms 137:3-4 . They cannot forget Jerusalem, Psalms 137:5-6 . They cannot forget Edom and Babylon, Psalms 137:7-9 . --Matthew Henry. Verse 1 . By the rivers of Babylon . The canals of Babylon itself, probably (comp. Psalms 137:2 .) --William Kay. Verse 1 . By the rivers . Euphrates, Tigris, Chaboras, etc., and the canals which intersected the country. The exiles would naturally resort to the banks of the streams as shady, cool and retired spots, where they could indulge in their sorrowful remembrances. The prophets of the exile saw their visions by the river. Ezekiel 1:1 Daniel 8:2 10:4. -- "Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological Review", 1848. Verse 1 . By the rivers . The bank of a river, like the seashore, is a favourite place of sojourn of those whom deep grief drives forth from the bustle of men into solitude. The boundary line of the river gives to solitude a safe back; the monotonous splashing of the waves keeps up the dull, melancholy alternation of thoughts and feelings; and at the same time the sight of the cool, fresh water exercises a soothing influence upon the consuming fever within the heart. --Franz Delitzsch. Verse 1 . By the rivers . The peculiar reason for the children of Israel being represented as sitting at the streams is the weeping. An internal reference of the weeping to the streams, must therefore have been what gave rise to the representation of the sitting. Nor is this reference difficult to be discovered. All languages know of brooks, or streams of tears, compare in Scripture, Lamentations 2:18 ; "Let tears run down like a river day and night"; La 3:48; also Job 28:11 , where inversely the gushing of the floods is called weeping (Marg.). The children of Israel placed themselves beside the streams of Babel because they saw in them the image and symbol of their floods of tears. --E. W. Hengstenberg. Verse 1 . We sat down . Among the poets, sitting on the ground is a mark of misery or captivity. Multos ilia dies incomtis moesta capillis Sederat. -- Propertius. With locks unkempt, mournful, for many days She sat. O utinam ante tuos sedeam captiva penates. -- Propertius. O might I sit a captive at thy gate! You have the same posture in an old coin that celebrates a victory of Lucius Verus over the Parthians. We find Judea on several coins of Vespasian and Titus in the posture that denotes sorrow and captivity. --From Joseph Addison's Dialogues on Medals. Verse 1 . Sat down implies that the burst of grief was a long one , and also that it was looked on by the captives as some relaxation and repose. --Chrysostom. Verse 1 . We wept when we remembered Zion . A godly man lays to heart the miseries of the church. I have read of certain trees, whose leaves if cut or touched, the other leaves contract and shrink up themselves, and for a space hang down their heads: such a spiritual sympathy is there among Christians; when other parts of God's church suffer, they feel themselves, as it were, touched in their own persons. Ambrose reports, that when Theodosius was sick unto death, he was more troubled about the church of God than about his own sickness. When Aeneas would have saved Anchises' life, saith he, "Far be it from me that I should desire to live when Troy is buried in its ruins." There are in music two unisons; if you strike one, you shall perceive the other to stir, as if it were affected: when the Lord strikes others a godly heart is deeply affected, Isaiah 16:11 : "My bowels shall sound like an harp." Though it be well with a child of God in his own particular, and he dwells in an house of cedar, yet he grieves to see it go ill with the public. Queen Esther enjoyed the king's favour, and all the delights of the court, yet when a bloody warrant was signed for the death of the Jews she mourns and fasts, and ventures her own life to save theirs. --Thomas Watson. Verse 1 . For Sion only they wept , unlike many who weep with the weeping and rejoice with the joy of Babylon, because their whole interests and affections are bound up in the things of this world. --Augustine. Verse 1 . Let us weep , because in this life we are forced to sit by the waters of Babylon, and are yet strangers and as it were banished and barred from being satisfied with the pleasures of that river which gladdens the city of God. Alas, if we did consider that our country were heaven, and did apprehend this place here below to be our prison, or place of banishment, the least absence from our country would draw tears from our eyes and sighs from our hearts, with David ( Psalms 120:5 ): "Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech, and am constrained to dwell in the tents of Kedar." Do you remember how the Jews behaved themselves in the time of their exile and captivity, while they sat by the rivers and waters of Babylon! They wept, would not be comforted; hanged up their harps and instruments. What are the waters of Babylon but the pleasures and delights of the world, the waters of confusion, as the word signifies! Now when the people of God sit by them, that is to say, do not carelessly, but deliberately, with a settled consideration, see them slide by and pass away, and compare them with Sion, that is to say, with the inconceivable rivers of pleasure, which are permanent in the heavenly Jerusalem; how can they choose but weep, when they see themselves sitting by the one, and sojourning from the other! And it is worthy your observing, that notwithstanding the Jews had many causes of tears, the Chaldeans had robbed them of their goods, honours, countries, liberty, parents, children, friends: the chief thing, for all this, that they mourn for is their absence from Sion, -- "We wept when we remembered thee, O Sion" -- for their absence from Jerusalem. What should we then do for our absence from another manner of Jerusalem! Theirs was an earthly, old, robbed, spoiled, burned, sacked Jerusalem; ours a heavenly, new one, into which no arrow can be shot, no noise of the drum heard, nor sound of the trumpet, nor calling unto battle: who would not then weep, to be absent from thence! --Walter Balcanqual, in "A Sermon Preached at St. Maries Spittle", 1623. Verse 1 . We remembered Zion . It necessarily implies they had forgot, else how could they now remember! In their peace and plenty the had but little regard of Zion then. --John Whincop, in a Sermon entitled, "Israel's Tears for Distressed Zion", 1645. Verse 1 . Nothing could present a more striking contrast to their native country than the region into which the Hebrews were transplanted . Instead of their irregular and picturesque mountain city, crowning its unequal heights, and looking down into its deep and precipitous ravines, through one of which a scanty stream wound along, they entered the vast, square, and level city of Babylon, occupying both sides of the broad Euphrates; while all around spread immense plains, which were intersected by long straight canals, bordered by rows of willows. How unlike their national temple -- a small but highly finished and richly adorned fabric, standing in the midst of its courts on the brow of a lofty precipice -- the colossal temple of the Chaldean Bel, rising from the plain, with its eight stupendous stories or towers, one above the other, to the perpendicular height of a furlong! The palace of the Babylonian kings was more than twice the size of their whole city; it covered eight miles, with its hanging gardens built on arched terraces, each rising above the other, and rich in all the luxuriance of artificial cultivation. How different from the sunny cliffs of their own land, where the olive and the vine grew spontaneously, and the cool, shady, and secluded valleys, where they could always find shelter from the heat of the burning noon! No wonder then that, in the pathetic words of their own hymn, "by the waters of Babylon they sat down and wept, when they remembered thee, O Zion." Of their general treatment as captives we know little. The Psalm above quoted seems to intimate that the Babylonians had taste enough to appreciate the poetical and musical talent of the exiles, and that they were summoned occasionally to amuse the banquets of their masters, though it was much against their will that they sang the songs of Zion in a strange land. In general it seems that the Jewish exiles were allowed to dwell together in considerable bodies, not sold as household or personal or praedial slaves, at least not those of the better order of whom the Captivity chiefly consisted. They were colonists rather than captives, and became by degrees possessed of considerable property. They had taken the advice of the prophet Jeremiah (who gave them no hopes of speedy return to their homes): they had built houses, planted gardens, married and brought up children, submitted themselves as peaceful subjects to the local authorities: all which implies a certain freedom, a certain degree of prosperity and comfort. They had free enjoyment of their religion, such at least as adhered faithfully to their belief in Jehovah. We hear of no special and general religious persecution. -- Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868), in "The History of the Jews." Verse 1 . They sat in silence; they remembered in silence; they wept in silence . --J. W. Burgon. Verse 1-6 . Israel was a typical people . They were typical of God's church in all ages of the world. And, They were typical of the soul of every individual believer. This Psalm is composed for Israel in her captivity. Let us go over it, taking its typical meaning. When a believer is in captivity he has a sorrowful remembrance of Zion. So it was with God's ancient people: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion" ( Psalms 137:1 ). In the last chapter of 2 Chronicles 36:14-20 , we find the melancholy tale of Judah's captivity. Many of their friends had been slain by the sword -- the house of God was burned -- the walls of Jerusalem were broken down -- and they themselves were captives in a foreign land. No wonder that they sat down and wept when they remembered Zion. So it is often with the believer when led captive by sin -- he sits down and weeps when he remembers Zion. Zion is the place where God makes himself known. When a poor awakened sinner is brought to know the Saviour, and to enter through the rent veil into the holiest of all, then he becomes one of the people of Zion: "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand." He dwells in Zion; and the people that dwell therein are forgiven their iniquity. But when a believer falls into sin he falls into darkness -- he is carried a captive away from Zion. No more does he find entrance within the veil; no more is he glad when they say to him, "Let us go up to the house of the Lord." He sits down and weeps when he remembers Zion. The world derides the believer in his captivity. So it was with ancient Israel. The Chaldeans were cruel conquerors. God says by his prophet, -- "I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction." Not only did they carry them away from their temple, their country, and their homes, but they made a mock of their sorrows. When they saw them sit down to shed bitter tears by the rivers of Babylon, they demanded mirth and a song, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." So is it with the world and the captive Christian. There are times when the world does not mock at the Christian. Often the Christian is filled with so strange a joy that the world wonders in silence. Often there is a meek and quiet spirit in the Christian, which disarms opposition. The soft answer turneth away wrath; and his very enemies are forced to be at peace with him. But stop till the Christian's day of darkness comes -- stop till sin and unbelief have brought him into captivity -- stop till he is shut out from Zion, and carried afar off, and sits and weeps; then will the cruel world help forward the affliction -- then will they ask for mirth and song; and when they see the bitter tear trickling down the cheek, they will ask with savage mockery, "Where is your Psalm singing now?" "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." Even Christ felt this bitterness when he hung upon the cross. The Christian cannot sing in captivity. So it was with ancient Israel. They were peculiarly attached to the sweet songs of Zion. They reminded them of the times of David and Solomon -- when the temple was built, and Israel was in its greatest glory. They reminded them, above all, of their God, of their temple, and the services of the sanctuary. Three times a year they came up from the country in companies, singing these sweet songs of Zion -- lifting their eyes to the hills whence came their help. But now, when they were in captivity, they hanged their harps upon the willows; and when their cruel spoilers demanded mirth and a song, they said: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" So is it with the believer in darkness. He hangs his harp upon the willows, and cannot sing the song of the Lord. Every believer has got a harp. Every heart that has been made new is turned into a harp of praise. The mouth is filled with laughter -- the tongue with most divine melody. Every true Christian loves praise -- the holiest Christians love it most. But when the believer falls into sin and darkness, his harp is on the willows, and lie cannot sing the Lord's song, for lie is in a strange land. He loses all sense of pardon. It is the sense of pardon that gives its sweetest tones to the song of the Christian. But when a believer is in captivity he loses this sweet sense of forgiveness, and therefore cannot sing. He loses all sense of the presence of God. It is the sweet presence of God with, the soul that makes the believer sing. But when that presence is away, the Lord's house is but a howling wilderness; and you say, "How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" He loses sight of the heavenly Canaan. The sight of the everlasting hills, draws forth the heavenly melodies of the believing soul. But when a believer sins, and is carried away captive, he loses this hope of glory. He sits and weeps, -- he hangs his harp upon the willows, and cannot sing the Lord's song in a strange land. The believer in darkness still remembers Zion, and prefers it above his chief joy. He often finds, when he has fallen into sin and captivity, that he has fallen among worldly delights and worldly friends. A thousand pleasures tempt him to take up his rest here; but if he be a true child of Zion he will never settle down in a strange land. He will look over all the pleasures of the world and the pleasures of sin, and say, "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand" - - "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." --Condensed from Robert Murray M'Cheyne, 1813-1843. Verse 1-2 . The Psalm is universally admired . Indeed, nothing can be more exquisitely beautiful. It is written in a strain of sensibility that must touch every soul that is capable of feeling. It is remarkable that Dr. Watts, in his excellent versification, has omitted it. He has indeed some verses upon it in his Lyrics; and many others have written on this ode. We have seen more than ten productions of this kind; the last, and perhaps the best, of which is Lord Byron's. But who is satisfied with any of these attempts? Thus it begins: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion." These rivers were probably some of the streams branching off from the Euphrates and Tigris. Here it is commonly supposed these captive Jews were placed by their task masters, to preserve or repair the water works. But is it improper to conjecture that the Psalmist refers to their being here; not constantly, but occasionally; not by compulsion, but choice? Hither I imagine their retiring, to unbend their oppressed minds in solitude. "Come", said one of these pious Jews to another, "come, let us for a while go forth, from this vanity and vileness. Let us assemble together by ourselves under the refreshing shade of the willows by the watercourses. And let us take our harps with us, and solace ourselves with some of the songs of Zion." But as soon as they arrive, and begin to touch the chords, the notes -- such is the power of association -- awaken the memory of their former privileges and pleasures. And, over whelmed with grief, they sit down on the grass; and weep when they remember Zion; their dejected looks, averted from each other, seeming to say, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." But what do they with their harps? The voice of mirth is heard no more, and all the daughters of music are brought low. Melody is not in season to a distressed spirit. "Is any afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing Psalms." "As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart." They did not, however, break them to pieces, or throw them into the stream -- but hanged them up only. They hoped that what they could not use at present they might be able to resume as some happier period. To be cast down is not to be destroyed. Distress is not despondency. "Beware of deperated steps; the darkest day Live till to-morrow, will have passed away." "We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof." Let us pass from the Jew to the Christian in his Spritiual Sorrows. He who preach well, says Luther, must distinguish well. It is peculiarly necessary to discriminate, when we enter upon the present subject. For all the sorrows of the Christian are not of the same kind or descent. Let us consider four sources of his moral sadness. The first will be physical. The second will be criminal. The third will be intellectual. The fourth will be pious. --William Jay in "The Christian Contemplated." HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 1 . A duty once the source of joy: "remember Zion." Circumstances which make the remembrance sorrowful. Peculiar persons who feel this joy or sorrow: "we." Verse 1 . Zion forsaken in prosperity. Its services neglected; its priests demoralized; the worship of Baal and of Ashtaroth preferred to the worship of the true God. Zion remembered in adversity. In Babylon more than in Jerusalem; on the banks of the Euphrates more than on the banks of Jordan; with tears when they might have remembered it with joy. "I spake unto thee in thy prosperity, and thou saidst, I will not hear." "Lord, in trouble they have visited thee. They poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them." --G. R.

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. The drooping branches appeared to weep as we did, and so we gave to them our instruments of music; the willows could as well make melody as we, for we had no mind for minstrelsy. In the midst of the willows, or in the midst of the rivers, or in the midst of Babylon, it matters little which, they hung their harps aloft -- those harps which once in Zion's halls the soul of music shed. Better to hang them up than to dash them down: better to hang them on willows than profane them to the service of idols. Sad indeed is the child of sorrow when he grows weary of his harp, from which in better days he had been able to draw sweet solaces. Music hath charms to give unquiet spirits rest; but when the heart is sorely sad it only mocks the grief which flies to it. Men put away their instruments of mirth when a heavy cloud darkens their souls.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. -- "Our harps." Many singers were carried captives: Ezra 2:41. These would of course carry thier instruments with them, and be insulted, as here. Their songs were sacred, and unfit to be sung before idolaters. --From "Anonymous Notes" in James Merrick's Annotations, 1768.

Verse 2. -- "Willows." All the flat, whereon Babylon stodd, being by reason of so many rivers and canals running through it made in many places marsh, expecially near the said rivers and canals, this caused it to abound much in willows, and therefore it is called in Scripture the "Valley of Willows"; for so the words in 15:7, which we translate "the brook of the willows," ought to be rendered. --Humphrey Prideaux (1648 - 1724), in "The Old and New Testament Connected,", etc.

Verse 2. -- "Willows." The Weeping Willow of Babylon will grow to be a large tree; its branches being long, slender, and pendulous, makes it proper to be planted upon the banks of rivers, ponds, and over springs; the leaves, also, are long and narrow; and when any mist or dew falls, a drop of water is seen hanging at their extremities, which, together with with their hanging branches, cause a most lugubrious appearance. Lovers' garlands are said to have been made of a species of this willow, the brancehs of which are very slender and pliable; and the the plant itself has always been sought after for ornamental plantations, either to mix with others of the like growth in the largest quaters, of to be planted out singly over springs, or in large opens, for the peculiar variety occasioned by its mournful look. --John Evelyn (1620 - 1706) in "Silva; or, A Discourse of Trees."

Verse 2. -- "Willows." It is a curious fact, that during the Commonwealth of England, when Crowmwell, like a wise politician, allowed them to settle in London and to have synagogues, the Jews cam hither in sufficient numbers to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles in booths, among the Willows on the borders of the Thames. The disturbance of their comfort from the innumerable spectators, chiefly London apprentices, called for some protection from the local magistrates. Not that any insult was offered to their persons, but a natural curiosity, excited by so new and extraordinary a spectacle, induced many to press too closely round their camp, and perhaps intrude upon their privacy. --Maria Callcott (1788 - 1842), in "A Scripture Herbal," 1842.

Verse 2. -- "Willows." There is a pretty story told about the way in which the Weeping Willow was introduced into England.* Many years ago, the well-known poet, Alexander Pope, who resided at Twickenham, received a basket of figs as a present from Turkey. The basket was made ofthe supple branches of the Weeping Willow, the very same species under which the captive Jews sat when they wept by the waters of Babylon. "We hanged our harps upon the willows." The poet valued highly the small slender twigs as assoicated with so much that was interesting, and untwisted the basket, and planted one of the branches on the ground. It had some tidy buds upon it, and he hoped he might be able to rear it, as none of theis species of willow was know in England. Happily the willow is very quick to take root and grow. The little branch soon became a tree, and drooped gracefully over the river, in the same matter that its race had done over the waters of Babylon. From that one branch all the Weeping Willows in England are descended. -- Mary and Elizabeth Kirby, in "Chapters on Trees," 1873.

* The two preceding extracts would seem to prove that this story is not true; at least Evelyn's willow is evidently the weeping willow, and would seem to have long been known.

Verse 2. -- "In the midst thereof." This is most naturally understood of the city of Babylon; which was nearly as large as Middlesex, and had parks and gardens inside it. -- William Kay.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 2.

Verse 2. We hanged our harps, etc.

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song. It was ill to be a singer at all when it was demanded that this talent should go into bondage to an oppressor's will. Better be dumb than be forced to please an enemy with forced song. What cruelty to make a people sigh, and then require them to sing! Shall men be carried away from home and all that is dear to them, and yet chant merrily for the pleasure of their unfeeling captors? This is studied torture: the iron enters into the soul. It is indeed "woe to the conquered" when they are forced to sing to increase the triumph of their conquerors. Cruelty herein reached a refinement seldom thought of. We do not wonder that the captives sat them down to weep when thus insulted. "And they that wasted us required of us mirth." The captives must not only sing but smile, and add merriment to their music. Blind Samson in former days must be brought forth to make sport for Philistines, and now the Babylonians prove themselves to be loaves of the same leaven. Plundered, wounded, fettered, carried into captivity and poverty, yet must the people laugh as if it were all a play, and they must sport as if they felt no sorrow. This was worm wood and gall to the true lovers of God and his chosen land. "Saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion." Nothing would serve their turn but a holy hymn, and a tune sacred to the worship of Jehovah. Nothing will content the Babylonian mockers but one of israel's Psalms when in her happiest days she sang unto the Lord whose mercy endureth for ever: this would make rare fun for their persecutors, who would deride their worship and ridicule their faith in Jehovah. In this demand there was an insult to their God as well as a mockery of themselves, and this made it the more intensely cruel. Nothing could have been more malicious, nothing more productive of grief. These wanton persecutors had followed the captives into their retirement, and had remarked upon their sorrowful appearance, and "there" and then they bade the mourners make mirth for them. Could they not let the sufferers alone? Were the exiles to have no rest? The daughter of Babylon seemed determined to fill up her cup of iniquity, by torturing the Lord's people. Those who had been the most active agents of Israel's undoing must needs follow up their ferocities by mockeries. "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." Worse than the Egyptians, they asked not labour which their victims could have rendered, but they demanded mirth which they could not give, and holy songs which they dared not profane to such a purpose, sufferings of the weary and oppressed exiles by their mirth and their indecency. We are sorry to say that the resemblance still holds betwixt the Jews in a state of captivity and the Christians in the state of their pilgrimage. We have also to sustain the mockery of the profane and the unthinking. Ridicule and disdain are often the fate of sincere piety in this world. Fashion and frivolity and false philosophy have made a formidable combination against us; and the same truth, the same honesty, the same integrity of principle, which in any other cause would be esteemed as manly and respectable, is despised and laughed at when attached to the cause of the gospel and its sublime interests. --Thomas Chalmers.

Verse 3-4. St. John Chrysostom observes the improvement such tribulation effected in the Jews, who previously derided, nay, even put to death, some of the prophets; but now that they were captives in a foreign land, they would not attempt to expose their sacred hymns to the ridicule of the Gentiles. --Robert Bellarmine.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. --"They that carried us away captive required of us a song;" or rather, as it should be rendered, "the words of a song." They see no inconsistancy in a religion which freely mixes with the world. In their ignorance they only require "the words of a song;" its heavenly strain they have never caught. "They that wasted us" required of us mirth." Remember, it is this worldly element which wasteth, or lays on heaps, whether so far as our own hearts of the church of God is concerned. But, true to his spiritual instincts, the child of God replies, "How shall we sing Jehovah's song in the land of a stranger?" and then, so far from being utterly cast down or overcome, rises with fresh outburst or resolution and intenseness of new vigour, to utter the vows of verses 5 and 6. For, after having passed through such a spiritual conflict, we come forth, not wearied, but refreshed; not weaker, but stronger. It is one of the seeming contradictions of the gospel, that the cure of weariness, and the relief of heavy-ladenness, lies in this --to take the cross upon ourselves. After the night long conflict of Israel, "as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him," and that though "he halted upon his thigh." --Alfred Edersheim.

Verse 3. -- "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." No music will serve the epicures in the prophet but temple music: Amos 6:5, "They invent to themselves instruments of music like David." As choice and excellent as David was in the service of the temple, so would they be in their private feasts. Belshazzar's draughts are not half so sweet in other vessels as in the utensils of the temple: Daniel 5:2, "He commanded to bring forth the golden and silver vessels that were taken out of the house of God." So the Babylonian humour is pleased with nothing so much as with one of the songs of Zion; not an ordinary song, but "Sing us one of your songs of Zion." No jest relisheth with a profane spirit so well as when Scripture is abused, and anmde to lackey to their sportive jollity. Vain man thinketh he can never put hunour upon his pleasures, and scorn enough upon God and holy things. --Thomas Manton.

Verse 3. -- "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." The insulting nature of the demand will become the more conspicuous, if we consider, that the usual subjects of these songs were the omnipotence of Jehovah, and his love towards his chosen people. --William Keatinge Clay, 1839.

Verse 3. The Babylonians asked them in derision for one of the songs of Zion. They loaded with ridicule their pure and venerable religion, and aggravated the sufferings of the weary and oppressed exiles by their mirth and their indecency. We are sorry to say that the resemblence still holds betwixt the Jews in a state of captivity and the Christians in the state of their pilgrimage. We have also to sustain the mockery of the profane and the unthinking. Ridicule and disdain are often the fate of sincere piety in this world. Fashion and frivolity and false philosophy have made a formidable combination against us; and the same truth, the same honesty, the same integrity of principle, which in any other cause would be exteemed as manly and respectable, is despised and laughed at when attached to the cause of the gospel and its sublime interests. --Thomas Chalmers.

Verse 3, 4. --St. John Chrysostom observes the improvement such tribulation effected in the Jews, who previously derided, nay, even put to death, some of the prophets; but now that they were captives in a foreign land, they would not attempt to expose their sacred hymns to the ridicule of the Gentiles. --Robert Bellarmine.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 3. (last clause). Taken away from the text this is a very pleasant and praiseworthy request. Why do we wish for such a song?

Verse 3-4.

b) A severe trial of the fidelity of captive Israel. It might have been to their present advantage to have complied with the request.

c) A cruel taunt of the sad and desponding condition of the captives.

b) In uncongenial society -- amongst unsympathetic strangers.

Verse 3-4. The burlesque of holy things.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land How shall they sing at all? sing in a strange land? sing Jehovah's song among the uncircumcised? No, that must not be; it shall not be. With one voice they refuse, but the refusal is humbly worded by being put in the form of a question. If the men of Babylon were wicked enough to suggest the defiling of holy things for the gratification of curiosity, or for the creation of amusement, the men of Zion had not so hardened their hearts as to be willing to please them at such a fearful cost. There are many things which the ungodly could do, and think nothing of the doing thereof, which gracious men cannot venture upon. The question "How can I?" or "How shall we?" comes of a tender conscience and denotes an inability to sin which is greatly to be cultivated.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Now, is it not true that, in many senses, we, like the Jewish exiles, have to sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If not a land strange to us, then, all the more strange to it -- a land foreign, so to say, and alien to the Lord's song. The very life which we live here in the body is a life of sight and sense. Naturally we walk by sight; and to sing the Lord's song is possible only to faith. Faith is the soul's sight: faith is seeing the Invisible: this comes not of nature, and without this we cannot sing the Lord's song, because we are in a land strange to it.

Again, the feelings of the present life are often adverse to praise. The exiles in Babylon could not sing because they were in heaviness. God's hand was heavy upon them. He had a controversy with them for their sins. Now the feelings of many of us are in like manner adverse to the Lord's song. Some of us who are in great sorrow. We have lost a friend; we are in anxiety about one who is all to us; we know not which way to turn for tomorrow's bread or for this day's comfort. How can we sing the Lord's song?

And there is another kind of sorrow, still more fatal, if it be possible, to the lively exercise of adoration. And that is, a weight and burden' of unforgiven sin. Songs may be heard from the prison cell of Philippi; songs maybe heard from the calm death bed, or by the open grave; but songs cannot be drawn forth from the soul on which the load of God's displeasure, real or imagined, is lying, or which is still powerless to apprehend the grace and the life for sinners which is in Christ Jesus. That, we imagine, was the difficulty which pressed upon the exile Israelite; that certainly is an impediment now, in many, to the outburst of Christian praise. And again, there is a land yet more strange and foreign to the Lord's song even than the land of unforgiven guilt -- and treat is the land of unforsaken sin. --Condensed from C. J. Vaughan.

Verse 4. The Lord's song -- in a strange land. It was the contrast, it was the incongruity which perplexed them. The captives in Babylon -- that huge, unwieldy city, with its temple of the Chaldean Bel towering aloft on its eight stupendous stories to the height of a furlong into the sky -- the Israelite exiles, bidden there to an idolatrous feast, that they might make sport for the company by singing to them one of the far famed Hebrew melodies, for the gratification of curiosity or the amusement of the ear -- how could it be done? The Lord's song -- one of those inspired compositions of Moses or David, in which the saintly soul of the king or the prophet poured itself forth in lowliest, loftiest adoration, before the one Divine Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier -- how could it be sung, they ask, in a scene so incongruous? The words would languish upon the tongue, the notes would refuse to sound upon the disused harp. Such Psalmody requires its accompaniment and its adaptation -- if not actually in the Temple courts of Zion, yet at least in the balmy gales of Palestine and the believing atmosphere of Israel. --C. J. Vaughan, in "The Family Prayer and Sermon Book."

Verse 4. The Lord's song. These songs of old, to distinguish them from heathenish songs, were called God's songs, the Lord's songs; because taught by him, learned of him, and commanded by him to be sung to his praise. --John Bunyan.

Verse 4. Many were the sad thoughts which the remembrance of Zion would call up: the privileges they had there enjoyed; the solemn feasts and happy meetings of their tribes to worship there before the Lord; the Temple -- "the beautiful house where their fathers had worshipped" -- now laid waste.

But the one embittering thought that made them indeed heavy at heart, silenced their voices, and unstrung their harps, was the cause of this calamity -- their sin. Paul and Silas could sing in a dungeon, but it was not their sin brought them there: and so the saints suffering for the name of Christ could say, "we are exceeding joyful in all our tribulation." There is no real sorrow in any circumstances into which God brings us, or where he leads and goes with us; but where sin is, and suffering is felt to be -- not persecution, but -- judgment, there is and can be no joy; the soul refuses to be comforted. Israel cannot sing beside the waters of Babylon. --William De Burgh.

Verse 4. There is a distinction between us and God's ancient people; for at that time the worship of God was confined to one place; but now he has his temple wherever two or three are met together in Christ's name, if they separate themselves from all idolatrous profession, and maintain purity of Divine worship. --John Calvin.

Verse 4. It is one of the pathetic touches about the English captivity of King John II of France, that once sitting as a guest to see a great tournament held in his honour, he looked on sorrowfully, and being urged by some of those about him to be cheerful and enjoy the splendid pageant, he answered with a mournful smile, "How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?" --Polydore Virgil, --1555.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. To sing Zion's songs for the pleasure of Zion's foes, would be to forget the Holy City Each Jew declares for himself that he will not do this; for the pronoun alters from "we" to "I." Individually the captives pledge themselves to fidelity to Jerusalem, and each one asserts that he had sooner forget the art which drew music from his harp strings than use it for Babel's delectation. Better far that the right hand should forget its usual handicraft, and lose all its dexterity, than that it should fetch music for rebels out of the Lord's instruments, or accompany with sweet skill a holy Psalm desecrated into a common song for fools to laugh at. Not one of them will thus dishonour Jehovah to glorify Belus and gratify his vetaries. Solemnly they imprecate vengeance upon themselves should they so false, so faithless prove.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem. Calvary, Mount of Olives, Siloam, how fragrant are ye with the Name that is above every name! "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem!" Can I forget where he walked so often, where he spake such gracious words, where he died? Can I forget that his feet shall stand on that "Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem, on the east?" Can I forget that there stood the Upper Room, and there fell the showers of Pentecost? --Andrew A. Bonar.

Verse 5. Let my right hand forget her cunning. There is a striking and appropriate point in this, which has been overlooked. It is, that, as it is customary for people in the East to swear by their professions, so one who has no profession -- who is poor and destitute, and has nothing of recognized value in the world -- swears by his right hand, which is his sole stake in society, and by the "cunning" of which he earns his daily bread. Hence the common Arabic proverb (given by Burckhardt) reflecting on the change of demeanour produced by improved circumstances: -- "He was wont to swear `by the cutting off of his right hand!' He now swears `by the giving of money to the poor.'" The words, "her cunning", are supplied by the translators, in whose time cunning (from the Saxon "cannan", Dutch konnen, "to know") meant "skill"; and a cunning man was what we should now call a skilful man. In the present case the skill indicated is doubtless that of playing on the harp, in which particular sense it occurs so late as Prior: -- "When Pedro does the lute command,

She guides the cunning artist's hand."

Modern translators substitute "skill"; but perhaps a term still more general would be better -- such as, "May my right hand lose its power." --John Kitto, in "The Pictorial Bible."

Verse 5. Let my right hand forget. Something must be supplied from the context ... the playing on the stringed instrument, Psalms 137:2, whether the right hand should be applied to the purpose or not, was the point in question. Then, the punishment also perfectly accords with the misdeed, as in Job 31:22: If I, misapplying my right hand to the playing of joyful strains on my instrument, forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand, as a punishment, forget the noble art; and then also Psalms 137:6 fits admirably to what goes before: May my misemployed hand lose its capacity to play, and my tongue, misemployed in singing cheerful songs, its capacity to sing. --E. W. Hengstenberg.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5. The person who remembers; the thing remembered; the solemn imprecation.

Verse 5. No harp but for Jesus.

"One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard, One faithful harp shall praise thee."

"Thy songs were made for the brave and free, They shall never sound in slavery."

"And I heard the voice of harpers Harping with their harps." --W. B. H.

Verse 5-6.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. Thus the singers imprecate eternal silence upon their mouths if they forget Jerusalem to gratify Babylon. The players on instruments and the sweet songsters are of one mind: the enemies of the Lord will get no mirthful tune or song from them. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. The sacred city must ever be first in their thoughts, the queen of their souls; they had sooner be dumb than dishonour her sacred hymns, and give occasion to the oppressor to ridicule her worship. If such the attachment of a banished Jew to his native land, how much more should we love the church of God of which we are children and citizens. How jealous should we be of her honour, how zealous for her prosperity. Never let us find jests in the words of Scripture, or make amusement out of holy things, lest we be guilty of forgetting the Lord and his cause. It is to be feared that many tongues have lost all power to charm the regations of the saints because they have forgotten the gospel, and God has forgotten them.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. If I do not remember thee. Either our beds are soft, or our hearts hard, that can rest when the church is at unrest, that feel not our brethren's hard cords through our soft beds. --John Trapp.

Verse 6. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Literally, "if I advance not Jerusalem above the head of my joy." If I set not Jerusalem as a diadem on the head of my rejoicing, and crown all my happiness with it. --Christopher Wordsworth.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem. The case is left in Jehovah's hands. He is a God of recompenses, and will deal out justice with impartiality. The Edomites ought to have been friendly with the Israelites, from kinship; but there was a deep hatred and cruel spite displayed by them. The elder loved not to serve the younger, and so when Jacob's day of tribulation came, Esau was ready to take advantage of it. The captive Israelites being moved by grief to lodge their complaints with God, also added a prayer for his visitation of the nation which meanly sided with their enemies, and even Urged the invaders to more than their usual cruelty. Who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. They wished to see the last of Jerusalem and the Jewish state; they would have no stone left standing, they desired to see a clean sweep of temple, palace, wall, and habitation. It is horrible for neighbours to be enemies, worse for them to show their enmity in times of great affliction, worst of all for neighbours to egg others on to malicious deeds. Those are responsible for other men's sins who would use them as the tools of their own enmity. It is a shame for men to incite the wicked to deeds which they are not able to perform themselves. The Chaldeans were ferocious enough without being excited to greater fury; but Edom's hate was insatiable. Those deserve to be remembered by vengeance who in evil times do not remember mercy; how much more those who take advantage of calamities to wreak revenge upon sufferers. When Jerusalem's day of restoration comes Edom will be remembered and wiped out of existence.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom, etc. The Jews were their brethren: Obadiah 1:10 Amos 1:11. They were their neighbours, Idumea and Judea bordered upon one another: Mark 3:8. They were confederates with the Jews (Jeremiah 27:3: an Edomitish ambassador was at Jerusalem), who, together with the ambassadors of the other kings there mentioned, were strengthening themselves with Zedekiah against Nebuchadnezzar; see Obadiah 1:7. For them, therefore to revenge themselves for former wrongs done them upon the Jews, and that in the day of their calamity, this made their sin exceedingly sinful --William Greenhill, 1591-1677.

Verse 7. Remember, O LORD, the, children of Edom, etc. Or all kinds of evil speaking against our brother, this sin of Edom, to sharpen an enemy against our brother in the day of his sorrow and distress, this opening of the mouth wide against him, to exult over him in his calamity, is most barbarous and unchristian. ... Observe how the cruelty of the Edomites is aggravated by this time; the most woeful time that ever Jerusalem had, called therefore the day of Jerusalem. When all things conspired to make their sorrow full, then, in the anguish and fit of their mortal disease, then did Edom arm his eye, his tongue his heart, his hand, and join all those with the enemy against his brother. Learn, that God taketh notice not only what we do against another, but when; for he will set these things in order before us; for the God of mercy cannot abide cruelty. --Edward Marbury, 1649.

Verse 7. Remember, O Loud, the children of Edom. Edom shall be remembered for the mischievous counsel he gave; and the daughter of Babylon shall be for ever razed out of memory for razing Jerusalem to the ground. And let all the secret and open enemies of God's church take heed how they employ their tongues and hands against God's secret ones: they that presume to do either may here read their fatal doom written in the dust of Edom, and in the ashes of Babylon. --Daniel Featley (1582-1645), in "Clavis Mystica."

Verse 7. In Herod, the Idumean, Edom's hatred found its concentrated expression. His attempt was to destroy him whom God had laid in Zion as the "sure foundation." -- William Kay.

Verse 7. It may be observed that the Jews afterward acted the same part toward the Christian church which the Edomites had acted toward them, encouraging and stirring up the Gentiles to persecute and destroy it from off the face of the earth. And God "remembered" them for the Christians' sakes, as they prayed him to "remember Edom" for their sakes. Learn we hence, what a crime it is, for Christians to assist the common enemy, or call in the common enemy to assist them, against their brethren. -- George Horne.

Verse 7. We are not to regard the imprecations of this Psalm in any other light than as prophetical. They are grounded on the many prophecies which had already gone forth on the subject of the destruction of Babylon, if, as we may admit, the Psalm before us was written after the desolation of Jerusalem. But these prophecies have not yet been fulfilled in every particular, and remain to be accomplished in mystic Babylon, when the dominion of Antichrist shall be for ever swept away, and the true church introduced into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, at the appearing of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in his own kingdom. --William Wilson.

Verse 7. Edom's hatred was the hatred with which the carnal mind in its natural enmity against God always regards whatever is the elect object of his favour. Jerusalem was the city of God. "Rase it, rase it even to the ground", is the mischievous desire of every unregenerate mind against every building that rests on the elect Stone of Divine foundation. For God's election never pleases man until, through grace, his own heart has become an adoring receiver of that mercy which while in his natural state he angrily resented and refused to own in its effects on other men From Cain to Antichrist this solemn truth holds always, good. --Arthur Pridham.

Verse 7-9. I do not know if the same feeling has occurred to others, but I have often wished the latter verses of this Psalm had been disjoined from this sweet and touching beginning. It sounds as if one of the strings on their well tuned harps was out of melody, as if it struck a jarring note of discord. And yet I know the feeling is wrong, for it is no more than what the Lord himself had foretold and declared should be the final desolation of proud Babylon itself: yet one longs more intensely for the period when the nations of the earth shall learn war no more; and every harp and every voice, even those of the martyred ones beneath God's altar loudest and sweetest of all, shall sing the Lord's songs, the song of Moses, and the Lamb, in that pleasant land, where no sighing and no tears are seen. --Barton Bouchier.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7. The hatred of the ungodly to true religion.

WORKS WRITTEN ABOUT THE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVENTH PSALM. IN SPURGEON'S DAY

"An Exposition upon some select Psalms of David ... Written by that faithful servant of God M. Robert Rollok ... And translated out of Latine into English by Charles Lumisden ... Edinborgh ... 1600", 8vo. contains a short exposition on Psalm 137. Of little value.]

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed. Or the destroyer: let us accept the word either way, or both ways: the destroyer would be destroyed, and the Psalmist in vision saw her as already destroyed. It is usual to speak of a city as a virgin daughter. Babylon was in her prime and beauty, but she was already doomed for her crimes. Happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. The avenger would be fulfilling an honourable calling in overthrowing a power so brutal, so inhuman. Assyrian and Chaldean armies had been boastfully brutal in their conquests; it was meet that their conduct should be measured back into their own bosoms. No awards of punishment can be more unanswerably just than those which closely follow the lex talionis, even to the letter. Babylon must fall, as she caused Jerusalem to fall; and her sack and slaughter must be such as she appointed for other cities. The patriot poet sitting sorrowfully in his exile, finds a solace in the prospect of the overthrow of the empress city which holds him in bondage, and he accounts Cyrus right happy to be ordained to such a righteous work. The whole earth would bless the conqueror for ridding the nations of a tyrant; future generations would call him blessed for enabling men to breathe again, and for once more making liberty possible upon the earth.

We may rest assured that every unrighteous power is doomed to destruction, and that from the throne of God justice will be measured out to all whose law is force, whose rule is selfishness, and whose policy is oppression. Happy is the man who shall help in the overthrow of the spiritual Babylon, which, despite its riches and power, is "to be destroyed." Happier still shall he be who shall see it sink like a millstone in the flood, never to rise again. What that spiritual Babylon is none need enquire. There is but one city upon earth which can answer to the name.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed. In the beginning of the fifth year of Darius happened the revolt of the Babylonians which cost him the trouble of a tedious siege again to reduce them ... he besieged the city with all his forces ... As soon as the Babylonians saw themselves be girt by such an army as they could not cope with in the field, they turned their thoughts wholly to the supporting of themselves in the siege; in order whereto they took a resolution, the most desperate and barbarous that ever any nation practised. For to make their provisions last the longer, they agreed to cut off all unnecessary mouths among them, and therefore drawing together all the women and children, they strangled them all, whether wives, sisters, daughters, or young children useless for the wars, excepting only that every man was allowed to save one of his wives, which he best loved, and a maid servant to do the work of the house. -- Humphrey Prideaux.

Verse 8. Who art to be destroyed. hdwdfh has been explained in a variety of ways. Seventy: h talaipwroj; Vulg. misera: others, destroyer, powerful, violent, or fierce. Perhaps it best suits the context to regard it as expressing what is already accomplished: it is so certain, in the view of the Psalmist, that the ruin will come, that he uses the past participle, as if the work were now completed. "O daughter of Babylon, the destroyed!" --"Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological Review."

Verse 8. He that sows evil shall reap evil; he that soweth the evil of sin, shall reap the evil of punishment. So Eliphaz told Job that he had seen (Job 4:8), "they that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same." And that either in kind or quality, proportion or quantity. In kind, the very same that he did to others shall be done to him; or in proportion, a measure answerable to it. So he shall reap what he hath sown, in quality or in quantity; either in portion the same, or in proportion the like. The prophet cursing Edom and Babel saith thus, "O daughter of Zion, happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us." The original is, "that recompenses to thee thy deed which thou didst to us." ... Thus is wickedness recompensed suo genere, in its own kind. So often the transgressor is against the transgressor, the thief robs the thief, proditoros proditor; as in Rome many unchristened emperors, and many christened popes, by blood and treason got the sovereignty, and by blood and treason lost it. Evil men drink of their own brewing, are scourged with their own rod, drowned in the pit which they digged for others, as Haman was hanged on his own gallows, Perillus tormented in his own engine! --Thomas Adams.

Verse 8-9. The subject of these two verses is the same with that of many chapters in Isaiah and Jeremiah; namely, the vengeance of heaven executed upon Babylon by Cyrus, raised up to be king of the Medes and Persians, united under him for that purpose. The meaning of the words, "Happy shall he be," is, He shall go on and prosper, for the Lord of hosts shall go with him, and fight his battles against the enemy and oppressor of his people, empowering him to recompense upon the Chaldeans the works of their hands, and to reward them as they served Israel. --George Horne.

Verse 8-9. It needs no record to tell us that, in the siege and carrying away of Jerusalem, great atrocities were committed by the conquerors. We may be sure that "Many a chiding mother then

And newborn baby died,"

for the wars of the old world were always attended by such barbarous cruelties. The apostrophe of Psalms 137:8-9, consequently merely proclaims the certainty of a just retribution -- of the same retribution that the prophets had foretold (Isaiah 13:16 47:1-15 Jeremiah 50:46; compare, "who art to be destroyed", Psalms 137:8), and the happiness of those who should be its ministers; who should mete out to her what she had measured to the conquered Jew. It was the decree of Heaven that their "children" should "be dashed to pieces before their eyes." The Psalmist simply recognizes the decree as just and salutary; he pronounces the terrible vengeance to have been deserved. To charge him with vindictiveness, therefore, is to impugn the justice and mercy of the Most High. And there is nothing to sustain the charge, for his words are simply a prediction, like that of the prophet. "As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head": Obadiah 1:15. -- Joseph Hammond, in "The Expositor," 1876.

Verse 9. Happy shall he be that taketh, etc. That is, so oppressive hast thou been to all under thy domination, as to become universally hated and detested; so that those who may have the last hand in thy destruction, and the total extermination of thy inhabitants, shall be reputed "happy" -- shall be celebrated and extolled as those who have rid the world of a curse so grievous. These prophetic declarations contain no excitement to any person or persons to commit acts of cruelty and barbarity; but are simply declarative of what would take place in the order of the retributive providence and justice of God, and the general opinion that should in consequence be expressed on the subject; therefore praying for the destruction of our enemies is totally out of the question. --Adam Clarke.

Verse 9. Happy shall he be, etc. With all possible might and speed oppose the very first risings and movings of the heart to sin; for these are the buds that produce the bitter fruit; and if sin be not nipped in the very bud, it is not imaginable how quickly it will shoot forth ... Now these sins, though they may seem small in themselves, yet are exceedingly pernicious in their effects. These little foxes destroy the grapes as much or more than the greater, and therefore are to be diligently sought out, hunted, and killed by us, if we would keep our hearts fruitful. We should deal with these first streamings out of sin as the Psalmist would have the people of God deal with the brats of Babylon: Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. And without doubt most happy and successful will that man prove in his spiritual welfare, who puts on no bowels of pity even to his infant corruptions, but slays the small as well as the great; and so not only conquers his enemies by opposing their present force, but also by extinguishing their future race. The smallest children, if they live, will be grown men; and the first motions of sin, if they are let alone, will spread into great, open, and audacious presumptions. -- Robert South, 1633-1716.

Verse 9. Against the stones. That [l~ signifies a rock, is undubitable, from the concurrent testimony of all the best Hebrew lexicographers. Hence it follows, because there is no rock, nor mountain, nor hill, either in tim city or in the province of ancient Babylonia, that the locality against which the malediction of this Psalm is hurled cannot be the metropolis of the ancient Assyrian empire, but must be apocalyptic Babylon, or Papal Rome, built upon seven hills, one of which is the celebrated Tarpeian Rock. But the eighth verse emphatically declares that the retributive justice of God will visit upon apocalyptic Babylon the same infliction which Assyrian Babylon, and also Pagan Rome, inflicted upon Jerusalem. As therefore Nebuchadnezzar as well as Titus "burnt the house of the Lord, and tim king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire" (2 Kings 25:9), so "the ten horns shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire; and she shall be utterly burned with fire" (Revelation 17:16 18:8). When the Canaanites had filled up the measure of their iniquity, Israel received a divine commission to exterminate the guilty nation. When Papal Rome shall have filled up the measure of her iniquity, then "a mighty angel will take up a stone, like a great millstone, and will cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down": "For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double" (Revelation 18:5-6). Then shall issue the divine proclamation: "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her" (Revelation 18:20). --John Noble Coleman, in "The Book of Psalms, with Notes," 1863.

Verse 9. He that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. My heroes slain, my bridal bed o'erturned,

My daughters ravished, and my city burn'd,

My bleeding infants dashed against the floor;

These have I yet to see, perhaps yet more. Homer's Iliad, Pope's Translation, Book 22, 89-91.

EXPOSITION

Verse 9. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. Fierce was the heart of the Jew who had seen his beloved city the scene of such terrific butchery. His heart pronounced like sentence upon Babylon. She should be scourged with her own whip of wire. The desire for righteous retribution is rather the spirit of the law than of the gospel; and yet in moments of righteous wrath the old fire will burn; and while justice survives in the human breast it will not lack for fuel among the various tyrannies which still survive. We shall be wise to view this passage as a prophecy. History informs us that it was literally fulfilled: the Babylonian people in their terror agreed to destroy their own offspring, and men thought themselves happy when they had put their own wives and children to the sword. Horrible as was the whole transaction, it is a thing to be glad of if we take a broad view of the world's welfare; for Babylon, the gigantic robber, had for many a year slaughtered nations without mercy, and her fall was the rising of many people to a freer and safer state. The murder of innocent infants can never be sufficiently deplored, but it was an incident of ancient warfare which the Babylonians had not omitted in their massacres, and, therefore, they were not spared it themselves. The revenges of providence may be slow, but they are ever sure; neither can they be received with regret by those who see God's righteous hand in them. It is a wretched thing that a nation should need an executioner; but yet if men will commit murders tears are more fitly shed over their victims than over the assassins themselves. A feeling of universal love is admirable, but it must not be divorced from a keen sense of justice.

The captives in Babylon did not make music, but they poured forth their righteous maledictions, and these were far more in harmony with their surroundings than songs and laughter could have been. Those who mock the Lord's people will receive more than they desire, to their own confusion: they shall have little enough to make mirth for them, and more than enough to fill them with misery. The execrations of good men are terrible things, for they are not lightly uttered, and they are heard in heaven. "The curse causeless shall not come;" but is there not a cause? Shall despots crush virtue beneath their iron heel and never be punished? Time will show.

Psalms 138

PSALM 138 OVERVIEW

Title. A Psalm of David. This Psalm is wisely placed. Whoever edited and arranged these sacred poems, he had an eye to apposition and contrast; for if in Psalms 137:1-9 we see the need of silence before revilers, here we see the excellence of a brave confession. There is a time to be silent, lest we cast pearls before swine; and there is a time to speak openly, lest we be found guilty of cowardly not confessing. The Psalm is evidently of a Davidic character, exhibiting all the fidelity, courage, and decision of that King of Israel and Prince of Psalmists. Of course the critics have tried to rend the authorship from David on account of the mention of the temple, though it so happens that in one of the Psalms which is allowed to be David's the same word occurs. Many modern critics are to the word of God what blowflies are to the food of men: they cannot do any good, and unless relentlessly driven away they do great harm.

Division. In full confidence David is prepared to own his God before the gods of the heathen, or before angels or rulers (Psalms 138:1-3); he declares that he will instruct and convert kings and nations, till on very highway men shall sing the praises of the Lord (Ps 138:4-5). Having thus spoken, he utters his personal confidence in Jehovah, who will help his lowly servant, and preserve him from all the malice of wrathful foes.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. I will praise thee with my whole heart. His mind is so taken up with God that he does not mention his name: to him there is no other God, and Jehovah is so perfectly realized and so intimately known, that the Psalmist, in addressing him, no more thinks of mentioning his name than we should do if we were speaking to a father or a friend. He sees God with his mind's eye, and simply addresses him with the pronoun "thee." He is resolved to praise the Lord, and to do it with the whole force of his life, even with his whole heart. He would not submit to act as one under restraint, because of the opinions of others; but in the presence of the opponents of the living God he would be as hearty in worship as if all were friends and would cheerfully unite with him. If others do not praise the Lord, there is all the more reason why we should do so, and should do so with enthusiastic eagerness. We need a broken heart to mourn our own sins, but a whole heart to praise the Lord's perfections. If ever our heart is whole and wholly occupied with one thing, it should be when we are praising the Lord.

Before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. Why should these idols rob Jehovah of his praises? The Psalmist will not for a moment suspend his songs because there are images before him, and their foolish worshippers might not approve of his music. I believe David referred to the false gods of the neighbouring nations, and the deities of the surviving Canaanites. He was not pleased that such gods were set up; but he intended to express at once his contempt of them, and his own absorption in the worship of the living Jehovah by continuing most earnestly to sing wherever he might be. It would be paying these dead idols too much respect to cease singing because they were perched aloft. In these days when new religions are daily excogitated, and new gods are set up, it is well to know how to act. Bitterness is forbidden, and controversy is apt to advertise the heresy; the very best method is to go on personally worshipping the Lord with unvarying zeal, singing with heart and voice his royal praises. Do they deny the Divinity of our Lord? Let us the more fervently adore him. Do they despise the atonement? Let us the more constantly proclaim it. Had half the time spent in councils and controversies been given to praising the Lord, the church would have been far sounder and stronger than she is at this day. The Hallelujah Legion will win the day. Praising and singing are our armour against the idolatries of heresy, our comfort under the depression caused by insolent attacks upon the truth, and our weapons for defending the gospel. Faith when displayed in cheerful courage, has about it a sacred contagion: others learn to believe in the Most High when they see his servant "Calm `mid the bewildering cry,

Confident of victory."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Psalms 138:1-145:21. These eight Psalms are composed in the first person, and they follow very happily after the fifteen "Songs of Up goings", and the three Psalms of praise uttered by the chorus of those who have gone up to Sion. Those Psalms were the united utterances of national devotion. These eight Psalms are the devout Israelite's Manual of private prayer and praise. --Christopher Wordsworth.

Whole Psalm. This is the first of a series of eight Psalms (Psalms 138:1-145:21), probably the last composed by David, a kind of commentary on the great Messianic promise in 2Sa 7:1-29. They are found in this part of the psalter, in consequence of having been made the basis, or rather the body, of a system or series (Psalms 135:1-146:10) by a later writer. -- Joseph Addison Alexander.

Whole Psalm. If this Psalm refers to the promise in 2 Samuel 7:1-29, there can be no doubt of the correctness of the superscription, which ascribes it to David. For he, on whom the promise has been conferred, himself stands forth as the speaker. Proof also of David's authorship is found in the union, so characteristic of him, of bold courage, see especially Psalms 138:3, and deep humility, see Psalms 138:6. And in proof of the same comes, finally, the near relationship in which it stands with the other Psalms of David, especially those which likewise refer to the promise of the everlasting kingdom; and with David's thanksgiving in 2 Samuel 7:1-29, the conclusion of which remarkably agrees with the conclusion of our Psalm: "And now, Lord God, the word which thou hast spoken upon thy servant and upon his house, that fulfil even to eternity, and do as thou hast spoken." --E.W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 1. I will praise thee with my whole heart. It is a part of our thankfulness to engage our heart to praise God in time to come, since we find that all the thanks we can give for the present are short of our duty or desire to praise him: "I will praise thee", saith David. Sometimes the believer will find his heart set at liberty in God's worship, which at another time he will find to be in bands, and then he should take the opportunity of an enlarged heart to run in the way of God's service, as David doth here: "I will praise thee with my whole heart." --David Dickson.

Verse 1. I will praise thee. Up, dear soul! What though thou hast once complained like Israel of thy captivity in Babylon, Psalms 137:1, yet now sing once more a song of joy to the Lord. Thou hast been pressed like a cluster of grapes, now give forth thy ripe juice. -- Christoph Starke.

Verse 1. I will praise thee. Alas, for that capital crime of the Lord's people -- barrenness in praises! Oh, how fully I am persuaded that a line of praises is worth a leaf of prayer, and an hour of praises is worth a day of fasting and mourning! --John Livingstone, 1603-1672.

Verse 1. With my whole heart. This expression, as in Psalms 9:1, points to the surpassing greatness of the benefit received, which filled the whole heart with thankfulness, and did not proceed, as it were, from some particular corner of it. It corresponds also to the greatness of the benefaction, in the expression, before the gods, -- demanding of these, whether they would verify their godhead by pointing to any such boon conferred by them on their servants. The benefit which could afford such a demonstration, and give occasion and ground for raillery, must have been a surpassingly great one. --E.W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 1. Before the gods. There is much diversity in the meaning assigned to "gods" in this verse. It may mean literally in an idolatrous country, in the very temples of false gods, as so many Christian martyrs bore testimony to the faith. The LXX., Vulgate, Ethiopic, and Arabic translate angels. The Chaldee has judges, the Syriac kings, and the earlier Greek fathers explain it as a reference to the choirs of Priests and Levites in the Temple. -- Zigabenus, in Neale and Littledale.

Verse 1. Before the gods. Some (LXX., Luther, Calvin, etc.) interpret these words of the angels, and compare Psalms 29:1; but it is doubtful if the Hebrew word Elohim, used nakedly and without any explanation, can have this meaning: it is also, as it would seem, in this connection, pointless: others (Rabbins, Flamin., Delitzsch, etc.) interpret "the great ones of the earth", and compare Psalms 138:4 below, and Psalms 82:1 119:46, etc.; but this interpretation, too, seems to give no special force to the passage. Probably (Aq., Symm., Jer., etc.) the meaning is, "Before, or in the presence of, the gods of the heathen, i.e., in scorn of, in sight of, the idols, who can do nothing, I will praise Jehovah, who does miracles for me and his people." For a similar expression, see Psalms 23:5, see also Psalms 95:8,96:5, for places in which the Hebrew word "gods" is used probably for idols. -- Speaker's Commentary.

Verse 1. Before the gods, etc. The Vulgate hath, in conspectu angelorum, "before the angels"; their presence should awe men and women, and keep them from all dishonesty, evil words, acts, gestures, secret grudging, all discontents and distempers. For as they are rejoiced to discern a good frame of spirit in you, to see you keep that order God hath set in the church and state, to walk as Christians to the honour of God; so they are grieved to see the contrary, and you must answer for your sins against these great officers in the great family of heaven and earth. -- William Greenhill.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1-3. David vexed with rival gods, as we are with rival gospels. How will he act?

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. I will worship toward thy holy temple, or the place of God's dwelling, where the ark abode. He would worship God in God's own way. The Lord had ordained a centre of unity, a place of sacrifice, a house of his indwelling; and David accepted the way of worship enjoined by revelation. Even so, the true hearted believer of these days must not fall into the will worship of superstition, or the wild worship of scepticism, but reverently worship as the Lord himself prescribes. The idol gods had their temples; but David averts his glance from them, and looks earnestly to the spot chosen of the Lord for his own sanctuary. We are not only to adore the true God, but to do so in his own appointed way: the Jew looked to the temple, we are to look to Jesus, the living temple of the Godhead.

And praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth. Praise would be the main part of David's worship; the name or character of God the great object of his song; and the special point of his praise the grace and truth which shone so conspicuously in that name. The person of Jesus is the temple of the Godhead, and therein we behold the glory of the Father, "full of grace and truth." It is upon these two points that the name of Jehovah is at this time assailed -- his grace and his truth. He is said to be too stern, too terrible, and therefore "modern thought" displaces the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and sets up an effeminate deity of its own making. As for us, we firmly believe that God is love, and that in the summing up of all things it will be seen that hell itself is not inconsistent with the beneficence of Jehovah, but is, indeed, a necessary part of his moral government now that sin has intruded into the universe. True believers hear the thunders of his justice, and yet they do not doubt his lovingkindness. Especially do we delight in God's great love to his own elect, such as he showed to Israel as a race, and more especially to David and his seed when he entered into covenant with him. Concerning this there is abundant room for praise. But not only do men attack the lovingkindness of God, but the truth of God is at this time assailed on all sides; some doubt the truth of the inspired record as to its histories, others challenge the doctrines, many sneer at the prophecies; in fact, the infallible word of the Lord is at this time treated as if it were the writing of impostors, and only worthy to be carped at. The swine are trampling on the pearls at this time, and nothing restrains them; nevertheless, the pearls are pearls still, and shall yet shine about our Monarch's brow. We sing the lovingkindness and truth of the God of the Old Testament, -- "the God of the whole earth shall he be called." David before the false gods first sang, then worshipped, and then proclaimed the grace and truth of Jehovah; let us do the same before the idols of the New Theology.

For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. The word of promise made to David was in his eyes more glorious than all else that he had seen of the Most High. Revelation excels creation in the clearness, definiteness, and fulness of its teaching. The name of the Lord in nature is not so easily read as in the Scriptures, which are a revelation in human language, specially adapted to the human mind, treating of human need, and of a Saviour who appeared in human nature to redeem humanity. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the divine word will not pass away, and in this respect especially it has a preeminence over every other form of manifestation. Moreover, the Lord lays all the rest of his name under tribute to his word: his wisdom, power, love, and all his other attributes combine to carry out his word. It is his word which creates, sustains, quickens, enlightens, and comforts. As a word of command it is supreme; and in the person of the incarnate Word it is set above all the works of God's hands. The sentence in the text is wonderfully full of meaning. We have collected a vast mass of literature upon it, but space will not allow us to put it all into our notes. Let us adore the Lord who has spoken to us by his word, and by his Son; and in the presence of unbelievers let us both praise his holy name and extol his holy word.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. I will worship toward thy holy temple. The holy temple was a type and figure of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we find Daniel opening his windows toward the temple, where he prayed three times a day; and we find Jonah saying, "Yet will I look again toward thy holy temple." So looking to Jesus, he is our temple. There is no acceptable worship except through him; but we can offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Then, set the Lord Jesus Christ before your eyes, that you may worship God and draw near to the footstool of mercy through him, that you may offer an acceptable sacrifice, and praise his name for his lovingkindness and for his truth. -- Joseph C. Philpot, 1802-1869.

Verse 2. Thy holy temple. This Psalm is entitled "a Psalm of David", and Calvin considers him to be its author agreeably to the title; but the mention of "the temple" in this verse seems to render such an opinion doubtful. If, however, we translate this word by "mansion", which is the proper rendering of the original -- the mansion of thy sanctity, -- this objection to its composition by David falls to the ground. --James Anderson's Note to Calvin in loc.

Verse 2. I will...praise thy name for thy lovingkindness. There are two beautiful thoughts brought out here; one is, "God's condescension in thought"; the other, "his tenderness in action." These are both included in "loving kindness." And both of these are shown by God to his own people. He humbleth himself to behold the things of the children of men; he condescends to men of low estate. Of the blessed Jesus it is said, that "though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich": 2 Corinthians 8:9. Who can tell the depths to which God condescends in loving thought? We are told that the very hairs of our head are all numbered; and if the hairs of our head, then surely all else beside. God, as the Heavenly Father, takes an interest in everything about his people; he takes this interest in matters which they think beneath his notice, or of which they, from their ignorance, do not know the importance. The mother may draw whole stores of comfort from a realization of the condescending thoughtfulness of God. He will be interested about her babe; if she commit it to him, he who made the universe will, with his infinite mind, think upon her cradle and the helpless creature that is rocked to sleep therein. The sick man may draw whole stores of comfort from the same source, for he can believe the ONE by whom the body was fearfully and wonderfully made will think over the sufferings of that body, and alleviate them, or give strength for the endurance of them if they must be borne. Condescension of thought marks all the dealings of God with his people. And hard following upon it comes tenderness in action. Now this "tenderness in action" is a great part of the lovingkindness of God; it is meet that a thoughtful mind and tender hand should go together in the perfection of love. God is not only energetic, but tender also in action; he is the God of the dew drops, as well as the God of the thunder showers; the God of the tender grass blade, as much as of the mountain oak. We read of great machines, which are able to crush iron bars, and yet they can touch so gently as not to break the shell of the smallest egg; as it is with them, so is it with the hand of the Most High; he can crush a world, and yet bind up a wound. And great need have we of tenderness in our low estate; a little thing would crush us: we have such bruised and feeble souls, that unless we had One who would deal tenderly with us we must soon be destroyed. --Philip Bennett Power, in "The I Wills' of the Psalms", 1861.

Verse 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. His "word" being here annexed to "lovingkindness and truth", must needs be that part of his word to which these two are applicable, i.e., his promise, the matter whereof is mercy or lovingkindness, and in the performance of which is truth or fidelity. And then to "magnify" this "word" of promise seems to signify two things; 1, the making very great and excellent promises, and then, 2, the performing them most punctually; and the doing it above all his name is promising and performing most superlative mercies above all that is famed or spoken or believed of God. Then thus it will run; I will worship, etc., "and praise thy name above thy lovingkindness and above thy truth"; i.e., it will be too low, too short a compilation, to call thee merciful or veracious, or style thee after any other of thy attributes; thou art all these, and more than so, "thou hast magnified thy word", given and performed most glorious promises, "above all thy name", above all that men have apprehended or spoken of thee.

This verse and Psalm may easily be interpreted of God's mercies in Christ, so far above what could be famed, or said, or believed, or apprehended of him. -- Condensed from H. Hammond.

Verse 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Beyond all question there are higher and clearer manifestations of himself, of his being, of his perfection, of his purposes in the volume of revelation, than any which his works have disclosed or can disclose. There are very many points in relation to God, of the highest interest to mankind, on which the disclosures of science shed no light; there are many things which it is desirable for man to know, which cannot be learned in the schools of philosophy; there are consolations which man needs in a world of trouble which cannot be found in nature; there is especially a knowledge of the method by which sin may be pardoned, and the soul saved, which, can never be disclosed by the blowpipe, the telescope, or the microscope. These things, if learned at all, must be learned from revelation, and these are of more importance to man as a traveller to another world than all the learning which can be acquired in the schools of philosophy -- valuable as that learning is. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 2. For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name, etc. This is a dark sentence at the first view, but as a judicious expositor upon the place well observes, the words may be thus read, and will better agree with the Hebrew; "thou hast magnified thy name above all things, in thy word", that is, in fulfilling thy word thou hast magnified thy name above all things, in that thou hast fulfilled thy word. What thou freely promisedst, thou hast faithfully performed; what thou hast spoken with thy mouth thou hast fulfilled with thy hand; for which thy name is wonderfully to be magnified. --James Nalton, 1664.

Verse 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Every creature bears the name of God; but in his word and truth therein contained it is written at length, and therefore he is more choice of this than of all his other works; he cares not much what becomes of the world and all in it, so that he keeps his word, and saves his truth. Ere long we shall see the world in flames; the heavens and earth shall pass away, "but the word of the Lord endures for ever." When God will, he can make more such worlds as this; but he cannot make another truth, and therefore he will not lose one jot thereof. Satan, knowing this, sets all his wits to work to deface this and disfigure it by unsound doctrine. The word is the glass in which we see God, and seeing him are changed into his likeness by his Spirit. If this glass be cracked, then the conceptions we have of God will misrepresent him unto us; whereas the word, in its native clearness, sets him out in all his glory unto our eye. -- William Gurnall.

Verse 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Thou hast bestowed the promise of perpetuity to my house and to my kingdom, which rises in grandeur and goodness above all thy past manifestations of thyself in behalf of thy people (2 Samuel 7:10 12- 13 15-16 7:21-22 2Sa 24-26 29; 2 Samuel 7:21 especially, "For thy Word's sake ... hast thou done all these great things"; 2 Samuel 7:26, "And let thy name be magnified for ever" -- an undesigned coincidence of language between the history and the Psalm). In the Messiah alone the greatness of the promise finds, and shall hereafter more fully find, its realization for Israel and the whole world. --Andrew Robert Fausset.

Verse 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. God has sent his word to us,

Verse 2. For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. This is one of those expressions of Scripture that seem so comprehensive, and yet so amazing. To my mind it is one of the most remarkable expressions in the whole book of God. "Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." The name of God includes all the perfections of God; everything that God is, and which God has revealed himself as having -- his justice, majesty, holiness, greatness, and glory, and whatever he is in himself, that is God's name. And yet he has "magnified" something "above his name" -- his word -- his truth. This may refer to the Incarnate Word, the Son of God, who was called "the Word." "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one": 1 John 5:7, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God": John 1:1. You may take the words either as meaning that God has magnified his Word, his eternal Son -- above all his great name, that is, he has set Jesus on high above all the other perfections of his majesty; or take it as meaning his written word, which is written in the sacred Scriptures. So, in that case, not only the Incarnate Word in the person of Jesus; but also the written word in the Scriptures of truth. He has magnified it above all his name in the fulfilment of it: God's faithfulness being so dear to him, he has exalted his faithfulness above all his other perfections. We see this in nature. Here is a man so to be depended upon, so faithful to his word, that he will sacrifice anything sooner than depart from it: that man will give up his property, or life itself, rather than forfeit his word. So God has spoken of magnifying his word above all his name. He would sooner allow all his other perfections to come to naught, than for his faithfulness to fail. He has so magnified his faithfulness, that his love, his mercy, his grace, would all sooner fail than his faithfulness -- the word of his mouth and what he has revealed in the Scripture. What a firm salvation, then, is ours, which rests upon his word, when God has magnified that word above all his name! What volumes of blessedness and truth are contained therein! so that, if God has revealed his truth to your soul, and given you faith to anchor in the world of promise, sooner than that should fail, he would suffer the loss of all; for he has magnified his word above all his name. --Joseph C. Philpot.

Verse 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. God has a greater regard unto the words of his mouth, than to the works of his hand: heaven and earth shall pass away, but one jot or tittle of what he hath spoken shall never fall to the ground. Some do understand this of Christ the essential Word, in whom he has set his name, and whom he has so highly exalted, that he has given him "a name above every name." -- Ebenezer Erskine, 1680-1754.

Verse 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Meaning that his Word or promise shall have, as it were, and exercise a kind of sovereignty over all his prerogatives and attributes, wisdom, justice, power, etc. So that men need not fear that any of them shall at any time, or in any case whatsoever, move in the least contrariety thereunto. -- John Goodwin, 1593-1665.

Verse 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. It may be when there are some extraordinary works of God in the world, thunder and lightning, etc., we are ready to be afraid, and oh! the great God that doth appear in these great works! Were our hearts as they ought to be when we read the Word, we would tremble at that more than at any manifestation of God since the world began in all his works; and if so be thou dost not see more of the glory of God in his Word than in his works, it is because thou hast little light in thee. --Jeremiah Burroughs, 1599-1646.

Verse 2. Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." But mightier far is the word by which a lost world is redeemed. This is the "word" that he hath "magnified above all his name", as displaying at once the exceeding greatness of his power, the resources of his manifold wisdom, and the blended glories of holiness and love. --John Lillie.

Verse 2. It is not with the truth merely excogitated, but with the truth expressed, that we have any concern; not with the truth as seen by our inspired teacher, but with the truth as by him spoken to us. It is not enough that the Spirit hath made him to see it aright -- this is not enough if he have not also made him to speak it aright. A pure influx into the mind of an apostle is no sufficient guarantee for the instruction of the world, unless there be a pure afflux also; for not the doctrine that has flowed in, but the doctrine that has flowed out, is truly all that we have to do with. Accordingly, it is to the doctrine in afflux, that is to the word, that we are bidden to yield ourselves. It is the word that is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path; it is his word that God hath exalted above all his name; it is the word that he hath settled fast in heaven, and given to it a stability surer and more lasting than to the ordinances of nature. We can take no cognizance of the doctrine that is conveyed from heaven to earth, when it has only come the length of excogitation in the mind of an apostle; and it is not till brought the farther length of expression, either by speech or by writing, that it comes into contact with us. In short our immediate concern is with, not what apostles conceive inwardly, but what they bring forth outwardly -- not with the schemes or the systems which they have been made to apprehend, but with the books which they have written; and had the whole force and effect of this observation been sufficiently pondered, we feel persuaded that the advocates of a mitigated inspiration would not have dissevered, as they have done, the inspiration of sentiment from the inspiration of language. --Thomas Chalmers.

Verse 2. "Thy word", or, "Thy promise." So great are God's promises, and so faithful and complete is his performance of them, as even to surpass the expectations which the greatness of his name has excited. --Annotated Paragraph Bible.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 2. The Christward position.

Verse 2. (first clause). --

--W.W.

Verse 2.

--Archibald G. Brown.

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. In the day when I cried thou answerest me. No proof is so convincing as that of experience. No man doubts the power of prayer after he has received an answer of peace to his supplication. It is the distinguishing mark of the true and living God that he hears the pleadings of his people, and answers them; the gods hear not and answer not, but Jehovah's memorial is -- "the God that heareth prayer." There was some special day in which David cried more vehemently than usual; he was weak, wounded, worried, and his heart was wearied; then like a child he "cried", -- cried unto his Father. It was a bitter, earnest, eager prayer, as natural and as plaintive as the cry of a babe. The Lord answered it, but what answer can there be to a cry? -- to a mere inarticulate wail of grief? Our heavenly Father is able to interpret tears, and cries, and he replies to their inner sense in such a way as fully meets the case. The answer came in the same day as the cry ascended: so speedily does prayer rise to heaven, so quickly does mercy return to earth. The statement of this sentence is one which all believers can make, and as they can substantiate it with many facts, they ought boldly to publish it, for it is greatly to God's glory. Well might the Psalmist say, "I will worship" when he felt bound to say "thou answeredst me." Well might he glory before the idols and their worshippers when he had answers to prayer to look back upon. This also is our defence against modern heresies: we cannot forsake the Lord, for he has heard our prayers.

And strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. This was a true answer to his prayer. If the burden was not removed, yet strength was given wherewith to bear it, and this is an equally effective method of help. It may not be best for us that the trial should come to an end; it may be far more to our advantage that by its pressure we should learn patience. Sweet are the uses of adversity, and our prudent Father in heaven will not deprive us of those benefits. Strength imparted to the soul is an inestimable boon; it means courage, fortitude, assurance, heroism. By his word and Spirit the Lord can make the trembler brave, the sick whole, the weary bright. This soul might will continue: the man having been strengthened for one emergency remains vigorous for life, and is prepared for all future labours and sufferings; unless, indeed, he throw away his force by unbelief, or pride, or some other sin. When God strengthens, none can weaken. Then is our soul strong indeed when the Lord infuses might into us.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. In the day when I cried, etc. God granted him a speedy answer; for it was in the very day that he cried that he was heard: and it was a spiritual answer; he was strengthened with strength in his soul. Would you have soul strength for the work you have in view? Then cry unto him who is the "strength of Israel" for it; for "he giveth power to the faint, and he increaseth strength to them that have no might." --Ebenezer Erskine.

Verse 3. In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, etc. That part of an army which is upon action in the field is sure to have their pay, if their masters have any money in their purse, or care of them; yea, sometimes when their fellows left in their quarters are made to wait. I am sure there is more gold and silver (spiritual joy, I mean, and comfort) to be found in Christ's camp, among his suffering ones, than their brethren at home in peace and prosperity ordinarily can show. What are the promises but vessels of cordial wine, turned on purpose against a groaning hour, when God usually broacheth them! "Call upon me", saith God, "in the day of trouble." Psalms 50:15. And may we not do so in the day of peace? Yes; but he would have us most bold with him in the day of trouble. None find such quick despatch at the throne of grace as suffering saints. "In the day that I cried", saith David, "thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul." He was now in a strait, and God comes in haste to him. Though we may keep a well friend waiting should he send for us, yet we will give a sick friend leave to call us up at midnight. In such extremities we usually go with the messenger that comes for us; and so doth God with the prayer. Peter knocked at their gate, who were assembled to seek God for him, almost as soon as their prayer knocked at heaven gate in his behalf. And truly it is no more than needs, if we consider the temptations of our afflicted condition; we are prone then to be suspicious that our best friends forget us, and to think every stay a delay, and neglect of us; therefore God chooseth to show himself most kind at such a time. "As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ": 2 Corinthians 1:5. As man laid on trouble, so Christ laid in consolation: both tides rose and fell together; when it was spring tide with him in affliction, it was so with him in his joy. We relieve the poor as their need increaseth; so Christ comforts his people as their troubles multiply. And now, Christian, tell me, doth not thy dear Lord deserve a ready spirit in thee to meet any suffering with, for, or from him, who gives his sweetest comforts where his people are put to bear their saddest sorrows? Well may the servant do his work cheerfully when his master is so careful of him as with his own hands to bring him his breakfast into the fields. The Christian stays not till he comes to heaven for all his comfort. There indeed shall be the full supper, but there is a breakfast, Christian, of previous joys, more or less, which Christ brings to thee into the field, to be eaten on the place where you endure your hardship. -- William Gurnall.

Verse 3. Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. It is one gracious way of answering our prayers when God doth bestow upon us spiritual strength in our souls; if he do not give the things we desire, yet if he gives us strength in our souls, he graciously answers our prayers. What is this spiritual strength? I answer, it is a work of the Spirit of God, enabling a man to do and suffer what God would have him without fainting or backsliding. --James Nalton.

Verse 3. Thou strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. Other masters cut out work for their servants, but do not help them in their work; but our Master in heaven doth not only give us work, but strength. God bids us serve him, and he will enable us to serve him, Ezekiel 36:27: "I will cause you to walk in my statutes." The Lord doth not only fit work for us, but fits us for our work; with his command he gives power. --Thomas Watson.

Verse 3. Thou makest me brave in my soul (with) strength. The common version of this clause ("strengthenedst me with strength in my soul") contains a paronomasia not in the original, where the verb and noun have not even a letter in common. The verb is by some translated made me proud, i.e., elated me, not with a vain or selfish pride, but with a lofty and exhilarating hope. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 3.

--A.G.B.

Verse 3.

--J.F.

Verse 3. Remarkable answer to prayer.

Verse 3.

--W.W.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Kings have usually small care to hear the word of the Lord; but King David feels assured that if they do hear it they will feel its power. A little piety goes a long way in courts; but brighter days are coming, in which rulers will become hearers and worshippers: may the advent of such happy times be hastened. What an assembly! -- "all the kings of the earth!" What a purpose! Gathered to hear the words of Jehovah's mouth. What a preacher! David himself rehearses the words of Jehovah. What praise! when they all in happy union lift up their songs unto the Lord. Kings are as gods below, and they do well when they worship the God above. The way of conversion for kings is the same as for ourselves: faith to them also cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Happy are those who can cause the word of the Lord to penetrate palaces; for the occupants of thrones are usually the last to know the joyful sounds of the gospel. David, the king, cared for kings' souls, and it will be wise for each man to look first after those who are of his own order. He went to his work of testimony with fall assurance of success: he meant to speak only the words of Jehovah's mouth, and he felt sure that the kings would hear and praise Jehovah.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee. In a sense sufficiently striking this promise was fulfilled to David, and to the nation of Israel, as surrounding monarchs beheld the wonderful dispensations of divine providence which attended their steps (2Sa 5:11 8:10); but in its completest sense, it shall realize its accomplishment in the future conquests of Messiah, when the princes and potentates of the earth receive his word, learn by divine grace to celebrate the glorious methods of his love, and see in the light of faith the greatness of Jehovah's glory as the God of salvation. "All the kings of the earth" shall yet praise the Lord, and shall hasten with their numerous subjects to hail the triumphs of his grace. --John Morison.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4.

Verse 4-5.

--G.R.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD. Here is a double wonder -- kings in God's ways, and kings singing there. Let a man once know the ways of Jehovah, and he will find therein abundant reason for song; but the difficulty is to bring the great ones of the earth into ways so little attractive to the carnal mind. Perhaps when the Lord sends us a King David to preach, we shall yet see monarchs converted and hear their voices raised in devout adoration.

For great is the glory of the LORD. This glory shall overshadow all the greatness and glory of all kings: they shall be stirred by a sight of it to obey and adore. O that Jehovah's glory were revealed even now! O that the blind eyes of men could once behold it, then their hearts would be subdued to joyful reverence. David, under a sense of Jehovah's glory, exclaimed, "I will sing" (Psalms 138:1), and here he represents the kings as doing the same thing.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD. There will come a time when the praise of Jahve, which according to Psalms 137:4 was obliged to be dumb in the presence of the heathen, will be sung by the kings of the heathen themselves. --Franz Delitzsch.

Verse 5. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD. Walking with God is a pleasant walk: the ways of wisdom are called "ways of pleasantness": Proverbs 3:17. Is not the light pleasant Psalms 89:15: "They shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance." Walking with God is like walking among beds of spices, which send forth a fragrant perfume. This is it which brings peace, Acts 9:31: "Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost." While we walk with God, what sweet music doth the bird of conscience make in our breast! "They shall sing in the ways of the Lord." --Thomas Watson.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1615: "Singing in the Ways of the Lord."

Verse 5. This is spoken of kings, but it is true of the humblest pilgrims. The Lord hath respect unto the lowly, and will make them sing.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. Though the Lord be high. In greatness, dignity, and power, Jehovah is higher than the highest. His nature is high above the comprehension of his creatures, and his glory even exceeds the loftiest soarings of imagination.

Yet hath he respect unto the lowly. He views them with pleasure, thinks of them with care, listens to their prayers, and protects them from evil. Because they think little of themselves he thinks much of them. They reverence him, and he respects them. They are low in their own esteem, and he makes them high in his esteem.

But the proud he knoweth afar off. He does not need to come near them in order to discover their utter vanity: a glance from afar reveals to him their emptiness and offensiveness. He has no fellowship with them, but views them from a distance; he is not deceived, but knows the truth about them, despite their blustering; he has no respect unto them, but utterly abhors them. To a Cain's sacrifice, a Pharaoh's promise, a Rabshakeh's threat, and a Pharisee's prayer, the Lord has no respect. Nebuchadnezzar, when far off from God, cried, "Behold this great Babylon which I have builded"; but the Lord knew him, and sent him grazing with cattle. Proud men boast loudly of their culture and "the freedom of thought", and even dare to criticize their Maker: but he knows them from afar, and will keep them at arm's length in this life, and shut them up in hell in the next.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. Though the LORD be high. We have here God's transcendent greatness; he is the high Lord, or Jehovah: he is "the high and lofty One, who inhabits eternity, and who dwells in the high and lofty place, to which no man can approach." Who can think or speak of his highness in a suitable manner? It dazzles the eyes of sinful mortal worms to behold "the place where his honour dwells." Oh how infinite is the distance between him and us! "There are none of the sons of the mighty that can be compared unto him"; yea, "the inhabitants of the earth are before him but as the drop in the bucket, and the small dust in the balance." He is not only "high" above men, but above angels: cherubims and seraphims are his ministering spirits. He is "high" above the heavens; for "the heaven, yea, the heaven of heavens cannot contain him"; and he "humbleth himself" when "he beholds things that are in heaven." Oh, sirs, study to entertain high and admiring thoughts and apprehensions of the glorious majesty of God; for "honour and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary." -- Ebenezer Erskine.

Verse 6. The LORD hath respect unto the lowly. God has such a respect unto the lowly, not as if this frame of soul were meritorious of any good at his hand, but because,

Verse 6. He hath respect unto the lowly. Give me the homely vessel of humility, which God shall preserve, and fill with the wine of his grace; rather than the varnished cup of pride, which he will dash in pieces, like a potter's vessel. Where humility is the corner stone, there glory shall be the top stone. --William Seeker, in "The Nonsuch Professor in his Meridian Splendour", 1660.

Verse 6. The proud he knoweth afar off. He that meets a spectacle or person which he cannot endure to look upon, avoids it, or turns from it while he is yet afar off; whereas, if the object be delightful, he draweth near and comes as close as he can. When therefore it is said, The Lord knoweth a proud man afar off, it shows his disdain of him: he will scarce touch him with a pair of tongs (as we say); he cannot abide to come near him. He knows well enough how vile he is even at the greatest distance. --Joseph Caryl.

Verse 6. The proud he knoweth afar off. By punishing them in hell. --Richard Rolle, 1340.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 6. Divine inversions.

--W.B.H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. If I am walking there now, or shall be doing so in years to come, I have no cause for fear; for God is with me, and will give me new life. When we are somewhat in trouble it is bad enough, but it is worse to penetrate into the centre of that dark continent and traverse its midst: yet in such a case the believer makes progress, for he walks; he keeps to a quiet pace, for he does no more than walk; and he is not without the best of company, for his God is near to pour fresh life into him. It is a happy circumstance that, if God be away at any other time, yet he is pledged to be with us in trying hours: "when thou passest through the rivers I will be with thee." He is in a blessed condition who can confidently use the language of David, -- "thou wilt revive me." He shall not make his boast of God in vain: he shall be kept alive, and made more alive than ever. How often has the Lord quickened us by our sorrows! Are they not his readiest means of exciting to fulness of energy the holy life which dwells within us? If we receive reviving, we need not regret affliction. When God revives us, trouble will never harm us.

Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. This is the fact which would revive fainting David. Our foes fall when the Lord comes to deal with them; he makes short work of the enemies of his people, -- with one hand he routs them. His wrath soon quenches their wrath; his hand stays their hand. Adversaries may be many, and malicious, and mighty; but our glorious Defender has only to stretch out his arm and their armies vanish. The sweet singer rehearses his assurance of salvation, and sings of it in the ears of the Lord, addressing him with this confident language. He will be saved, -- saved dexterously, decidedly, divinely; he has no doubt about it. God's right hand cannot forget its cunning; Jerusalem is his chief joy, and he will defend his own elect.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Though a walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. So as to the three youths in the fiery furnace, their persecutor, Nebuchadnezzar, said, "Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." --Andrew Robert Fausset.

Verse 7. In the midst of trouble thou wilt revive me. The wisdom of God is seen in helping in desperate cases. God loves to show his wisdom when human help and wisdom fail. Exquisite lawyers love to wrestle with niceties and difficulties in the law, to show their skill the more. God's wisdom is never at a loss; but when providences are darkest, then the morning star of deliverance appears. Sometimes God melts away the spirits of his enemies. Joshua 2:24. Sometimes he finds them other work to do, and sounds a retreat to them, as he did to Saul when he was pursuing David. "The Philistines are in the land." "In the mount God will be seen." When the church seems to be upon the altar, her peace and liberty ready to be sacrificed, then the angel comes. --Thomas Watson.

Verse 7. Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand, etc. Thou shalt interpose thine help betwixt me and them, and save me harmless; as the poets feign their gods did those whom they favoured. Thou shalt strike them with thy left hand, and save me with thy right; so Tremellius senses it. --John Trapp.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7. (first clause).

--W.J.

Verse 7.

--G.R.

Verse 7. The child of God often revived out of trouble; more frequently in trouble; not seldom through trouble. Delivered from, sustained in, sanctified through, trouble.

--A.G.B.

Verse 7. An incident of the road to the city.

--W.B.H.

Verse 7. (third clause). Right hand salvation.

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. All my interests are safe in Jehovah's hands. "The work which his goodness began,

The arm of his strength will complete;

His promise is yea and Amen,

And never was forfeited yet."

God is concerned in all that concerns his servants. He will see to it that none of their precious things shall fail of completion; their life, their strength, their hopes, their graces, their pilgrimage, shall each and all be perfected. Jehovah himself will see to this and therefore it is most sure.

Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever. The refrain of the former Psalm is in his ears, and he repeats it as his own personal conviction and consolation. The first clause of the verse is the assurance of faith, and this second one reaches to the full assurance of understanding. God's work in us will abide unto perfection because God's mercy towards us thus abideth.

Forsake not the works of thine own hands. Our confidence does not cause us to live without prayer, but encourages us to pray all more. Since we have it written upon our hearts that God will perfect his work in us, and we see it also written in Scripture that his mercy changeth not, with holy earnestness entreat that we may not be forsaken. If there be anything good in us, it is the work Of God's own hands: will he leave it? Why has he wrought so much in us if he means to give us up? -- it will be a sheer effort. He who has gone so far will surely persevere with us to the end. Our hope for the final perseverance of the believer lies in the final perseverance of believer's God. If the Lord begins to build, and does not finish, it will not be his honour. He will have a desire to the work of his hands, for he knows it has cost him already, and he will not throw away a vessel upon which he has expended so much of labour and skill. Therefore do we praise him with our, whole heart, even in the presence of those who depart from his Holy Word, and, set up another God and another gospel; which are not another, but there be some that trouble us.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. The LORD will perfect, etc. God's work is perfect, man's is clumsy and incomplete. God does not leave off till he has finished. When he rests, it is because, looking on his work, he sees it all "very good." His Sabbath is the Sabbath of an achieved purpose, of a fulfilled counsel. The palaces which we build are ever like that in the story, where one window remains dark and without jewels, while the rest blaze in beauty. But when God builds none can say, "He was not able to finish." In his great palace he makes her "windows of agates", and all her "borders of pleasant stones."

I suppose that if the medieval dream had ever come true, and an alchemist had ever turned a grain of lead into gold, he could have turned all the lead in the world, in time, and with crucibles and furnaces enough. The first step is all the difficulty, and if you and I have been changed from enemies into sons, and had one spark of love to God kindled in our hearts, that is a mightier change than any that yet remains to be effected in order to make us perfect. One grain has been changed, the whole mass will be in due time. -- Alexander Maclaren, Sermon in "Wesleyan Methodist Magazine", 1879.

Verse 8. Forsake not the works of thine own hands. When we are under such afflictions as threaten to ruin us, 'tis seasonable to tell the Lord he made us. David strengthens prayer upon this argument: "Forsake not the works of thine own hands." All men love their own works, many dote upon them: shall we think God will forsake his? See how the people of God plead with God in greatest distress (Isaiah 64:8): "But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we are all the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O LORD." - -Joseph Caryl.

Verse 8. Forsake not the works of thine own hands. Look upon the wounds of thine hands, and forsake not the works of thine hands, prayed Queen Elizabeth. And Luther's usual prayer was, Confirm, O God, in us that thou hast wrought, and perfect the work that thou hast begun in us, to thy glory. So be it. --John Trapp.

Verse 8. Forsake not the works of thine own hands. Behold in me thy work, not mine: for mine, if thou seest, thou condemnest; thine, if thou seest, thou crownest. For whatever good works there be of mine, from thee are they to me; and so they are more thine than mine. For I hear from thine apostle, "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus": Ephesians 2:8-10. --Augustine.

Verse 8. Thine own hands. His creating hands formed our souls at the beginning; his nail pierced hands redeemed them on Calvary; his glorified hands will hold our souls fast and not let them go for ever. Unto his hands let us commend our spirits, sure that even though the works of our hands have made void the works of his hands, yet his hands will again make perfect all that our hands have unmade. --J.W. Burgon.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 8. (first clause).

--A.G.B.

Verse 8. (first and last clauses). Faith in divine purpose no hindrance to prayer, but rather an encouragement in it: "The Lord will perfect." "Forsake not."

--A.G.B

Verse 8. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", Nos. 231 and 1506: "Faith in Perfection", and, "Choice Comfort for a Young Believer."

Verse 8. The grace of God makes a man thoughtful, and leads him to concern about himself, his life, his future, and the completeness of the work of grace. This might lead us to sadness and despair, but the Lord worketh in us for other ends.

Verse 8.

--W.H.J.P.

Psalms 139

PSALM 139 OVERVIEW

One of the most notable of the sacred hymns. It sings the omniscience and omnipresence of God, inferring from these the overthrow of the powers of wickedness, since he who sees and hears the abominable deeds and words of the rebellious will surely deal with them according to his justice. The brightness of this Psalm is like unto a sapphire stone, or Ezekiel's "terrible crystal"; it flames out with such flashes of light as to turn night into day. Like a Pharos, this holy song casts a clear light even to the uttermost parts of the sea, and warns its against that practical atheism which ignores the presence of God, and so makes shipwreck of the soul.

Title. To the Chief Musician. The fast time this title occurred was in Psalms 109:1-31. This sacred song is worthy of the most excellent of the singers, and is fitly dedicated to the leader of the Temple Psalmody, that he might set it to music, and see that it was devoutly sung in the solemn worship of the Most High. A Psalm of David. It bears the image and superscription of King David, and could have come from no other mint than that of the son of Jesse. Of course the critics take this composition away from David, on account of certain Aramaic expressions in it. We believe that upon the principles of criticism now in vogue it would be extremely easy to prove that Milton did not write Paradise Lost. We have yet to learn that David could not have used expressions belonging to "the language of the patriarchal ancestral house." Who knows how much of the antique speech may have been purposely retained among those nobler minds who rejoiced in remembering the descent of their race? Knowing to what wild inferences the critics have run in other matters, we have lost nearly all faith in them, and prefer to believe David to be the author of this Psalm, from internal evidences of style and matter, rather than to accept the determination of men whose modes of judgment are manifestly unreliable.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. He invokes in adoration Jehovah the all knowing God, and he proceeds to adore him by proclaiming one of his peculiar attributes. If we would praise God aright we must draw the matter of our praise from himself -- "O Jehovah, thou hast." No pretended god knows aught of us; but the true God, Jehovah, understands us, and is most intimately acquainted with our persons, nature, and character. How well it is for us to know the God who knows us! The divine knowledge is extremely thorough and searching; it is as if he had searched us, as officers search a man for contraband goods, or as pillagers ransack a house for plunder. Yet we must not let the figure run upon all fours, and lead us further than it is meant to do: the Lord knows all things naturally and as a matter of course, and not by any effort on his part. Searching ordinarily implies a measure of ignorance which is removed by observation; of course this is not the case with the Lord; but the meaning of the Psalmist is, that the Lord knows us as thoroughly as if he had examined us minutely, and had pried into the most secret corners of our being. This infallible knowledge has always existed -- "Thou hast searched me"; and it continues unto this day, since God cannot forget that which he has once known. There never was a time in which we were unknown to God, and there never will be a moment in which we shall be beyond his observation. Note how the Psalmist makes his doctrine personal: he saith not, "O God, thou knowest all things"; but, "thou hast known me." It is ever our wisdom to lay truth home to ourselves. How wonderful the contrast between the observer and the observed! Jehovah and me! Yet this most intimate connection exists, and therein lies our hope. Let the reader sit still a while and try to realize the two poles of this statement, -- the Lord and poor puny man -- and he will see much to admire and wonder at.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Whole Psalm. Aben Ezra observes, that this is the most glorious and excellent Psalm in all the book: a very excellent one it is; but whether the most excellent, it is hard to say. -- John Gill.

Whole Psalm. There is one Psalm which it were well if Christians would do by it as Pythagoras by his Golden Precepts, -- every morning and evening repeat it. It is David's appeal of a good conscience unto God, against the malicious suspicions and calumnies of men, in Psalms 139:1-24. --Samuel Annesley (1620-1696), in "The Morning Exercises."

Whole Psalm. This Psalm is one of the most sublime compositions in the world. How came a shepherd boy to conceive so sublime a theme, and to write in so sublime a strain? Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. What themes are more sublime than the Divine attributes? And which of these attributes is more sublime than Omnipresence? Omniscience, spirituality, infinity, immutability and eternity are necessarily included in it. --George Rogers.

Whole Psalm. Let the modern wits, after this, look upon the honest shepherds of Palestine as a company of rude and unpolished clowns; let them, if they can, produce from profane authors thoughts that are more sublime, more delicate, or better turned; not to mention the sound divinity and solid piety which are apparent under these expressions. --Claude Fleury, 1640-1723.

Whole Psalm. Here the poet inverts his gaze, from the blaze of suns, to the strange atoms composing his own frame. He stands shuddering over the precipice of himself. Above is the All encompassing Spirit, from whom the morning wings cannot save; and below, at a deep distance, appears amid the branching forest of his animal frame, so fearfully and wonderfully made, the abyss of his spiritual existence, lying like a dark lake in the midst. How, between mystery and mystery, his mind, his wonder, his very reason, seem to rock like a little boat between the sea and sky. But speedily does he regain his serenity; when he throws himself, with childlike haste and confidence, into the arms of that Fatherly Spirit, and murmurs in his bosom, "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God; how great is the sum of them"; and looking up at last in his face, cries -- "Search me, O Lord. I cannot search thee; I cannot search myself; I am overwhelmed by those dreadful depths; but search me as thou only canst; see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." --George Gilfillan (1813- 1878), in "The Bards of the Bible."

Whole Psalm. The Psalm has an immediately practical aim, which is unfolded near the close. It is not an abstract description of the Divine attributes, with a mere indirect purpose in view. If God is such a being, if his vital agency reaches over all his creation, pervades all objects, illumines the deepest and darkest recesses; if his knowledge has no limits, piercing into the mysterious processes of creation, into the smallest and most elemental germs of life; if his eye can discern the still more subtle and recondite processes of mind, comprehending the half formed conception, the germinating desire "afar off"; if, anterior to all finite existence, his predetermining decree went forth; if in those ancient records of eternity man's framework, with all its countless elements and organs, in all the ages of his duration, were inscribed -- then for his servant, his worshipper on earth, two consequences follow, most practical and momentous: first, the ceasing to have or feel any complacency with the wicked, any sympathy with their evil ways, any communion with them as such; and, secondly, the earnest desire that God would search the Psalmist's soul, lest in its unsounded depths there might be some lurking iniquity, lest there might be, beyond the present jurisdiction of his conscience, some dark realm which the Omniscient eye only could explore. --Bela B. Edwards (1802-1852), in H.C. Fish's "Masterpieces of Pulpit Eloquence."

Whole Psalm. Searcher of hearts! to thee are known

The inmost secrets of my breast;

At home, abroad, in crowds, alone,

Thou mark'st my rising and my rest,

My thoughts far off, through every maze,

Source, stream, and issue -- all my ways.

How from thy presence should I go,

Or whither from thy Spirit flee,

Since all above, around, below,

Exist in thine immensity?

If up to heaven I take my way,

I meet thee in eternal day. If in the grave I make my bed

With worms and dust, lo! thou art there!

If, on the wings of morning sped,

Beyond the ocean I repair,

I feel thine all controlling will,

And thy right hand upholds me still. "Let darkness hide me", if I say,

Darkness can no concealment be;

Night, on thy rising, shines like day;

Darkness and light are one with thee:

For thou mine embryo form didst view,

Ere her own babe my mother knew. In me thy workmanship display'd,

A miracle of power I stand:

Fearfully, wonderfully made,

And framed in secret by thine hand;

I lived, ere into being brought,

Through thine eternity of thought. How precious are thy thoughts of peace,

O God, to me! how great the sum!

New every morn, they never cease:

They were, they are, and yet shall come,

In number and in compass more

Than ocean's sands or ocean's shore. Search me, O God! and know my heart;

Try me, my inmost soul survey;

And warn thy servant to depart

From every false and evil way:

So shall thy truth my guidance be

To life and immortality.

--James Montgomery.

Whole Psalm. The Psalm may be thus summarized Psalms 139:1. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. -- As though he said, "O LORD, thou art the heart searching God, who perfectly knowest all the thoughts, counsels, studies, endeavours, and actions of all men, and therefore mine." Psalms 139:2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. -- As if he had said, "Thou knowest my rest and motion, and my plodding thoughts of both" Psalms 139:3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. -- As if he had said, "You fan and winnow me", that is, "You discuss and try me to the utmost." Psalms 139:4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. -- As if he had said, "I cannot speak a word, though never so secret, obscure, or subtle, but thou knowest what, and why, and with what mind it was uttered" Psalms 139:5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. -- As if he had said, "Thou keepest me within the compass of thy knowledge, like a man that will not let his servant go out of his sight. I cannot break away from thee" Psalms 139:6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. As if he had said, "The knowledge of thy great and glorious majesty and infiniteness is utterly past all human comprehension." Psalms 139:7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? -- As if he had said, "Whither can I flee from thee, whose essence, presence, and power is everywhere?" Ps 139:8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. -- As if he had said, "There is no height above thee, there is no depth below thee." Psalms 139:9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. -- As if he had said, "If I had wings to fly as swift as the morning light, from the east to the west, that I could in a moment get to the furthest parts of the world." Psalms 139:10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. -- As if he had said, "Thence shall thy hand lead me back, and hold me fast like a fugitive." Psalms 139:11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. -- As if he had said, "Though darkness hinders man's sight, it doth not thine." In a word, look which way you will, there is no hiding place from God. "For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. There is no darkness nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves": Job 34:21-22. Therefore, Christians, do nothing but what you are willing God should take notice of; and judge in yourselves whether this be not the way to have a good and quiet conscience. --Samuel Annesley.

Whole Psalm. In this Aramaizing Psalm what the preceding Psalm says (Psalms 138:6) comes to be carried into effect, viz.: For Jahve is exalted and he seeth the lowly, and the proud he knoweth from afar. This Psalm has manifold points of contact with its predecessor. -- Franz Delitzsch.

To the Chief Musician. As a later writer could have no motive for prefixing the title, "To the Chief Musician", it affords an incidental proof of antiquity and genuineness. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

A Psalm of David. How any critic can assign this Psalm to other than David I cannot understand. Every line, every thought, every turn of expression and transition, is his, and his only. As for the arguments drawn from the two Chaldaisms which occur, this is really nugatory. These Chaldaisms consist merely in the substitution of one letter for another, very like it in shape, and easily to be mistaken by a transcriber, particularly by one who had been used to the Chaldee idiom; but the moral arguments for David's authorship are so strong as to overwhelm any such verbal, or rather literal criticism, were even the objections more formidable than they actually are. --John Jebb.

Verse 1. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known (me). There is no "me" after "known" in the Hebrew; therefore it is better to take the object after "known" in a wider sense. The omission is intentional, that the believing heart of all who use this Psalm may supply the ellipsis. Thou hast known and knowest all that concerns the matter in question, as well whether I and mine are guilty or innocent (Psalms 44:21); also my exact circumstances, my needs, my sorrows, and the precise time when to relieve me. --A.R. Fausset.

Verse 1. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. The godly may sometimes be so overclouded with calumnies and reproaches as not to be able to find a way to clear themselves before men, but must content and comfort themselves with the testimony of a good conscience and with God's approbation of their integrity, as here David doth. -- David Dickson.

Verse 1. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. David here lays down the great doctrine, that God has a perfect knowledge of us, First, in the way of an address to God: he saith it to him, acknowledging it to him, and giving him the glory of it. Divine truths look full as well when they are prayed over as when they are preached over: and much better than when they are disputed over. When we speak of God to him himself, we find ourselves concerned to speak with the utmost degree both of sincerity and reverence, which will be likely to make the impressions the deeper. Secondly, he lays it down in a way of application to himself: not thou hast known all, but "thou hast known me"; that is it which I am most concerned to believe, and which it will be most profitable for me to consider. Then we know things for our good when we know them for ourselves. Job 5:27 ... David was a king, and "the hearts of kings are unsearchable" to their subjects (Proverbs 25:3), but they are not so to their sovereign. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 1. O LORD, thou hast searched me. I would have you observe how thoroughly in the very first verse he brings home the truth to his own heart and his own conscience: "O LORD, thou hast searched me." He does not slur it over as a general truth, in which such numbers shared that he might hope to escape or evade its solemn appeal to himself; but it is, "Thou hast searched me." --Barton Bouchier.

Verse 1. Searched. The Hebrew word originally means to dig, and is applied to the search for precious metals (Job 28:3), but metaphorically to a moral inquisition into guilt. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 1-5. God knows everything that passes in our inmost souls better than we do ourselves: he reads our most secret thoughts: all the cogitations of our hearts pass in review before him; and he is as perfectly and entirely employed in the scrutiny of the thoughts and actions of an individual, as in the regulation of the most important concerns of the universe. This is what we cannot comprehend; but it is what, according to the light of reason, must be true, and, according to revelation, is indeed true. God can do nothing imperfectly; and we may form some idea of his superintending knowledge, by conceiving what is indeed the truth, that all the powers of the Godhead are employed, and solely employed, in the observation and examination of the conduct of one individual. I say, this is indeed the case, because all the powers of the Godhead are employed upon the least as well as upon the greatest concerns of the universe; and the whole mind and power of the Creator are as exclusively employed upon the formation of a grub as of a world. God knows everything perfectly, and he knows everything perfectly at once. This, to a human understanding, would breed confusion; but there can be no confusion in the Divine understanding, because confusion arises from imperfection. Thus God, without confusion, beholds as distinctly the actions of every man, as if that man were the only created being, and the Godhead were solely employed in observing him. Let this thought fill your mind with awe and with remorse. --Henry Kirke White, 1785-1806. Ver. 1-12. -- O Lord, in me there lieth nought

But to thy search revealed lies;

For when I sit

Thou markest it;

No less thou notest when I rise;

Yea, closest closet of my thought

Hath open windows to thine eyes. Thou walkest with me when I walk,

When to my bed for rest I go,

I find thee there,

And everywhere:

Not youngest thought in me doth grow,

No, not one word I cast to talk

But, yet unuttered, thou dost know. If forth I march, thou goest before;

If back I turn, thou com'st behind:

So forth nor back

Thy guard I lack;

Nay, on me, too, thy hand I find.

Well, I thy wisdom may adore,

But never reach with earthly mind. To shun thy notice, leave thine eye,

O whither might I take my way?

To starry sphere?

Thy throne is there.

To dead men's undelightsome stay?

There is thy walk, and there to lie

Unknown, in vain I should assay. O sun, whom light nor flight can match!

Suppose thy lightful flightful wings

Thou lend to me,

And I could flee

As far as thee the evening brings:

Ev'n led to west he would me catch,

Nor should I lurk with western things. Do thou thy best. O secret night,

In sable veil to cover me:

Thy sable veil

Shall vainly fail:

With day unmasked my night shall be;

For night is day, and darkness light,

O Father of all lights, to thee.

--Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-1586.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1. and 23. A matter of fact made a matter of prayer.

Verse 1.

--G.R.

Verse 1-5. In these verses we have God's Omniscience,

--J.F.

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. Me thou knowest, and all that comes of me. I am observed when I quietly sit down, and marked when I resolutely rise up. My most common and casual acts, my most needful and necessary movements, are noted by time, and thou knowest the inward thoughts which regulate them. Whether I sink in lowly self renunciation, or ascend in pride, thou seest the motions of my mind, as well as those of my body. This is a fact to be remembered every moment: sitting down to consider, or rising up to act, we are still seen, known, and read by Jehovah our Lord.

Thou understandest my thought afar off. Before it is my own it is foreknown and comprehended by thee. Though my thought be invisible to the sight, though as yet I be not myself cognizant of the shape it is assuming, yet thou hast it under thy consideration, and thou perceivest its nature, its source, its drift, its result. Never dost thou misjudge or wrongly interpret me: my inmost thought is perfectly understood by thine impartial mind. Though thou shouldest give but a glance at my heart, and see me as one sees a passing meteor moving afar, yet thou wouldst by that glimpse sum up all the meanings of my soul, so transparent is everything to thy piercing glance.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. Thou. David makes the personal pronoun the very frontispiece of the verse, and so says expressly and distinctively to Jehovah, "Thou knowest"; thus marking the difference between God and all others, as though he said, "Thou, and thou alone, O God, in all the universe, knowest altogether all that can be known concerning me, even to my inmost thought, as well as outward act." --Martin Geier.

Verse 2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. Does God care? Is he our Friend? Even in such little matters as these, does he watch over us "to do us good"? ... When we "sit down" he sees; when we rise up he is there. Not an action is lost or a thought overlooked. No wonder that, as these tiny miracles of care are related by David, he adds the words, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. We get accustomed to the thought that God made the sun and sky, the "moon and stars which he hath ordained", and we bow to the fact that they are "the work of his fingers." Let us go further! The coming in and going out of the Christian is mentioned several times in Scripture as though it were very important. So much hinges on these little words. "David went out and came in before the people. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him": 1 Samuel 18:13-14. "The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore": Ps 121:8. David was given both preservation and wisdom in his "goings out" and "comings in." Perhaps the latter was both cause and effect of the first. It was needed, for many eyes were upon him, and many eyes are upon us: are they not? Perhaps more than we think. --Lady Hope, in "Between Times", 1884.

Verse 2. Downsitting and uprising. "Uprising" following "downsitting" is in the order of right sequence; for action ought to follow meditation. Jacob saw the angels ascending to God before they descended to service among mortals. Hence we are taught first to join ourselves to God by meditation, and afterwards to repair to the aid of our fellows. --Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 2. Uprising may respect either rising from bed, when the Lord knows whether the heart is still with him (Psalms 139:18); what sense is had of the Divine protection and sustentation, and what thankfulness there is for the mercies of the night past; and whether the voice of prayer and praise is directed to him in the morning, as it should be (Psalms 3:5 5:3); or else rising from the table, when the Lord knows whether a man's table has been his snare, and with what thankfulness he rises from it for the favours he has received. The Targum interprets this of rising up to go to war; which David did, in the name and strength, and by the direction of the Lord. --John Gill.

Verse 2. Thou understandest my thought afar off. "My thought": that is, every thought, though innumerable thoughts pass through me in a day. The divine knowledge reaches to their source and fountain, before they are our thoughts. If the Lord knows them before their existence, before they can be properly called ours, much more doth he know them when they actually spring up in us; he knows the tendency of them, where the bird will alight when it is in flight; he knows them exactly; he is therefore called a "discerner" or criticizer of the heart: Hebrews 4:2. --Stephen Charnock.

Verse 2. Thou understandest my thought afar off. Not that God is at a distance from our thoughts; but he understands them while they are far off from us, from our knowledge, while they are potential, as gardeners know what weeds such ground will bring forth, when nothing appears. Deuteronomy 31:21. "I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware": God knew their thoughts before they came into Canaan, what they would be there. And how can it be, but that God should know all our thoughts, seeing he made the heart, and it is in his hand (Proverbs 21:1), seeing, "we live, and move, and have our being" in God (Acts 17:28); seeing he is through us all, and in us all (Ephesians 4:6). Look well to your hearts, thoughts, risings, whatever comes into your mind; let no secret sins, or corruptions, lodge there; think not to conceal anything from the eye of God. --William Greenhill.

Verse 2. Thou understandest my thought afar off. Though my thoughts be never so foreign and distant from one another, thou understandest the chain of them, and canst make out their connexion, when so many of them slip my notice that I myself cannot. -- Matthew Henry.

Verse 2. My thought. The [r, rea, which we have rendered "thought", signifies also a friend or companion, on which account some read -- thou knowest what is nearest me afar off, a meaning more to the point than any other, if it could be supported by example. The reference would then be very appropriately to the fact that the most distant objects are contemplated as near by God. Some for "afar off" read beforehand, in which signification the Hebrew word is elsewhere taken; as if he had said, O Lord, every thought which I conceive in my heart is already known to thee beforehand. --John Calvin.

Verse 2. Thought. In all affliction, in all business, a man's best comfort is this, that all he does and even all he thinks, God knows. In the Septuagint we read dialogiomous, that is, "reasonings." God knows all our inner ratiocination, all the dialogues, all the colloquies of the soul with itself. --Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 2. Thou understandest my thought. Before men we stand as opaque beehives. They can see the thoughts go in and out of us, but what work they do inside of a man they cannot tell. Before God we are as glass beehives, and all that our thoughts are doing within us he perfectly sees and understands. --Henry Ward Beecher.

Verse 2. Thou understandest my thought afar off. "Man may not see thee do an impious deed;

But God thy very inmost thought can read."

--Plutarch.

Verse 2. Afar off. This expression is, as in Psalms 138:6, to be understood as contradicting the delusion (Job 22:12-14) that God's dwelling in heaven prevents him from observing mundane things. --Lange's Commentary.

Verse 2. Afar off. Both in distance, however far off a man may seek to hide his thoughts from God; and in time, for God knows the human thought before man conceives it in his heart, in his eternal prescience. The Egyptians called God the "eye of the world." -- Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 2-4. Do not fancy that your demeanour, posture, dress, or deportment are not under God's providence. You deceive yourself. Do not think that your thoughts pass free from inspection. The Lord understands them afar off. Think not that your words are dissipated in the air before God can hear. Oh, no! He knows them even when still upon your tongue. Do not think that your ways are so private and concealed that there is none to know or censure them. You mistake. God knows all your ways. --Johann David Frisch, 1731.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 2-4. The knowledge of God extends,

Verse 2. (first clause). The importance of the commonest acts of life.

Verse 2. (second clause). The serious nature of thoughts. Known to God; seen through, their drift perceived; and attention given to them while as yet in the distance.

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down. My path and my pallet, my running and my resting, are alike within the circle of thine observation. Thou dost surround me even as the air continually surrounds all creatures that live. I am shut up within the wall of thy being; I am encircled within the bounds of thy knowledge. Waking or sleeping I am still observed of thee. I may leave thy path, but you never leave mine. I may sleep and forget thee, but thou dost never slumber, nor fall into oblivion concerning thy creature. The original signifies not only surrounding, but winnowing and sifting. The Lord judges our active life and our quiet life; he discriminates our action and our repose, and marks that in them which is good and also that which is evil. There is chaff in all our wheat, and the Lord divides them with unerring precision.

And art acquainted with all my ways. Thou art familiar with all I do; nothing is concealed from thee, nor surprising to thee, nor misunderstood by thee. Our paths may be habitual or accidental, open or secret, but with them all the Most Holy One is well acquainted. This should fill us with awe, so that we sin not; with courage, so that we fear not; with delight, so that we mourn not.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, etc. The words that I have read unto you, seem to be a metaphor, taken from soldiers surrounding the ways with an ambush, or placing scouts and spies in every corner, to discover the enemy in his march; "Thou compassest my path": thou hast (as it were) thy spies over me, wheresoever I go. By "path" is meant the outward actions and carriage of his ordinary conversation. By "lying down" is signified to us the private and close actions of his life; such as were attended only by darkness and solitude. In Psalms 36:4, it is said of the wicked that "he deviseth mischief upon his bed", to denote not only his perverse diligence, but also his secrecy in it: and God is said to "hide his children in the secret of his pavilion", so that these places of rest and lying down are designed for secrecy and withdrawing. When a man retires into his chamber, he does in a manner, for a while, shut himself out of the world. And that this is the fine sense of that expression of lying down appears from the next words, "Thou art acquainted with all my ways"; where he collects in one word what he had before said in two; or, it may come in by way of entrance and deduction, from the former. As if he should say, Thou knowest what I do in my ordinary converse with men, and also how I behave myself when I am retired from them; therefore thou knowest all my actions, since a man's actions may be reduced either to his public or private deportment. By the other expression of "my ways" is here meant the total of a man's behaviour before God, whether in thoughts, words, or deeds, as is manifest by comparing this with other verses. -- Robert South.

Verse 3. Thou compassest my path. This is a metaphor either from huntsmen watching all the motions and lurking places of wild beasts, that they may catch them; or from soldiers besieging their enemies in a city, and setting round about them. --Matthew Pool.

Verse 3. Thou compassest, or feignest, or wannest, my path; that is, discuss or try out to the utmost, even tracing the footsteps, as the Greek signifieth. Compare Job 31:4. --Henry Ainsworth.

Verse 3. Thou art acquainted with all my ways. God takes notice of every step we take, every right step, and every by step. He knows what rule we walk by, what end we walk toward, what company we walk with. --Religious Tract Society's Commentary.

Verse 3. Art acquainted, as by most familiar intercourse, as if thou hadst always lived with me Hebrew and thus become entirely familiar with my ways. --Henry Cowles.

Verse 3. The Psalmist mentions four modes of human existence; stationis, sessionis, itionis, cubationis; because man never stayeth long in one mood, but in every change the eyes of the Lord cease not to watch him. --Geier.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 3. The encircling Presence, in our activities, meditations, secrecies, and movements.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. The unformed word, which lies within the tongue like a seed in the soil, is certainly and completely known to the Great Searcher of hearts. A negative expression is used to make the positive statement all the stronger: not a word is unknown is a forcible way of saying that every word is well known. Divine knowledge is perfect, since not a single word is unknown, nay, not even an unspoken word, and each one is "altogether" or wholly known. What hope of concealment can remain when the speech with which too many conceal their thoughts is itself transparent before the Lord? O Jehovah, how great art thou! If thine eye hath such power, what must be the united force of thine whole nature!

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, etc. The words admit a double meaning. Accordingly some understand them to imply that God knows what we are about to say before the words are formed on our tongue; others, that though we speak not a word, and try by silence to conceal our secret intentions, we cannot elude his notice. Either rendering amounts to the same thing, and it is of no consequence which we adopt. The idea meant to be conveyed is, that while the tongue is the index of thought to man, being the great medium of communication, God, who knows the heart, is independent of words. And use is made of the demonstrative particle lo! to indicate emphatically that the innermost recesses of our spirit stand present to his view. --John Calvin.

Verse 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, etc. How needful it is to set a watch before the doors of our mouth, to hold that unruly member of ours, the tongue, as with bit and bridle. Some of you feel at times that you can scarcely say a word, and the less you say the better. Well, it way be as well; for great talkers are almost sure to make slips with their tongue. It may be a good thing that you cannot speak much; for in the multitude of words there lacketh not sin. Wherever you go, what light, vain, and foolish conversations you hear! I am glad not to be thrown into circumstances where I can hear it. But with you it may be different. You may often repent of speaking, you will rarely repent of silence. How soon angry words are spoken! How soon foolish expressions drop from the mouth! The Lord knows it all, marks it all, and did you carry about with you a more solemn recollection of it you would be more watchful than you are. --Joseph C. Philpot.

Verse 4. When there is not a word in my tongue, O LORD, thou knowest all; so some read it; for thoughts are words to God. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 4. Thou knowest it. The gods know what passes in our minds without the aid of eyes, ears, or tongues; on which divine omniscience is founded the feeling of men that, when they wish in silence, or offer up a prayer for anything, the gods hear them. -- Cicero.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4.

Lesson: Take heed of your words not yet spoken.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before. As though we were caught in an ambush, or besieged by an army which has wholly beleaguered the city walls, we are surrounded by the Lord. God has set us where we be, and beset us wherever we be. Behind us there is God recording our sins, or in grace blotting out the remembrance of them; and before us there is God foreknowing all our deeds, and providing for all our wants. We cannot turn back and so escape him, for he is behind; we cannot go forward and outmarch him, for he is before. He not only beholds us, but he besets us; and lest there should seem any chance of escape, or lest we should imagine that the surrounding presence is yet a distant one, it is added, --

And laid thine hand upon me. The prisoner marches along surrounded by a guard, and gripped by an officer. God is very near; we are wholly in his power; from that power there is no escape. It is not said that God will thus beset us and arrest us, but it is done -- "Thou hast beset me." Shall we not alter the figure, and say that our heavenly Father has folded his arms around us, and caressed us with his hand It is even so with those who are by faith the children of the Most High.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, etc. There is here an insensible transition from God's omniscience to his omnipresence, out of which the Scriptures represent it as arising. "Behind and before", i.e., on all sides. The idea of above and below is suggested by the last clause. "Beset", besiege, hem in, or closely surround. "Thy hand", or the palm of thy hand, as the Hebrew word strictly denotes. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before. What would you say if, wherever you turned, whatever you were doing, whatever thinking, whether in public or private, with a confidential friend telling your secrets, or alone planning them -- if, I say, you saw an eye constantly fixed on you, from whose watching, though you strove ever so much, you could never escape ... that could perceive your every thought? The supposition is awful enough. There is such an Eye. --De Vere.

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before. One who finds the way blocked up turns back; but David found himself hedged in behind as well as before. --John Calvin.

Verse 5. Thou hast ... laid thine hand upon me. As by an arrest; so that I am thy prisoner, and cannot stir a foot from thee. --John Trapp.

Verse 5. And laid thine hand upon me. To make of me one acceptable to thyself. To rule me, to lead me, to uphold me, to protect me; to restore me; in my growth, in my walk, in my failures, in my affliction, in my despair. --Thomas Le Blanc.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5. A soul captured. Stopped, overtaken, arrested. What has it done? What shall it do?

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. I cannot grasp it. I can hardly endure to think of it. The theme overwhelms me. I am amazed and astounded at it. Such knowledge not only surpasses my comprehension, but even my imagination.

It is high, I cannot attain unto it. Mount as I may, this truth is too lofty for my mind. It seems to be always above me, even when I soar into the loftiest regions of spiritual thought. Is it not so with every attribute of God? Can we attain to any idea of his power, his wisdom, his holiness? Our mind has no line with which to measure the Infinite. Do we therefore question? Say, rather, that we therefore believe and adore. We are not surprised that the Most Glorious God should in his knowledge be high above all the knowledge to which we can attain: it must of necessity be so, since we are such poor limited beings; and when we stand a tip toe we cannot reach to the lowest step of the throne of the Eternal.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, etc. When we are about to look upon God's perfections, we should observe our own imperfections, and thereby learn to be the more modest in our searching of God's unsearchable perfection: Such knowledge, saith David, is too high for me, I cannot attain unto it. Then do we see most of God, when we see him incomprehensible, and do see ourselves swallowed up in the thoughts of his perfection, and are forced to fall in admiration of God, as here. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." -- David Dickson.

Verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. Compared with our stinted knowledge, how amazing is the knowledge of God! As he made all things, he must be intimately acquainted, not only with their properties, but with their very essence. His eye, at the same instant, surveys all the works of his immeasurable creation. He observes, not only the complicated system of the universe, but the slightest motion of the most microscopic insect; -- not only the most sublime conception of angels, but the meanest propensity of the most worthless of his creatures. At this moment he is listening to the praises breathed by grateful hearts in distant worlds, and reading every grovelling thought which passes though the polluted minds of the fallen race of Adam ... At one view, he surveys the past, the present, and the future. No inattention prevents him from observing; no defect of memory or of judgment obscures his comprehension. In his remembrance are stored not only the transactions of this world, but of all the worlds in the universe; -- not only the events of the six thousand years which have passed since the earth was created, but of a duration without beginning. Nay, things to come extending to a duration without end, are also before him. An eternity past and an eternity to come are, at the same moment, in his eye; and with that eternal eye he surveys infinity. How amazing! How inconceivable! -- Henry Duncan (1774-1846), in "Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons."

Verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. There is a mystery about the Divine Omnipresence, which we do not learn to solve, after years of meditation. As God is a simple spirit, without dimensions, parts, or susceptibility of division, he is equally, that is, fully, present at all times in all places. At any given moment he is not present partly here and partly in the utmost skirt of the furthest system which revolves about the dimmest telescopic star, as if like a galaxy of perfection he stretched a sublime magnificence through universal space, which admitted of separation and partition; but he is present, with the totality of his glorious properties in every point of space. This results undeniably from the simple spirituality of the Great Supreme. All that God is in one place he is in all places. All there is of God is in every place. Indeed, his presence has no dependence on space or matter. His attribute of essential presence were the same if universal matter were blotted out. Only by a figure can God be said to be in the universe; for the universe is comprehended by him. All the boundless glory of the Godhead is essentially present at every spot in his creation, however various may be the manifestations of this glory at different times and places.

Here we have a case which ought to instruct and sober those, who, in their shallow philosophy, demand a religion without mystery. It would be a religion without God; for "who by searching can find out God?" --James W. Alexander, in "The (American) National Preacher", 1860.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 6.

--G.R.

Verse 6. Theme: the facts of our religion, too wonderful to understand, are just those in which we have most reason to rejoice.

--J.F.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. Here omnipresence is the theme, -- a truth to which omniscience naturally leads up.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Not that the Psalmist wished to go from God, or to avoid the power of the divine life; but he asks this question to set forth the fact that no one can escape from the all pervading being and observation of the Great Invisible Spirit. Observe how the writer makes the matter personal to himself -- "Whither shall I go?" It were well if we all thus applied truth to our own cases. It were wise for each one to say -- The spirit of the Lord is ever around me: Jehovah is omnipresent to me.

Or whither spirit I flee from thy presence? If, full of dread, I hastened to escape from that nearness of God which had become my terror, which way could I turn? "Whither?" "Whither?" He repeats his cry. No answer comes back to him. The reply to his first "Whither?" is its echo, -- a second "Whither?" From the sight of God he cannot be hidden, but that is not all, -- from the immediate, actual, constant presence of God he cannot be withdrawn. We must be, whether we will it or not, as near to God as our soul is to our body. This makes it dreadful work to sin; for we offend the Almighty to his face, and commit acts of treason at the very foot of his throne. Go from him, or flee from him we cannot: neither by patient travel nor by hasty flight can we withdraw from the all surrounding Deity. His mind is in our mind; himself within ourselves. His spirit is over our spirit; our presence is ever in his presence.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Wither shall I go from thy spirit? By the "spirit of God" we are not here, as in several other parts of Scripture, to conceive of his power merely, but his understanding and knowledge. In man the spirit is the seat of intelligence, and so it is here in reference to God, as is plain from the second part of the sentence, where by "the face of God" is meant his knowledge or inspection. --John Calvin.

Verse 7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? That is, either from thee, who art a spirit, and so canst pierce and penetrate me; be as truly and essentially in the very bowels and marrow of my soul, as my soul is intimately and essentially in my body: "from thy spirit"; that is, from thy knowledge and thy power; thy knowledge to detect and observe me, thy power to uphold or crush me. --Ezekiel Hopkins, 1633-1690.

Verse 7. We may elude the vigilance of a human enemy and place ourselves beyond his reach. God fills all space -- there is not a spot in which his piercing eye is not on us, and his uplifted hand cannot find us out. Man must strike soon if he would strike at all; for opportunities pass away from him, and his victim may escape his vengeance by death. There is no passing of opportunity with God, and it is this which makes his long suffering a solemn thing. God can wait, for he has a whole eternity before him in which he may strike. "All things are open and naked to him with whom we have to do." -- Frederick William Robertson, 1816-1853.

Verse 7. Whither shall I go, etc. A heathen philosopher once asked, "Where is God?" The Christian answered, "Let me first ask you, Where is he not?" --John Arrowsmith, 1602-1659.

Verse 7. Whither shall I flee from thy presence? That exile would be strange that could separate us from God. I speak not of those poor and common comforts, that in all lands and coasts it is his sun that shines, his elements of earth or water that bear us, his air we breathe; but of that special privilege, that his gracious presence is ever with us; that no sea is so broad as to divide us from his favour; that wheresoever we feed, he is our host; wheresoever we rest, the wings of his blessed providence are stretched over us. Let my soul be sure of this, though the whole world be traitors to me. --Thomas Adams.

Verse 7. Whither shall I flee? etc. Surely no whither: they that attempt it, do but as the fish which swimmeth to the length of the line, with a hook in the mouth. --John Trapp.

Verse 7. Thy presence. The presence of God's glory is in heaven; the presence of his power on earth; the presence of his justice in hell; and the presence of his grace with his people. If he deny us his powerful presence, we fall into nothing; if he deny us his gracious presence, we fall into sin; if he deny us his merciful presence, we fall into hell. -- John Mason.

Verse 7. Thy presence. The celebrated Linnaeus testified in his conversation, writings, and actions, the greatest sense of God's presence. So strongly indeed was he impressed with the idea, that he wrote over the door of his library: "Innocue vivite, Numen adest -- Live innocently: God is present." --George Seaton Bowes, in "Information and Illustration," 1884.

Verse 7-11. You will never be neglected by the Deity, though you were so small as to sink into the depths of the earth, or so lofty as to fly up to heaven; but you will suffer from the gods the punishment due to you, whether you abide here, or depart to Hades, or are carried to a place still more wild than these. --Plato.

Verse 7-12. The Psalm was not written by a Pantheist. The Psalmist speaks of God as a Person everywhere present in creation, yet distinct from creation. In these verses he says, "Thy spirit ... thy presence ... thou art there ... thy hand ... thy right hand ... darkness hideth not from thee." God is everywhere, but he is not everything. --William Jones, in "A Homiletic Commentary on the Book of Psalms", 1879.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7-10.

--G.R.

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. Filling the loftiest region with his yet loftier presence, Jehovah is in the heavenly place, at home, upon his throne. The ascent, if it were possible, would be unavailing for purposes of escape; it would, in fact, be a flying into the centre of the fire to avoid the heat. There would he be immediately confronted by the terrible personality of God. Note the abrupt words -- "THOU, THERE."

If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Descending into the lowest imaginable depths among the dead, there should we find the Lord. THOU! says the Psalmist, as if he felt that God was the one great Existence in all places. Whatever Hades may be, or whoever may be there, one thing is certain, Thou, O Jehovah, art there. Two regions, the one of glory and the other of darkness, are set in contrast, and this one fact is asserted of both -- "thou art there." Whether we rise up or lie down, take our wing or make our bed, we shall find God near us. A "behold" is added to the second clause, since it seems more a wonder to meet with God in hell than in heaven, in Hades than in Paradise. Of course the presence of God produces very different effects in these places, but it is unquestionably in each; the bliss of one, the terror of the other. What an awful thought, that some men seem resolved to take up their night's abode in hell, a night which shall know no morning.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. If I make my bed. Properly, "If I strew or spread my couch." If I should seek that as a place to lie down. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 8. Hell in some places in Scripture signifies the lower parts of the earth, without relation to punishment: If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. By "heaven" he means the upper region of the world, without any respect to the state of blessedness; and "hell" is the most opposite and remote in distance, without respect to misery. As if he had said, Let me go whither I will, thy presence finds me out. --Joseph Caryl.

Verse 8. Thou art there. Or, more emphatically and impressively in the original, "Thou!" That is, the Psalmist imagines himself in the highest heaven, or in the deepest abodes of the dead, -- and lo! God is there also; he has not gone from him! he is still in the presence of the same God! --Albert Barnes.

Verse 8. Thou art there. This is not meant of his knowledge, for that the Psalmist had spoken of before: Psalms 139:2-3, "Thou understandest my thought afar off: thou art acquainted with all my ways." Besides, "thou art there"; not thy wisdom or knowledge, but thou, thy essence, not only thy virtue. For having before spoken of his omniscience, he proves that such knowledge could not be in God unless he were present in his essence in all places, so as to be excluded from none. He fills the depths of hell, the extension of the earth, and the heights of the heavens. When the Scripture mentions the power of God only, it expresses it by hand or arm; but when it mentions the spirit of God, and doth not intend the third person of the Trinity, it signifies the nature and essence of God; and so here, when he saith, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit?" he adds exegetically, "whither shall I flee from thy presence?" or Hebrew, "face"; and the face of God in Scripture signifies the essence of God: Ex 33:20,23, "Thou canst not see my face", and "my face shall not be seen"; the effects of his power, wisdom, providence, are seen, which are his back parts, but not his face. The effects of his power and wisdom are seen in the world, but his essence is invisible, and this the Psalmist elegantly expresses. --Stephen Charnook.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 8. The glory of heaven and the terror of hell: "Thou."

EXPOSITION

Verse 9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. If I could fly with all swiftness, and find a habitation where the mariner has not yet ploughed the deep, yet I could not reach the boundaries of the divine presence. Light flies with inconceivable rapidity, and it flashes far afield beyond all human ken; it illuminates the great and wide sea, and sets its waves gleaming afar; but its speed would utterly fail if employed in flying from the Lord. Were we to speed on the wings of the morning breeze, and break into oceans unknown to chart and map, yet there we should find the Lord already present. He who saves to the uttermost would be with us in the uttermost parts of the sea.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 9. The wings of the morning, is an elegant metaphor; and by them we may conjecture is meant the sunbeams, called "wings" because of their swift and speedy motion, making their passage so sudden and instantaneous, as that they do prevent the observation of the eye; called "the wings of the morning" because the dawn of the morning comes flying in upon these wings of the sun, and brings light along with it; and, by beating and fanning of these wings, scatters the darkness before it. "Now", saith the Psalmist, "if I could pluck these wings of the morning", the sunbeams, if I could imp (graft) my own shoulders with them; if I should fly as far and as swift as light, even in an instant, to the uttermost parts of the sea; yea, if in my flight I could spy out some solitary rock, so formidable and dismal as if we might almost call in question whether ever a Providence had been there; if I could pitch there on the top of it, where never anything had made its abode, but coldness, thunders, and tempests; yet there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." -- Ezekiel Hopkins.

Verse 9. The wings of the morning. This figure to a Western is not a little obscure. For my part, I cannot doubt that we are to understand certain beautiful light clouds as thus poetically described. I have observed invariably, that in the late spring time, in summer, and yet more especially in the autumn, white clouds are to be seen in Palestine. They only occur at the earliest hours of morning, just previous to and at the time of sunrise. It is the total absence of clouds at all other parts of the day, except during the short period of the winter rains, that lends such striking solemnity and force to those descriptions of the Second Advent where our Lord is represented as coming in the clouds. This feature of his majesty loses all its meaning in lands like ours, in which clouds are of such common occurrence that they are rarely absent from the sky. The morning clouds of summer and autumn are always of a brilliant silvery white, save at such times as they are dyed with the delicate opal tints of dawn. They hang low upon the mountains of Judah, and produce effects of undescribable beauty, as they float far down in the valleys, or rise to wrap themselves around the summit of the hills. In almost every instance, by about seven o'clock the heat has dissipated these fleecy clouds, and to the vivid Eastern imagination morn has faded her outstretched wings. --James Neil.

Verse 9. If I take the wings of the morning. The point of comparison appears to be the incalculable velocity of light. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 9-10. When we think that we fly from God, in running out of one place into another, we do but run from one hand to the other; for there is no place where God is not, and whithersoever a rebellious sinner doth run, the hand of God will meet with him to cross him, and hinder his hoped for good success, although he securely prophesieth never so much good unto himself in his journey. What! had Jonah offended the winds or the waters, that they bear him such enmity? The winds and the waters and all God's creatures are wont to take God's part against Jonah, or any rebellious sinner. For though God in the beginning gave power to man over all creatures to rule them, yet when man sins, God giveth power and strength to his creatures to rule and bridle man. Therefore even he that now was lord over the waters, now the waters are lord over him. --Henry Smith.

Verse 9-10. Should fate command me to the farthest verge

Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes,

Rivers unknown to song; where first the sun

Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam

Flames on the Atlantic isles; 'tis nought to me:

Since GOD is ever present, ever felt,

In the void waste as in the city full;

And where he vital breathes, there must be joy,

When e'en at last the solemn hour shall come,

And wing my mystic flight to future worlds,

I cheerful will obey; there with new powers,

Will rising wonders sing: I cannot go

Where universal love smiles not around,

Sustaining all yon orbs, and all their sons:

From seeming evil still deducing good,

And better thence again, and better still,

In infinite progression.

--James Thomson, 1700-1748.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 9-10.

b) His swift and speedy flight after the commission of sin, to this supposed refuge and sanctuary: "If I take the wings of the morning."

--See Flavel's "Seaman's Preservative in Foreign Countries."

EXPOSITION

Verse 10. Even there shall thy hand lead me. We could only fly from God by his own power. The Lord would be leading, covering, preserving, sustaining us even when we were fugitives from him.

And thy right hand shall hold me. In the uttermost parts of the sea my arrest would be as certain as at home: God's right hand would there seize and detain the runaway. Should we be commanded on the most distant errand, we may assuredly depend upon the upholding right hand of God as with us in all mercy, wisdom, and power. The exploring missionary in his lonely wanderings is led, in his solitary feebleness he is held. Both the hands of God are with his own servants to sustain them, and against rebels to overthrow them; and in this respect it matters not to what realms they resort, the active energy of God is around them still.

EXPOSITION

Verse 11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me. Dense darkness may oppress me, but it cannot shut me out from thee, or thee from me. Thou seest as well without the light as with it, since thou art not dependent upon light which is thine own creature, for the full exercise of thy perceptions. Moreover, thou art present with me whatever may be the hour; and being present you discover all that I think, or feel, or do. Men are still so foolish as to prefer night and darkness for their evil deeds; but so impossible is it for anything to be hidden from the Lord that they might just as well transgress in broad daylight. Darkness and light in this agree;

Great God, they're both alike to thee.

Thine hand can pierce thy foes as soon

Through midnight shades as blazing noon.

A good man will not wish to be hidden by the darkness, a wise man will not expect any such thing. If we were so foolish as to make sure of concealment because the place was shrouded in midnight, we might well be alarmed out of our security by the fact that, as far as God is concerned, we always dwell in the light; for even the night itself glows with a revealing force, -- even the night shall be light about me. Let us think of this if ever we are tempted to take license from the dark -- it is light about us. If the darkness be light, how great is that light in which we dwell! Note well how David keeps his song in the first person; let us mind that we do the same as we cry with Hagar, "Thou God seest me."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, etc. The foulest enormities of human conduct have always striven to cover themselves with the shroud of night. The thief, the counterfeiter, the assassin, the robber, the murderer, and the seducer, feel comparatively safe in the midnight darkness, because no human eye can scrutinize their actions. But what if it should turn out that sable night, to speak paradoxically, is an unerring photographer! What if wicked men, as they open their eyes from the sleep of death, in another world, should find the universe hung round with faithful pictures of their earthly enormities, which they had supposed for ever lost in the oblivion of night! What scenes for them to gaze at for ever! They may now, indeed, smile incredulously at such a suggestion; but the disclosures of chemistry may well make them tremble. Analogy does make it a scientific probability that every action of man, however deep the darkness in which it was performed, has imprinted its image on nature, and that there may be tests which shall draw it into daylight, and make it permanent so long as materialism endures. -- Edward Hitchcock, in "The Religion of Geology", 1851.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 11-12. Darkness and light are both alike to God.

--G.R.

EXPOSITION

Verse 12. Yea, of a surety, beyond all denial.

The darkness hideth not from thee; it veils nothing, it is not the medium of concealment in any degree what ever. It hides from men, but not from God.

But the night shineth as the day: it is but another form of day: it shines, revealing all; it "shineth as the day", -- quite as clearly and distinctly manifesting all that is done.

The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. This sentence seems to sum up all that went before, and most emphatically puts the negative upon the faintest idea of hiding under the cover of night. Men cling to this notion, because it is easier and less expensive to hide under darkness than to journey to remote places; and therefore the foolish thought is here beaten to pieces by statements which in their varied forms effectually batter it. Yet the ungodly are still duped by their grovelling notions of God, and enquire, "How doth God know?" They must fancy that he is as limited in his powers of observation as they are, and yet if they would but consider for a moment they would conclude that he who could not see in the dark could not be God, and he who is not present everywhere could not be the Almighty Creator. Assuredly God is in all places, at all times, and nothing can by any possibility be kept away from his all observing, all comprehending mind. The Great Spirit comprehends within himself all time and space, and yet he is infinitely greater than these, or aught else that he has made.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 12. The darkness hideth not from thee. Though the place where we sin be to men as dark as Egypt, yet to God it is as light as Goshen. --William Secker.

EXPOSITION

Verse 13. For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou art the owner of my inmost parts and passions: not the indweller and observer only, but the acknowledged lord and possessor of my most secret self. The word "reins" signifies the kidneys, which by the Hebrews were supposed to be the seat of the desires and longings; but perhaps it indicates here the most hidden and vital portion of the man; this God doth not only inspect, and visit, but it is his own; he is as much at home there as a landlord on his own estate, or a proprietor in his own house.

Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. There I lay hidden -- covered by thee. Before I could know thee, or aught else, thou hadst a care for me, and didst hide me away as a treasure till thou shouldest see fit to bring me to the light. Thus the Psalmist describes the intimacy which God had with him. In his most secret part -- his reins, and in his most secret condition -- yet unborn, he was under the control and guardianship of God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 13. Thou hast possessed my reins. From the sensitiveness to pain of this part of the body, it was regarded by the Hebrews as the seat of sensation and feeling, as also of desire and longing (Psalms 72:21 Job 16:13 19:27). It is sometimes used of the inner nature generally (Psalms 16:7 Jeremiah 20:12), and specially of the judgment or direction of reason (Jer 11:20 12:2). --William Lindsay Alexander, in Kitto's Cyclopaedia.

Verse 13. Thou hast possessed my reins. The reins are made specially prominent in order to mark them, the seat of the most tender, most secret emotions, as the work of him who trieth the heart and the reins. --Franz Delitzsch.

Verse 13. Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. The word here rendered cover means properly to interweave; to weave; to knit together, and the literal translation would be, "Thou hast woven me in my mother's womb", meaning that God had put his parts together, as one who weaves cloth, or who makes a basket. So it is rendered by De Wette and by Gesenius (Lex.). The original word has, however, also the idea of protecting, as in a booth or hut, woven or knit together, -- to wit, of boughs and branches. The former signification best suits the connection; and then the sense would be, that as God had made him -- as he had formed his members, and united them in a bodily frame and form before he was born -- he must be able to understand all his thoughts and feelings. As he was not concealed from God before he saw the light, so he could not be anywhere. --Albert Barnes.

EXPOSITION

Verse 14. I will praise thee: a good resolve, and one which he was even now carrying out. Those who are praising God are the very men who will praise him. Those who wish to praise have subjects for adoration ready to hand. We too seldom remember our creation, and all the skill and kindness bestowed upon our frame: but the sweet singer of Israel was better instructed, and therefore he prepares for the chief musician a song concerning our nativity and all the fashioning which precedes it. We cannot begin too soon to bless our Maker, who began so soon to bless us: even in the act of creation he created reasons for our praising his name,

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Who can gaze even upon a model of our anatomy without wonder and awe? Who could dissect a portion of the human frame without marvelling at its delicacy, and trembling at its frailty? The Psalmist had scarcely peered within the veil which hides the nerves, sinews, and blood vessels from common inspection; the science of anatomy was quite unknown to him; and yet he had seen enough to arouse his admiration of the work and his reverence for the Worker.

Marvellous are thy works. These parts of my frame are all thy works; and though they be home works, close under my own eye, yet are they wonderful to the last degree. They are works within my own self, yet are they beyond my understanding, and appear to me as so many miracles of skill and power. We need not go to the ends of the earth for marvels, nor even across our own threshold; they abound in our own bodies.

And that my soul knoweth right well. He was no agnostic -- he knew; he was no doubter -- his soul knew; he was no dupe -- his soul knew right well. Those know indeed and of a truth who first know the Lord, and then know all things in him. He was made to know the marvellous nature of God's work with assurance and accuracy, for he had found by experience that the Lord is a master worker, performing inimitable wonders when accomplishing his kind designs. If we are marvellously wrought upon even before we are born, what shall we say of the Lord's dealings with us after we quit his secret workshop, and he directs our pathway through the pilgrimage of life? What shall we not say of that new birth which is even more mysterious than the first, and exhibits even more the love and wisdom of the Lord.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 14. I will praise thee, etc. All God's works are admirable, man wonderfully wonderful. "Marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." What infers he on all this? Therefore "I will praise thee." If we will not praise him that made us, will he not repent that he made us? Oh that we knew what the saints do in heaven, and how the sweetness of that doth swallow up all earthly pleasures! They sing honour and glory to the Lord. Why? Because he hath created all things: Re 4:11. When we behold an exquisite piece of work, we presently enquire after him that made it, purposely to commend his skill: and there is no greater disgrace to an artist, than having perfected a famous work, to find it neglected, no man minding it, or so much as casting an eye upon it. All the works of God are considerable, and man is bound to this contemplation. "When I consider the heavens", etc., I say, "What is man?." Psalms 8:3-4. He admires the heavens, but his admiration reflects upon man. Quis homo? There is no workman but would have his instruments used, and used to that purpose for which they were made ... Man is set like a little world in the midst of the great, to glorify God; this is the scope and end of his creation. --Thomas Adams.

Verse 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The term "fearful" is sometimes to be taken subjectively, far our being possessed of fear. In this sense it signifies the same as timid. Thus the prophet was directed to say to them that were of a "fearful heart, be strong." At other times it is taken objectively, for that property in an object the contemplation of which excites fear in the beholder. Thus it is said of God that he is "fearful in praises", and that it is a "fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." In this sense it is manifestly to be understood in the passage now under consideration. The human frame is so admirably constructed, so delicately combined, and so much in danger of being dissolved by innumerable causes, that the more we think of it the more we tremble, and wonder at our own continued existence. "How poor, how rich, how abject, how august,

How complicate, how wonderful is man!

How passing wonder he who made him such,

Who mingled in our make such strange extremes

Of different natures, marvellously mixed!

Helpless immortal, insect infinite,

A worm, a god -- I tremble at myself!"

To do justice to the subject, it would be necessary to be well acquainted with anatomy. I have no doubt that a thorough examination of that "substance which God hath curiously wrought" (Psalms 139:15), would furnish abundant evidence of the justness of the Psalmist's words; but even those things which are manifest to common observation may be sufficient for this purpose. In general it is observable that the human frame abounds with avenues at which enter every thing conducive to preservation and comfort, and every thing that can excite alarm. Perhaps there is not one of these avenues but what may become an inlet to death, nor one of the blessings of life but what may be the means of accomplishing it. We live by inhalation, but we also die by it. Diseases and death in innumerable forms are conveyed by the very air we breathe. God hath given us a relish for divers aliments, and rendered them necessary to our subsistence: yet, from the abuse of them, what a train of disorders and premature deaths are found amongst men! And, when there is no abuse, a single delicious morsel may, by the evil design of another, or even by mere accident, convey poison through all our veins, and in one hour reduce the most athletic form to a corpse.

The elements of fire and water, without which we could not subsist, contain properties which in a few moments would be able to destroy us; nor can the utmost circumspection at all times preserve us from their destructive power. A single stroke on the head may divest us of reason or of life. A wound or a bruise of the spine may instantly deprive the lower extremities of all sensation. If the vital parts be injured, so as to suspend the performance of their mysterious functions, how soon is the constitution broken up! By means of the circulation of the blood, how easily and suddenly are deadly substances diffused throughout the frame! The putridity of a morbid subject has been imparted to the very hand stretched out to save it. The poisoned arrow, the envenomed fang, the hydrophobic saliva, derive from hence their fearful efficacy. Even the pores of the skin, necessary as they are to life, may be the means of death. Not only are poisonous substances hereby admitted, but, when obstructed by surrounding damps, the noxious humours of the body, instead of being emitted, are retained in the system, and become productive of numerous diseases, always afflictive, and often fatal to life.

Instead of wondering at the number of premature deaths that are constantly witnessed, there is far greater reason to wonder that there are no more, and that any of us survive to seventy or eighty years of age. "Our life contains a thousand springs,

And dies if one be gone:

Strange that a harp of thousand strings

Should keep in tune so long."

Nor is this all. If we are "fearfully made" as to our animal frame, it will be found that we are much more so considered as moral and accountable beings. In what relates to our animal nature, we are in most instances constructed like other animals; but, in what relates to us as moral agents, we stand distinguished from all the lower creation. We are made for eternity. The present life is only the introductory part of our existence. It is that, however, which stamps a character on all that follows. How fearful is our situation! What innumerable influences is the mind exposed to from the temptations which surround us! Not more dangerous to the body is the pestilence that walketh in darkness than these are to the soul. Such is the construction of our nature that the very word of life, if heard without regard becomes a savour of death unto death. What consequences hang upon the small and apparently trifling beginnings of evil! A wicked thought may issue in a wicked purpose, this purpose in a wicked action, this action in a course of conduct, this course may draw into its vortex millions of our fellow creatures, and terminate in perdition, both to ourselves and them. The whole of this process was exemplified in the case of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. When placed over the ten tribes, he first said in his heart, "If this people go up to sacrifice at Jerusalem, their hearts will turn to Rehoboam; and thus shall the kingdom return to the house of David." 1 Kings 12:26-30. On this he took counsel, and made the calves of Dan and Bethel. This engaged him in a course of wickedness, from which no remonstrances could reclaim him. Nor was it confined to himself; for he "made all Israel to sin." The issue was, not only their destruction as a nation, but, to all appearance, the eternal ruin of himself and great numbers of Iris followers. Such were the fruits of an evil thought!

Oh, my soul, tremble at thyself! Tremble at the fearfulness of thy situation; and commit thine immortal all into his hands "who is able to keep thee from falling, and to present thee faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." --Andrew Fuller.

Verse 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Never was so terse and expressive a description of the physical conformation of man given by any human being. So "fearfully" are we made, that there is not an action or gesture of our bodies, which does not, apparently, endanger some muscle, vein, or sinew, the rupture of which would destroy either life or health. We are so "wonderfully" made, that our organization infinitely surpasses, in skill, contrivance, design, and adaptation of means to ends, the most curious and complicated piece of mechanism, not only ever executed "by art and man's device", but ever conceived by human imagination. --Richard Warner, 1828.

Verse 14. I am wonderfully made. Take notice of the curious frame of the body. David saith, "I am wonderfully made"; acu pictus sum, so the Vulgate rendereth it, "painted as with a needle", like a garment of needlework, of divers colours, richly embroidered with nerves and veins. What shall I speak of the eye, wherein there is such curious workmanship, that many upon the first sight of it have been driven to acknowledge God? Of the hand, made to open and shut, and to serve the labours and ministries of nature without wasting and decay for many years? If they should be of marble or iron, with such constant use they would soon wear out; and yet now they are of flesh they last so long as life lasts. Of the head? fitly placed to be the seat of the senses, to command and direct the rest of the members. Of the lungs? a frail piece of flesh, yet, though in continual action, of a long use. It were easy to enlarge upon this occasion; but I am to preach a sermon, not to read an anatomy lecture. In short, therefore, every part is so placed and framed, as if God had employed his whole wisdom about it.

But as yet we have spoken but of the casket wherein the jewel lieth. The soul, that divine spark and blast, how quick, nimble, various, and indefatigable in its motions! how comprehensive in its capacities! how it animates the body, and is like God himself, all in every part! Who can trace the flights of reason? What a value hath God set upon the soul! He made it after his image, he redeemed it with Christ's blood. --Thomas Manton.

Verse 14. What is meant by saying that the soul is in the body, any more than saying that a thought or a hope is in a stone or a tree? How is it joined to the body? what keeps it one with the body? what keeps it in the body? what prevents it any moment from separating from the body? When two things which we see are united, they are united by some connection which we can understand. A chain or cable keeps a ship in its place; we lay the foundation of a building in the earth, and the building endures. But what is it which unites soul and body how do they touch how do they keep together? how is it we do not wander to the stars or the depths of the sea, or to and fro as chance may carry us, while our body remains where it was on earth? So far from its being wonderful that the body one day dies, how is it that it is made to live and move at all? how is it that it keeps from dying a single hour? Certainly it is as uncomprehensible as anything can be, how soul and body can make up one man; and, unless we had the instance before our eyes, we should seem in saying so to be using words without meaning. For instance, would it not be extravagant and idle to speak of time as deep or high, or of space as quick or slow? Not less idle, surely, it perhaps seems to some races of spirits to say that thought and mind have a body, which in the case of man they have, according to God's marvellous will. -- John Henry Newman, in Parochial Sermons, 1839.

Verse 14. Moses describes the creation of man (Genesis 2:7): "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Now what God did then immediately, he doth still by means. Do not think that God made man at first, and that ever since men have made one another. No (saith Job), "he that made me in the womb made him": Job 31:15. David will inform us: "I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works", etc. As if he had said, Lord, I am wonderfully made, and thou hast made me. I am a part or parcel of thy marvellous works, yea, the breviate or compendium of them all. The frame of the body (much more the frame of the soul, most of all the frame of the new creature in the soul) is God's work, and it is a wonderful work of God. And therefore David could not satisfy himself in the bare affirmation of this, but enlargeth in the explication of it in Psalms 139:15- 16. David took no notice of father or mother but ascribed the whole efficiency of himself to God. And indeed David was as much made by God as Adam; and so is every son of Adam. Though we are begotten and born of our earthly parents, yet God is the chief parent and the only fashioner of us all. Thus graciously spake Jacob to his brother Esau, demanding, "Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant": Genesis 33:5. Therefore, as the Spirit of God warns, "Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves" (Psalms 100:3); which as it is true especially of our spiritual making, so 'tis true also of our natural. -- Joseph Caryl.

Verse 14. Those who were skilful in Anatomy among the ancients, concluded, from the outward and inward make of a human body, that it was the work of a Being transcendently wise and powerful. As the world grew more enlightened in this art, their discoveries gave them fresh opportunities of admiring the conduct of Providence in the formation of a human body. Galen was converted by his dissections, and could not but own a Supreme Being upon a survey of this his handiwork. There are, indeed, many parts, of which the old anatomists did not know the certain use; but as they saw that most of those which they examined were adapted with admirable art to their several functions, they did not question but those whose uses they could not determine, were contrived with the same wisdom for respective ends and purposes. Since the circulation of the blood has been found out, and many other great discoveries have been made by our modern anatomists, we see new wonders in the human frame, and discern several important uses for those parts, which uses the ancients knew nothing of. In short, the body of man is such a subject as stands the utmost test of examination. Though it appears formed with the nicest wisdom upon the most superficial survey of it, it still mends upon the search, and produces our surprise and amazement in proportion as we pry into it. --The Spectator.

Verse 14-16. The subject, from Psalms 139:14 and Psalms 139:16 inclusive, might have been much more particularly illustrated; but we are taught, by the peculiar delicacy of expression in the Sacred Writings, to avoid, as in this case, the entering too minutely into anatomical details. --Adam Clarke.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. This is true of man in his fourfold state.

--W.W.

EXPOSITION

Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee. The substantial part of my being was before thine all seeing eye; the bones which make my frame were put together by thine hand. The essential materials of my being before they were arranged were all within the range of thine eye. I was hidden from all human knowledge, but not from thee: thou hast ever been intimately acquainted with me.

When I was made in secret. Most chastely and beautifully is here described the formation of our being before the time of our birth. A great artist will often labour alone in his studio, and not suffer his work to be seen until it is finished; even so did the Lord fashion us where no eye beheld as, and the veil was not lifted till every member was complete. Much of the formation of our inner man still proceeds in secret: hence the more of solitude the better for us. The true church also is being fashioned in secret, so that none may cry, "Lo, here!" or "Lo, there!" as if that which is visible could ever be identical with the invisibly growing body of Christ.

And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. "Embroidered with great skill", is an accurate poetical description of the creation of veins, sinews, muscles, nerves, etc. What tapestry can equal the human fabric? This work is wrought as much in private as if it had been accomplished in the grave, or in the darkness of the abyss. The expressions are poetical, beautifully veiling, though not absolutely concealing, the real meaning. God's intimate knowledge of us from our beginning, and even before it, is here most charmingly set forth. Cannot he who made us thus wondrously when we were not, still carry on his work of power till he has perfected us, though we feel unable to aid in the process, and are lying in great sorrow and self loathing, as though cast into the lowest parts of the earth?

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee, etc. What deeper solitude, what state of concealment more complete, than that of the babe as yet unborn Yet the Psalmist represents the Almighty as present even there. "My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." The whole image and train of thought is one of striking beauty. We see the wonderful work of the human body, with all its complex tissue of bones, and joints, and nerves, and veins, and arteries growing up, and fashioned, as it had been a piece of rich and curious embroidery under the hand of the manufacturer. But it is not the work itself that we are now called on to admire. The contexture is indeed fearful and wonderful; but how much more when we reflect that the divine Artificer wrought within the dark and narrow confines of the womb. Surely the darkness is no darkness with him who could thus work. Surely the blackest night, the closest and most artificial recess, the most subtle disguises and hypocrisies are all seen through, are all naked and bare before him whose "eyes did see our substance yet being imperfect." The night is as clear as the day; and secret sins are set in the light of his countenance, no less than those which are open and scandalous, committed before the sun or on the house top. And if "in his book all our members are written, which day by day were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them", surely the actions of these members, now that they are grown, or growing, to maturity, and called upon to fulfil the functions for which they were created, shall be all noted down; and none be contrived so secretly, but that when the books are opened at the last day, it shall be found written therein to justify or to condemn us. Such is the main lesson which David himself would teach us in this Psalm, -- the omnipresence and omniscience of Almighty God. My brethren, let us reflect for a little upon this deep mystery; that he, "the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity" is about our path and about our bed, and spies out all our ways; that go whither we will he is there; that say what we will, there is not a word on our tongue but he knoweth it altogether. The reflection is, indeed, mysterious, but it is also most profitable. --Charles Wordsworth, in "Christian Boyhood", 1846.

Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee. Should an artisan intend commencing a work in some dark cave where there was no light to assist him, how would he set his hand to it? in what way would he proceed? and what kind of workmanship would it prove? But God makes the most perfect work of all in the dark, for he fashions man in the mother's womb. --John Calvin.

Verse 15. When I was made in secret, etc. The author uses a metaphor derived from the most subtle art of the Phrygian workman: "When I was formed in the secret place,

When I was wrought with a needle in the depths of the

earth."

Whoever observes this (in truth he will not be able to observe it in the common translations), and at the same time reflects upon the wonderful mechanism of the human body; the various implications of the veins, arteries, fibres, and membranes; the "undescribable texture" of the whole fabric -- may, indeed, feel the beauty and gracefulness of this well adapted metaphor, but will miss much of its force and sublimity, unless he be apprised that the art of designing in needlework was wholly dedicated to the use of the sanctuary, and, by a direct precept of the divine law, chiefly employed in furnishing a part of the sacerdotal habit, and the vails for the entrance of the Tabernacle. Exodus 28:39 26:36 27:16. Thus the poet compares the wisdom of the divine Artificer with the most estimable of human arts -- that art which was dignified by being consecrated altogether to the use of religion; and the workmanship of which was so exquisite, that even the sacred writings seem to attribute it to a supernatural guidance. See Exodus 35:30-35. --Robert Lowth (1710-1787), in "Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews."

Verse 15. Curiously wrought in the lowest part, of the earth, that is, in the womb: as curious workmen, when they have some choice piece in hand, they perfect it in private, and then bring it forth to light for men to gaze at. What a wonderful piece of work is man's head (God's masterpiece in this little world), the chief seat of the soul, that cura Divini ingenii, as Favorinus calls it. Many locks and keys argue the value of the jewel that they keep, and many papers wrapping the token within them, the price of the token. The tables of the testament, first laid up in the ark, secondly, the ark bound about with pure gold; thirdly, overshadowed with cherubim's wings; fourthly, enclosed within the vail of the Tabernacle; fifthly, with the compass of the Tabernacle; sixthly, with a court about all; seventhly, with a treble covering of goats', rams', and badgers' skins above all; they must needs be precious tables. So when the Almighty made man's head (the seat of the reasonable soul), and overlaid it with hair, skin, and flesh, like the threefold covering of the Tabernacle, and encompassed it with a skull and bones like boards of cedar, and afterwards with divers skins like silken curtains; and lastly, enclosed it with the yellow skin that covers the brain (like the purple veil), he would doubtless have us to know it was made for some great treasure to be put therein. How and when the reasonable soul is put into this curious cabinet philosophers dispute many things, but can affirm nothing of certainty. --Abraham Wright.

Verse 15. In the lowest parts of the earth. From this remarkable expression, which, in the original, and as elsewhere used, denotes the region of the dead -- Sheol, or Hades -- it would appear that it is not only his formation in the womb the Psalmist here contemplates, but also -- regarding the region of the dead as the womb of resurrection life -- the refashioning of the body hereafter, and its new birth to the life immortal, which will be no less "marvellous" a work, but rather more so, than the first fashioning of man's "substance." Confirmed by the words of Psalms 139:18 -- "When I awake, I am still with thee" -- the same language before employed to express the resurrection hope, Psalms 17:15; when there shall be purposes and "precious counsels" with respect to his redeemed, in anticipation of which they may repeat this Psalm with renewed feelings of wonder and admiration. --William De Burgh.

Verse 15-16. The word substance represents different words in these verses. In Psalms 139:15 it is "my strength", or "my bones"; in Psalms 139:16 the word is usually rendered "embryo": but "clew" (life a ball yet to be unwound) finds favour with great scholars.

In the lowest parts of the earth denotes no subterranean limbo or workshop; but is a poetical parallel to "in secret."

Which in continuance were fashioned is wrong. The margin, though also wrong, indicates the right way: "my days were determined before one of them was." -- David M`Laren, in "The Book of Psalms in Metre", 1883.

EXPOSITION

Verse 16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect. While as yet the vessel was upon the wheel the Potter saw it all. The Lord knows not only our shape, but our substance: this is substantial knowledge indeed. The Lord's observation of us is intent and intentional, -- "Thine eyes did see." Moreover, the divine mind discerns all things as clearly and certainly as men perceive by actual eye sight. His is not hearsay acquaintance, but the knowledge which comes of sight.

And in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. An architect draws his plans, and makes out his specifications; even so did the great Maker of our frame write down all our members in the book of his purposes. That we have eyes, and ears, and hands, and feet, is all due to the wise and gracious purpose of heaven: it was so ordered in the secret decree by which all things are as they are. God's purposes concern our limbs and faculties. Their form, and shape, and everything about them were appointed of God long before they had any existence. God saw us when we could not be seen, and he wrote about us when there was nothing of us to write about. When as yet there were none of our members in existence, all those members were before the eye of God in the sketch book of his foreknowledge and predestination.

This verse is an exceedingly difficult one to translate, but we do not think that any of the proposed amendments are better than the rendering afforded us by the Authorized Version. The large number of words in italics will warn the English reader that the sense is hard to come at, and difficult to express, and that it would be unwise to found any doctrine upon the English words; happily there is no temptation to do so.

The great truth expressed in these lines has by many been referred to the formation of the mystical body of our Lord Jesus. Of course, what is true of man, as man, is emphatically true of Him who is the representative man. The great Lord knows who belong to Christ; his eye perceives the chosen members who shall yet be made one with the living person of the mystical Christ. Those of the elect who are as yet unborn, or unrenewed, are nevertheless written in the Lord's book. As the form of Eve grew up in silence and secrecy under the fashioning hand of the Maker, so at this hour is the Bride being fashioned for the Lord Jesus; or, to change the figure, -- a body is being prepared in which the life and glory of the indwelling Lord shall for ever be displayed. The Lord knoweth them that are his: he has a specially familiar acquaintance with the members of the body of Christ; he sees their substance, unperfect though they be.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, etc. From whence we may learn, first, not to be proud of what we are; all's the work of God. How beautiful or comely, how wise or holy soever you are, 'tis not of yourselves. What hath any man, either in naturals or supernaturals, which he hath not received? Secondly, despise not what others are or have, though they are not such exact pieces, though they have not such excellent endowments as yourselves; yet they are what God hath made them. Thirdly, despise not what yourselves are. Many are ashamed to be seen as God made them; few ale ashamed to be seen what the devil hath made them. Many are troubled at small defects in the outward man; few are troubled at the greatest deformities of the inward man: many buy artificial beauty to supply the natural; few spiritual, to supply the defects of the supernatural beauty of the soul. --Abraham Wright.

Verse 16. My substance yet being unperfect. One word in the original, which means strictly anything rolled together as a ball, and hence is generally supposed to mean here the foetus or embryo. Hupfeld, however, prefers to understand it of the ball of life, as consisting of a number of different threads ("the days" of Psalms 139:16 -- see margin) which are first a compact mass as it were, and which are then unwound as life runs on. --J.J. Stewart Perowne.

Verse 16. A skilful architect before he builds draws a model, or gives a draught of the building in his book, or upon a table; there he will show you every room and contrivance: in his book are all the parts of the building written, while as yet there are none of them, or before any of them are framed and set up. In allusion to architects and other artisans, David speaks of God, In thy book all my members were written; that is, Thou hast made me as exactly as if thou hadst drawn my several members and my whole proportion with a pen or pencil in a book, before thou wouldst adventure to form me up. The Lord uses no book, no pen to decipher his work. He had the perfect idea of all things in himself from everlasting; but he may well be said to work as by pattern, whose work is the most perfect pattern. --Joseph Caryl.

EXPOSITION

Verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! He is not alarmed at the fact that God knows all about him; on the contrary, he is comforted, and even feels himself to be enriched, as with a casket of precious jewels. That God should think upon him is the believer's treasure and pleasure. He cries, "How costly, how valued are thy thoughts, how dear to me is thy perpetual attention!" He thinks upon God's thoughts with delight; the more of them the better is he pleased. It is a joy worth worlds that the Lord should think upon us who are so poor and needy: it is a joy which fills our whole nature to think upon God; returning love for love, thought for thought, after our poor fashion.

How great is the sum of them! When we remember that God thought upon us from old eternity, continues to think upon us every moment, and will think of us when time shall be no more, we may well exclaim, "How great is the sum!" Thoughts such as are natural to the Creator, the Preserver, the Redeemer, the Father, the Friend, are evermore flowing from the heart of the Lord. Thoughts of our pardon, renewal, upholding, supplying, educating, perfecting, and a thousand more kinds perpetually well up in the mind of the Most High. It should fill us with adoring wonder and reverent surprise that the infinite mind of God should turn so many thoughts towards us who are so insignificant and so unworthy! What a contrast is all this to the notion of those who deny the existence of a personal, conscious God! Imagine a world without a thinking, personal God! Conceive of a grim providence of machinery! -- a fatherhood of law! Such philosophy is hard and cold. As well might a man pillow his head upon a razor edge as seek rest in such a fancy. But a God always thinking of us makes a happy world, a rich life, a heavenly hereafter.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, etc. So far from thinking it a hardship to be subject to this scrutiny, he counts it a most valuable privilege. However others may regard this truth, "to me", my judgment and my feelings, "how costly" valuable "are thy thoughts", i.e. thy perpetual attention to me. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How cold and poor are our warmest thoughts towards God! How unspeakably loving and gloriously rich are his thoughts towards us! Compare Ephesians 1:18: "The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." --A.R. Fausset.

Verse 17. How precious ... how great is the sum of them? Our comforts vie with the number of our sorrows, and win the game. The mercies of God passed over in a gross sum breed no admiration; but cast up the particulars, and then arithmetic is too dull an art to number them. As many dusts as a man's hands can hold, is but his handful of so many dusts; but tell them one by one, and they exceed all numeration. It was but a crown which king Solomon wore; but weigh the gold, tell the precious stones, value the richness of them, and what was it then? --Thomas Adams.

Verse 17-18. Behold David's love to God; sleeping and waking his mind runs upon him. There needs no arguments to bring those to our remembrance whom we love. We neglect ourselves to think upon them. A man in love wastes his spirits, vexes his mind, neglects his meat, regards not his business, his mind still feels on that he loves. When men love that they should not, there is more need of a bridle to keep them from thinking of it, than of spurs to keep them to it. Try thy love of God by this. If thou thinkest not often of God, thou lovest him not. If thou canst not satisfy thyself with profits, pleasures, friends, and other worldly objects, but thou must turn other businesses aside, that thou mayest daily think of God, then thou lovest him. --Francis Taylor, in "God's Glory in Man's Happiness", 1654.

Verse 17-18. Mercies are either ordinary or extraordinary -- our common necessaries, or the remarkable supplies which we receive now and then at the hand of God. Thou must not only praise him for some extraordinary mercy, that comes with such pomp and observation that all thy neighbours take notice of it with thee, as the mercy which Zacharias and Elizabeth had in their son, that was noised about all the country (Luke 1:65); but also for ordinary every day mercies: for first, we are unworthy of the least mercy (Ge 32:10), and therefore God is worthy of praise for the least, because it is more than he owes us. Secondly, these common, ordinary mercies are many. Thus David enhances the mercies of this kind, -- O God, how great is the sum of them. "If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I wake I am still with thee." As if he had said, There is not a point of time wherein thou art not doing me good; as soon as I open my eyes in the morning I have a new theme, in some fresh mercies given since I closed them over night, to employ my meditations that are full of praise. Many little items make together a great sum. What is lighter than a grain of sand, yet what is heavier than the sand upon the seashore? As little sins (such as vain thoughts and idle words), because of their multitude, arise to a great guilt, and will bring in a long bill, a heavy reckoning at last; so, ordinary mercies, what they want in their size of some other great mercies, have compensated it in their number. Who will not say that a man shows greater kindness in maintaining one at his table with ordinary fare all the year than in entertaining him at a great feast twice or thrice in the same time? --William Gurnall.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 17-18. The Psalm dilates upon the omniscience of God. In no mournful manner, but the reverse.

Verse 17-18.

--W.B.H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. This figure shows the thoughts of God to be altogether innumerable; for nothing can surpass in number the grains of sand which belt the main ocean and all the minor seas. The task of counting God's thoughts of love would be a never ending one. If we should attempt the reckoning we must necessarily fail, for the infinite falls not within the line of our feeble intellect. Even could we count the sands on the seashore, we should not then be able to number God's thoughts, for they are "more in number than the sand." This is not the hyperbole of poetry, but the solid fact of inspired statement: God thinks upon us infinitely: there is a limit to the act of creation, but not to the might of divine love.

When I awake, I am still with thee. Thy thoughts of love are so many that my mind never gets away from them, they surround me at all hours. I go to my bed, and God is my last thought; and when I wake I find my mind still hovering about his palace gates; God is ever with me, and I am ever with him. This is life indeed. If during sleep my mind wanders away into dreams, yet it only wanders upon holy ground, and the moment I wake my heart is back with its Lord. The Psalmist does not say, "When I awake, I return to thee", but, "I am still with thee"; as if his meditations were continuous, and his communion unbroken. Soon we shall lie down to sleep for the last time: God grant that when the trumpet of the archangel shall waken us we may find ourselves still with him.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 18. They are more in number than the sand. Pindar says, that sand flies number (Olymp. Ode 2). The Pythian oracle indeed boastingly said, I know the number of the sand, and the measure of the sea (Herodot. Clio. l. i. c. 47). It is to this that Lucan may refer when he says, measure is not wanting to the ocean, or number to the sand (Pharsal. l. 5, v. 182). --Samuel Burder.

Verse 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. If all his glorious deeds my song would tell,

The shore's unnumbered stones I might recount as well.

--Pindar, B.C. 518-442.

Verse 18. When I awake, I am still with thee. It is the great advantage of a Christian, which he has above other men, that he has his friends always about him, and (if the fault be not his own) need never to be absent from them. In the friendship and converse of the world, we use to say, "Friends must part", and those who have delight and satisfaction in one another's society must be content to leave it, and to be taken off from it. But this is the privilege of a believer that undertakes communion with God, that it is possible for him always to be with him. Again, in human converse and society we know it is ordinary for friends to dream that they are in company with one another; but when they awake they are a great way off. But a Christian that converses with God, and has his thoughts fastened upon him, when he awakes he is still with him, which is that which is here exhibited to us in the example of the prophet David.

A godly soul should fall asleep in God's arms, like a child in the mother's lap; it should be sung and lulled to sleep with "songs of the night." And this will make him the fitter for converse with God the next day after. This is the happiness of a Christian that is careful to lie down with God, that he finds his work still as he left it, and is in the same disposition when he rises as he was at night when he lay down to rest. As a man that winds up his watch over night, he finds it going the next morning; so is it also, as I may say, with a Christian that winds up his heart. This is a good observation to be remembered, especially in the evening afore the Sabbath. --Thomas Horton, --1673.

Verse 18. When I awake, I am still with thee. It is no small advantage to the holy life to "begin the day with God." The saints are wont to leave their hearts with him over night, that they may find them with him in the morning. Before earthly things break in upon us, and we receive impressions from abroad, it is good to season the heart with thoughts of God, and to consecrate the early and virgin operations of the mind before they are prostituted to baser objects. When the world gets the start of religion in the morning, it can hardly overtake it all the day; and so the heart is habituated to vanity all the day long. But when we begin with God, we take him along with us to all the business and comforts of the day; which, being seasoned with his love and fear, are the more sweet and savoury to us. --Thomas Case (1598-1682), in the Epistle Dedicatory to "The Morning Exercise."

Verse 18. When I awake. Accustom yourself to a serious meditation every morning. Fresh airing our souls in heaven will engender in us a purer spirit and nobler thoughts. A morning seasoning will secure us for all the day. Though other necessary thoughts about our calling will and must come in, yet when we have dispatched them, let us attend to our morning theme as our chief companion. As a man that is going with another about some considerable business, suppose to Westminster, though he meets with several friends on the way, and salutes some, and with others with whom he has some affairs he spends some little time, yet he quickly returns to his companion, and both together go to their intended stage. Do thus in the present case. Our minds are active and will be doing something, though to little purpose; and if they be not fixed upon some noble object, they will, like madmen and fools, be mightily pleased in playing with straws. The thoughts of God were the first visitors David had in the morning. God and his heart met together as soon as he was awake, and kept company all the day after. --Stephen Charnock.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 18. When I awake I am still with thee.

--T. Horton.

Verse 18. A Christian on Earth still in Heaven (an Appendix to "A Christian on the Mount; or, A Treatise concerning Meditation"), by Thomas Watson, 1660.

Verse 18. I am still with thee.

--T. Horton.

EXPOSITION

Verse 19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. There can be no doubt upon that head, for thou hast seen all their transgressions, which indeed have been done in thy presence; and thou hast long enough endured their provocations, which have been so openly manifest before thee. Crimes committed before the face of the Judge are not likely to go unpunished. If the eye of God is grieved with the presence of evil, it is but natural to expect that he will remove the offending object. God who sees all evil will slay all evil. With earthly sovereigns sin may go unpunished for lack of evidence, or the law may be left without execution from lack of vigour in the judge; but this cannot happen in the case of God, the living God. He beareth not the sword in vain. Such is his love of holiness and hatred of wrong, that he will carry on war to the death with those whose hearts and lives are wicked. God will not always suffer his lovely creation to be defaced and defiled by the presence of wickedness: if anything is sure, this is sure, that he will ease him of his adversaries.

Depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. Men who delight in cruelty and war are not fit companions for those who walk with God. David chases the men of blood from his court, for he is weary of those of whom God is weary. He seems to say -- If God will not let you live with him I will not have you live with me. You would destroy others, and therefore I want you not in my society. You will be destroyed yourselves, I desire you not in my service. Depart from me, for you depart from God. As we delight to have the holy God always near us, so would we eagerly desire to have wicked men removed as far as possible from us. We tremble in the society of the ungodly lest their doom should fall upon them suddenly, and we should see them lie dead at our feet. We do not wish to have our place of intercourse turned into a gallows of execution, therefore let the condemned be removed out of our company.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 19. Depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. The expression, "bloody men", or "men of blood", includes not only homicides, who shed human blood, but all other wicked and evil doers, who injure, or seek to injure others, or who slay their own souls by sin, or the souls of others by scandal; all of whom may be truly called homicides; for hatred may be called the mainspring of homicide, and thus St. John says, "Whoso hateth his brother is a homicide." --Robert Bellarmine.

Verse 19. Therefore. When we have a controversy with the wicked we should take heed that private spleen do not rule us, but that only our interest in God's quarrel with them doth move us, as the Psalmist doth here. --David Dickson.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 19.

--W.B.H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 20. For they speak against thee wickedly. Why should I bear their company when their talk sickens me? They vent their treasons and blasphemies as often as they please, doing so without the slightest excuse or provocation; let them therefore be gone, where they may find a more congenial associate than I can be. When men speak against God they will be sure to speak against us, if they find it serve their turn; hence godless men are not the stuff out of which true friends can ever be made. God gave these men their tongues, and they turn them against their Benefactor, wickedly, from sheer malice, and with great perverseness.

And thine enemies take thy name in vain. This is their sport: to insult Jehovah's glorious name is their amusement. To blaspheme the name of the Lord is a gratuitous wickedness in which there can be no pleasure, and from which there can be no profit. This is a sure mark of the "enemies" of the Lord, that they have the impudence to assail his honour, and treat his glory with irreverence. How can God do other than slay them? How can we do other than withdraw from every sort of association with them? What a wonder of sin it is that men should rail against so good a Being as the Lord our God! The impudence of those who talk wickedly is a singular fact, and it is the more singular when we reflect that the Lord against whom they speak is all around them, and lays to heart every dishonour which they render to his holy name. We ought not to wonder that men slander and deride us, for they do the same with the Most High God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 20. Thine enemies take thy name in vain. In every action three things are considerable, -- the end, the agent, the work. These three duly weighed, we shall soon see what it is to take God's name in vain.

b) Next to God's glory is the good of ourselves and others; and so to take God's name without reference to this end, if we neither promote our own good nor the good of others, it is in vain, ex privatione finis, because it wants a right end; therefore Saint Paul rejoiced, having by his preaching laboured for the saving of souls,

c) rejoice, saith he, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

b) If unjust it is vain too. "If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?" saith holy Job 9:29; and, "The very hope of unjust men perisheth", saith the wise man (Pr 11:7); and, "They walk in a vain shadow, and disquiet themselves in vain" (Psalms 39:6). If justice be wanting in our actions, or truth in our assertions and promises, they are vain; and to use God's name in either is to take his name in vain. So that if either we take the name of God to no end, but make it common, and take it up as a custom till it come to a habit, not for any good end; or if our hearts be not stable or fixed, but light and inconstant when we take it; or if we take it to colour or bolster up any falsehood or any unjust act, we take it in vain, and break the commandment. -- Lancelot Andrews.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 20. Two scandalous offences against God.

EXPOSITION

Verse 21. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? He was a good hater, for he hated only those who hated good. Of this hatred he is not ashamed, but he sets it forth as a virtue to which he would have the Lord bear testimony. To love all men with benevolence is our duty; but to love any wicked man with complacency would be a crime. To hate a man for his own sake, or for any evil done to us, would be wrong; but to hate a man because he is the foe of all goodness and the enemy of all righteousness, is nothing more nor less than an obligation. The more we love God the more indignant shall we grow with those who refuse him their affection. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha." Truly, "jealousy is cruel as the grave." The loyal subject must not be friendly to the traitor.

And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? He appeals to heaven that he took no pleasure in those who rebelled against the Lord; but, on the contrary, he was made to mourn by a sight of their ill behaviour. Since God is everywhere, he knows our feelings towards the profane and ungodly, and he knows that so far from approving such characters the very sight of them is grievous to our eyes.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 21. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? The simple future in the first clause comprehends several distinct shades of meaning. Do I not, may I not, must I not, hate those hating thee? Hate them, not as man hates, but as God hates. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 21. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? Can he who thinks good faith the holiest thing in life, avoid being an enemy to that man who, as quaestor, dared to despoil, desert, and betray? Can he who wishes to pay due honours to the immortal gods, by any means avoid being an enemy to that man who has plundered all their temples? -- Cicero.

Verse 21. And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? The expression here -- "grieved" -- explains the meaning of the word "hate" in the former member of the verse. It is not that hatred which is followed by malignity or ill will; it is that which is accompanied with grief, pain of heart, pity, sorrow. So the Saviour looked on men: Mark 3:5: -- "And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts." The Hebrew word used here, however, contains also the idea of being disgusted with; of loathing; of nauseating. The feeling referred to is anger -- conscious disgust -- at such conduct; grief, pain, sorrow, that men should evince such feelings towards their Maker. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 21. Am not I grieved? etc. Acted upon by mingled feelings of sorrow for them, and loathing at their evil practices. Thus our Lord "looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts": Mark 3:5. -- French and Skinner.

Verse 21. It is said that Adam Smith disliked nothing more than that moral apathy -- that obtuseness of moral perception -- which prevents man from not only seeing clearly, but feeling strongly, the broad distinction between virtue and vice, and which, under the pretext of liberality, is all indulgent even to the blackest crimes. At a party at Dalkeith Palace, where Mr. ----, in his mawkish way, was finding palliations for some villainous transactions, the doctor waited in patient silence until he was gone, then exclaimed: "Now I can breathe more freely. I cannot bear that man; he has no indignation in him."

Verse 21-22. A faithful servant hath the same interests, the same friends, the same enemies, with his master, whose cause and honour he is, upon all occasions, in duty bound to support and maintain. A good man hates, as God himself doth; he hates not the persons of men, but their sins; not what God made them, but what they have made themselves. We are neither to hate the men, on account of the vices they practise; nor to love the vices, for the sake of the men who practise them. He who observeth invariably this distinction, fulfils the perfect law of charity, and hath the love of God and of his neighbour abiding in him. --George Horne.

Verse 21-22. First, we must hate the company and society of manifest and obstinate sinners, who will not be reclaimed. Secondly, all their sins, not communicating with any man in his sin, we must have no fellowship (as with the workers so) with the unfruitful works of darkness. Thirdly, all occasions and inducements unto these sins. Fourthly, all appearances of wickedness (1 Thessalonians 5:22), that is, which men in common judgment account evil; and all this must proceed from a good ground, even from a good heart hating sin perfectly, that is all sin, as David, "I hate them with perfect hatred", and not as some, who can hate some sin, but cleave to some other: as many can hate pride, but love covetousness or some other darling sin: but we must attain to the hatred of all, before we can come to the practice of this precept (Jude 1:23); besides that, all sins are hateful even in themselves. --William Perkins, 1558-1602.

Verse 21, 24. The temper of mourning for public sins, for the sins of others, is the greatest note of sincerity. When all other signs of righteousness may have their exceptions, this temper is the utmost term, which we cannot go beyond in our self examination. The utmost prospect David had of his sincerity, when he was upon a diligent enquiry after it, was his anger and grief for the sin of others. When he had reached so far, he was at a stand, and knew not what more to add "Am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me." If there be anything that better can evidence my sincerity than this, Lord, acquaint me with it; "know my heart", i.e., make me to know it. He whose sorrow is only for matter confined within his own breast, or streams with it in his life, has reason many times to question the truth of it; but when a man cannot behold sin as sin in another without sensible regret, it is a sign he hath savingly felt the bitterness of it in his own soul. It is a high pitch and growth, and a consent between the Spirit of God and the soul of a Christian, when he can lament those sins in others whereby the Spirit is grieved; when he can rejoice with the Spirit rejoicing, and mourn with the Spirit mourning. This is a clear testimony that we have not self ends in the service of God; that we take not up religion to serve a turn; that God is our aim, and Christ our beloved. --Stephen Charnock.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 21-22.

EXPOSITION

Verse 22. I hate them with perfect hatred. He does not leave it a matter of question. He does not occupy a neutral position. His hatred to bad, vicious, blasphemous men is intense, complete, energetic. He is as whole hearted in his hate of wickedness as in his love of goodness.

I count them mine enemies. He makes a personal matter of it. They may have done him no ill, but if they are doing despite to God, to his laws, and to the great principles of truth and righteousness, David proclaims war against them. Wickedness passes men into favour with unrighteous spirits; but it excludes them from the communion of the just. We pull up the drawbridge and man the walls when a man of Belial goes by our castle. His character is a casus belli; we cannot do otherwise than contend with those who contend with God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 22. I hate them with perfect hatred. What is "with a perfect hatred"? I hated in them their iniquities, I loved thy creation. This it is to hate with a perfect hatred, that neither on account of the vices thou hate the men, nor on account of the men love the vices. For see what he addeth, "They became my enemies." Not only as God's enemies, but as his own too doth he now describe them. How then will he fulfil in them both his own saying, "Have not I hated those that hated thee, Lord", and the Lord's command, "Love your enemies"? How will he fulfil this, save with that perfect hatred, that he hate in them that they are wicked, and love that they are men? For in the time even of the Old Testament, when the carnal people was restrained by visible punishments, how did Moses, the servant of God, who by understanding belonged to the New Testament, how did he hate sinners when he prayed for them, or how did he not hate them when he slew them, save that he "hated them with a perfect hatred"? For with such perfection did he hate the iniquity which he punished, as to love the manhood for which he prayed. --Augustine.

EXPOSITION

Verse 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart. David is no accomplice with traitors. He has disowned them in set form, and now he appeals to God that he does not harbour a trace of fellowship with them. He will have God himself search him, and search him thoroughly, till every point of his being is known, and read, and understood; for he is sure that even by such an investigation there will be found in him no complicity with wicked men. He challenges the fullest investigation, the innermost search: he had need be a true man who can put himself deliberately into such a crucible. Yet we may each one desire such searching; for it would be a terrible calamity to us for sin to remain in our hearts unknown and undiscovered.

Try me, and know my thoughts. Exercise any and every test upon me. By fire and by water let me be examined. Read not alone the desires of my heart, but the fugitive thoughts of my head. Know with all penetrating knowledge all that is or has been in the chambers of my mind. What a mercy that there is one being who can know us to perfection! He is intimately at home with us. He is graciously inclined towards us, and is willing to bend his omniscience to serve the end of our sanctification. Let us pray as David did, and let us be as honest as he. We cannot hide our sin: salvation lies the other way, in a plain discovery of evil, and an effectual severance from it.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 23. Try me. True faith is precious; it is like gold, it will endure a trial. Presumption is but a counterfeit, and cannot abide to be tried: 1 Peter 1:7. A true believer fears no trial. He is willing to be tried by God. He is willing to have his faith tried by others, he shuns not the touchstone. He is much in testing himself. He would not take anything upon trust, especially that which is of such moment. He is willing to hear the worst as well as the best. That preaching pleases him best which is most searching and distinguishing: Heb 4:12. He is loath to be deluded with vain hopes. He would not be flattered into a false conceit of his spiritual state. When trials are offered, he complies with the apostle's advice, 2 Corinthians 13:5. --David Clarkson.

Verse 23. What fearful dilemma have we here? The Holiest changeth not, when he comes a visitant to a human heart. He is the same there that he is in the highest heaven. He cannot look upon sin; and how can a human heart welcome him into its secret chambers? How can the blazing fire welcome the quenching water? It is easy to commit to memory the seemly prayer of an ancient penitent, Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts. The dead letters, worn smooth by frequent use, may drop freely from callous lips, leaving no sense of scalding on the conscience; and yet, truth of God though they are, they may be turned into a lie in the act of utterance. The prayer is not true, although it is borrowed from the Bible, if the suppliant invite the All seeing in, and yet would give a thousand worlds, if he had them, to keep him out for ever.

Christ has declared the difficulty, and solved it: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." When the Son has made the sinner free, he is free indeed. The dear child, pardoned and reconciled, loves and longs for the Father's presence. What! is there neither spot nor wrinkle now upon the man, that he dares to challenge inspection by the Omniscient, and to offer his heart as Jehovah's dwelling place? He is not yet so pure; and well he knows it. The groan is bursting yet from his broken heart: "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Many stains defile him yet; but he loathes them now, and longs to be free. The difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not that the one has sins, and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins against a dreaded God, and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins. He is out with his former friends, and in with his former adversary. Conversion is a turning, and it is one turning only; but it produces simultaneously and necessarily two distinct effects. Whereas his face was formerly turned away from God, and toward his own sins; it is now turned away from his own sins, and toward God. This one turning, with its twofold result, is in Christ the Mediator, and through the work of the Spirit.

As long as God is my enemy, I am his. I have no more power to change that condition than the polished surface has to refrain from reflecting the sunshine that falls upon it. It is God's love, from the face of Jesus shining into my dark heart, that makes my heart open to him, and delight to be his dwelling place. The eyes of the just Avenger I cannot endure to be in this place of sin; but the eye of the compassionate Physician I shall gladly admit into this place of disease; for he comes from heaven to earth that he may heal such sin sick souls as mine. When a disciple desires to be searched by the living God, he does not thereby intimate that there are no sins in him to be discovered: he intimates rather that his foes are so many and so lively, that nothing can subdue them except the presence and power of God. --William Arnot (--1875), in "Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth."

Verse 23-24. There are several things worthy of notice in the Psalmist's appeal, in the words before us. First, notice the Psalmist's intrepidity. Here is a man determined to explore the recesses of his own heart. Did Bonaparte, did Nelson, did Wellington, ever propose to do this? Were all the renowned heroes of antiquity present, I would ask them all if they ever had courage to enter into their own hearts. David was a man of courage. When he slew a lion in the way, when he successfully encountered a bear, when he went out to meet the giant Goliath, he gave undoubted proofs of courage; but never did he display such signal intrepidity as when he determined to look into his own heart. If you stood upon some eminence, and saw all the ravenous and venomous creatures that ever lived collected before you, it would not require such courage to combat them as to combat with your own heart. Every sin is a devil, and each may say, "My name is Legion, for we are many." Who knows what it is to face himself? And yet, if we would be saved, this must be done.

Secondly, notice the Psalmist's integrity. He wished to know all his sins, that he might be delivered from them. As every individual must know his sins at some period, a wise man will seek to know them here, because the present is the only time in which to glorify God, by confessing, by renouncing, by overcoming them. One of the attributes of sin is to hide man from himself, to conceal his deformity, to prevent him from forming a just conception of his true condition. It is a solemn fact, that there is not an evil principle in the bosom of the devil himself which does not exist in ours, at the present moment, unless we are fully renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit. That these evil principles do not continually develop themselves, in all their hideous deformity, is entirely owing to the restraining and forbearing mercy of God.

Thirdly, notice the Psalmist's wisdom. He presents his prayer to God himself. God is the only Being in the universe that knows himself -- that peruses himself in his own light. In the same light he sees all other beings; and hence it follows that, if other beings see themselves truly, it must be in the light of God. If the sun were an intelligent being, I would ask him, "How do you see yourself? In your own light?" And he would reply, "Yes." "And how do you see the planets that are continually revolving around you?" "In my own light also, for all the light that is in them is borrowed from me".

You will observe that the Psalmist begins with his principles: his desire is to have these tried by a competent judge, and to have every thing that is evil removed from them. This is an evidence of his wisdom. The heart and its thoughts must be made right, before the actions of the life can be set right. Those who are most eminent for piety are most conversant with God; and, for this reason, they become most conversant with themselves. David says, elsewhere, "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse THOU me from secret faults." And Job says, "If I wash myself with snow water, and make me never so clean, yet shalt THOU plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me." When these holy men perused themselves in God's light, they saw their sins of omission and commission, and prayed earnestly to be delivered from all. -- William Howels, 1832.

Verse 23-24. The text is a prayer, and it indicates, as we think, three great facts in regard to the suppliant: the first, that David thoroughly wished to become acquainted with himself; the second, that he felt conscious that God could see through all disguises; and the third, that he desired to discover, in order that by Divine help he might correct, whatsoever was wrong in his conduct.

Now, the first inference which we draw from the text, when considered as indicating the feelings of the petitioner is, that he was thoroughly honest, that it was really his wish to become acquainted with his own heart. And is there, you may say, anything rare or remarkable in this? Indeed we think there is. It would need, we believe, a very high degree of piety to be able to put up with sincerity the prayers of our text. For, will you tell me that it does not often happen, that even whilst men are carrying on a process of self examination, there is a secret wish to remain ignorant of certain points, a desire not to be proved wrong when interest and inclination combine in demanding an opposite verdict? ... In searching into yourselves, you know where the tender points are, and those points you will be apt to avoid, so as not to put yourselves to pain, nor make it evident how much you need the caustic and the knife. Indeed, we may be sure that we state nothing but what experience will prove, when we declare it a high attainment in religion to be ready to know how bad we are ... And this had evidently been reached by the Psalmist, for he pleads very earnestly with God that he would leave no recess of his spirit unexplored, that he would bring the heart and all its thoughts, the life and all its ways, under a most searching examination, so that no form and no degree of evil might fail to be detected. -- Henry Melvill.

Verse 23-24. Self examination is not the simple thing which, at first sight, it might appear. No Christian who has ever really practised it has found it easy. Is there any exercise of the soul which any one of us has found so unsatisfactory, so almost impossible, as self examination? The fact is this, that the heart is so exceedingly complicated and intricate, and it is so very near the eye which has to investigate it, and both it and the eye are so restless and so shifting, that its deep anatomy baffles our research. Just a few things, here and there, broad and open, and floating upon the surface, a man discovers; but there are chambers receding within chambers, in that deepest of all deep things, a sinner's heart, which no mere human investigation ever will reach, ... it is the prerogative of God alone to "search" the human heart.

To the child of God -- the most intimate with himself in all the earth -- I do not hesitate to say -- "There are sins latent at this moment in you, of which you have no idea; but it only requires a larger measure of spiritual illumination to impress and unfold them. You have no idea of the wickedness that is now in you." But while I say this, let every Christian count well the cost before he ventures on the bold act of asking God to "search" him. For be sure of this, if you do really and earnestly ask God to "search" you, he will do it. And he will search you most searchingly; and if you ask him to "try" you, he will try you, -- and the trial will be no light matter!

I am persuaded that we often little calculate what we are doing -- what we are asking God to do -- when we implore him to give us some spiritual attainment, some growth in grace, some increase in holiness, or peace. To all these things there is a condition, and that condition lies in a discipline, and that discipline is generally proportionate to the strength and the measure of the gift that we ask.

I do not know what may have been the state of the Psalmist at the period when he wrote this Psalm; but I should think either one of Saul's most cruel persecutions, or the rebellion of his son Absalom, followed quick upon the traces of that prayer, Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts, etc.

Still, whatever his attainment, every child of God will desire, at any sacrifice, to know his own exact state before God; for, as he desires in all things to have a mind conformed to the mind of God, so he is especially jealous lest he should, by any means, be taking a different view, or estimate, of his own soul from that which God sees it. -- Condensed from James Vaughan.

Verse 23-24. Hypocrisy at the fashionable end of the town is very different from hypocrisy in the city. The modish hypocrite endeavours to appear more vicious than he really is, the other kind of hypocrite more virtuous. The former is afraid of everything that has the show of religion in it, and would be thought engaged in many criminal gallantries and amours which he is not guilty of. The latter assumes a face of sanctity, and covers a multitude of vices under a seeming religious deportment.

But there is another kind of hypocrisy, which differs from both of these: I mean that hypocrisy by which a man does not only deceive the world, but very often imposes on himself; that hypocrisy which conceals his own heart from him, and makes him believe he is more virtuous than he really is, and either not attend to his vices, or mistake even his vices for virtues. It is this fatal hypocrisy and self deceit which is taken notice of in those words, "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults."

These two kinds of hypocrisy, namely, that of deceiving the world, and that of imposing on ourselves, are touched with wonderful beauty in the hundred and thirty-ninth Psalm. The folly of the first kind of hypocrisy is there set forth by reflections on God's omniscience and omnipresence, which are celebrated in as noble strains of poetry as any other I ever met with, either sacred or profane. The other kind of hypocrisy, whereby a man deceives himself, is intimated in the two last verses, where the Psalmist addresses himself to the great Searcher of hearts in that emphatic petition; "Try me, O God, and seek the ground of my heart: prove me, and examine my thoughts. Look well if there be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." --Joseph Addison (1672-1719), in "The Spectator."

Verse 23-24. How beautiful is the humility of David! He cannot speak of the wicked but in terms of righteous indignation; he cannot but hate the haters of his God; yet, he seems immediately to recollect, and to check himself -- "Try me, O Lord, and seek the ground of my heart." Precisely in the same spirit of inward humility and self recollection, Abraham, when pleading before God in prayer for guilty depraved Sodom, fails not to speak of himself, as being dust and ashes: Genesis 18:27. --James Ford, 1871.

Verse 23-24. Why did David pray thus to God, Search me, O God, and know my heart, having said before, in the first verse, "Thou hast searched me, and known me"? Seeing David knew that God had searched him, what needed he to pray that God would search him? why did he beg God to do that which he had done already? The answer is at hand. David was a diligent self searcher, and therefore he was so willing to be searched, yea, he delighted to be searched by God; and that not (as was said) because himself had done it already, but also because he knew God could do it better. He knew by his own search that he did not live in any way of wickedness against his knowledge, and yet he knew there might be some way of wickedness in him that he knew not of. And therefore he doth not only say, "Search me, O God, and know my thoughts"; but he adds, "See if there be any wicked way (or any way of pain and grief) in me"; (the same word signifies both, because wicked ways lead in the end to pain and grief); "and lead me in the way everlasting." As if he had said, Lord, I have searched myself, and can see no wicked way in me; but, Lord, thy sight is infinitely clearer than mine, and if thou wilt but search me thou mayest see some wicked way in me which I could not see, and I would fain see and know the worst of myself, that I might amend and grow better; therefore, Lord, if there be any such way in me, cause me to know it also. O take that way out of me, and take me out of that way; "lead me in the way everlasting." David had tried himself, and he would again be tried by God, that he, being better tried, might become yet better. He found himself gold upon his own trial and yet he feared there might be some dross in him that he had not found; and now he would be retried that he might come forth purest gold. Pure gold fears neither the furnace nor the fire, neither the test nor the touchstone; nor is weighty gold afraid of the balance. He that is weight will be weight, how often soever he is weighed; he that is gold will be gold, how often soever he is tried, and the oftener he is tried the purer gold he will be; what he is he will be, and he would be better than he is. -- Joseph Caryl.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 23-24. The language,

--G.R.

EXPOSITION

Verse 24. And see if there be any wicked way in me. See whether there be in my heart, or in my life, any evil habit unknown to myself. If there be such an evil way, take me from it, take it from me. No matter how dear the wrong may have become, nor how deeply prejudiced I may have been in its favour, be pleased to deliver me therefrom altogether, effectually, and at once, that I may tolerate nothing which is contrary to thy mind. As I hate the wicked in their way, so would I hate every wicked way in myself.

And lead me in the way everlasting. If thou hast introduced me already to the good old way, be pleased to keep me in it, and conduct me further and further along it. It is a way which thou hast set up of old, it is based upon everlasting principles, and it is the way in which immortal spirits will gladly run for ever and ever. There will be no end to it world without end. It lasts for ever, and they who are in it last for ever. Conduct me into it, O Lord, and conduct me throughout the whole length of it. By thy providence, by thy word, by thy grace, and by thy Spirit, lead me evermore.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 24. See if there be any wicked way in me. This is a beautiful and impressive prayer for the commencement of every day. It is, also, a great sentiment to admonish us at the beginning of each day.

There is the way of unbelief within, to which we are very prone. There is the way of vanity and pride, to which we often accustom ourselves. There is the way of selfishness in which we frequently walk. There is the way of worldliness we often pursue -- empty pleasures, shadowy honours, etc. There is the way of sluggishness. What apathy in prayer, in the examination and application of God's Word, we manifest! There is the way of self dependence, by which we often dishonour God and injure ourselves. There is, unhappily, the way of disobedience, in which we often walk. At any rate, our obedience is cold, reluctant, uncertain -- not simple, entire, fervent.

How necessary is it, then, to go to God at once, and earnestly to prefer the petition, "Lord, see if there be any wicked way in me." Let nothing that is wrong, that is opposed to thy character, repugnant to thy word, or injurious and debasing to ourselves, remain, or be harboured within us. --Condensed from T. Wallace, in "Homiletic Commentary."

Verse 24. See if there be any wicked way in me. To what a holiness must David have attained ere he could need, if we may so speak, Divine scrutiny, in order to his being informed of errors and defects! Is there one of us who can say that he has corrected his conduct up to the measure of his knowledge, and that now he must wait the being better informed before he can do more towards improving his life? I do not know how to define a higher point in religious attainment than supposing a man warranted in offering up the prayer of our text. I call upon you to be cautious in using this prayer. It is easy to mock God, by asking him to search you whilst you have made but little effort to search yourselves, and perhaps still less to act upon the result of the scrutiny. --Henry Melvill.

Verse 24. See if there be any wicked way in me, etc. -- Think and be careful what thou art within,

For there is sin in the desire of sin:

Think and be thankful, in a different case,

For there is grace in the desire of grace.

--John Byron, 1691-1763.

Verse 24. The way everlasting. Way of eternity, or of antiquity, the old way, as Jeremiah 6:16; meaning the way of faith and godliness, which God taught from the beginning, and which continueth for ever; contrary to "the way of the wicked", which perisheth: Psalms 1:6. --Henry Ainsworth.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 24.

Verse 24. (last clause). -- See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 903: "The Way Everlasting."

Psalms 140

PSALM 140 OVERVIEW.

This Psalm is in its proper place, and so fitly follows 139 that you might almost read right on, and make no break between the two. Serious injury would follow to the whole Book of Psalms if the order should be interfered with as certain wiseacres propose. It is The Cry Of A Hunted Soul the supplication of a believer incessantly persecuted and beset by cunning enemies, who hungered for his destruction. David was hunted like a partridge upon the mountains, and seldom obtained a moment's rest. This is his pathetic appeal to Jehovah for protection, an appeal which gradually intensifies into a denunciation of his bitter foes. With this sacrifice of prayer he offers the salt of faith; for in a very marked and emphatic manner he expresses his personal confidence in the Lord as the Protector of the oppressed, and as his own God and Defender. Few short Psalms are so rich in the jewellery of precious faith.

To the Chief Musician. The writer wished this experimental hymn to be under the care of the chief master of song, that it might neither be left unsung, nor chanted in a slovenly manner. Such trials and such rescues deserved to be had in remembrance, and to be set up among the choicest memorials of the Lord's goodness. We, too, have our songs which are of no ordinary kind, and these must be sung with our best powers of heart and tongue. We will offer them to the Lord by no other hand than that of "the Chief Musician."

A Psalm of David. The life of David wherein he comes in contact with Saul and Doeg is the best explanation of this Psalm; and surely there can be no reasonable doubt that David wrote it, and wrote it in the time of his exile and peril. The tremendous outburst at the end has in it the warmth which was so natural to David, who was never lukewarm in anything; yet it is to be noticed that concerning his enemies he was often hot in language through indignation, and yet he was cool in action, for he was not revengeful. His was no petty malice, but a righteous anger: he foresaw, foretold, and even desired the just vengeance of God upon the proud and wicked, and yet he would not avail himself of opportunities to revenge himself upon those who had done him wrong. It may be that his appeals to the great King cooled his anger, and enabled him to leave his wrongs unredressed by any personal act of violence. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord"; and David when most wounded by undeserved persecution and wicked falsehood was glad to leave his matters at the foot of the throne, where they would be safe with the King of kings.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man. It reads like a clause of the Lord's prayer, "Deliver us from evil." David does not so much plead against an individual as against the species represented by him, namely, the being whose best description is -- "the evil man." There are many such abroad; indeed we shall not find an unregenerate man who is not in some sense an evil man, and yet all are not alike evil. It is well for us that our enemies are evil: it would be a horrible thing to have the good against us. When "the evil man" bestirs himself against the godly he is as terrible a being as a wolf, or a serpent, or even a devil. Fierce, implacable, unpitying, unrelenting, unscrupulous, he cares for nothing but the indulgence of his malice. The persecuted man turns to God in prayer; he could not do a wiser thing. Who can meet the evil man and defeat him save Jehovah himself, whose infinite goodness is more than a match for all the evil in the universe? We cannot of ourselves baffle the craft of the enemy, but the Lord knoweth how to deliver his saints. He can keep us out of the enemy's reach, he can sustain us when under his power, he can rescue us when our doom seems fixed, he can give us the victory when defeat seems certain; and in any and every case, if he do not save us from the man he can keep us from the evil. Should we be at this moment oppressed in any measure by ungodly men, it will be better to leave our defence with God than to attempt it ourselves.

Preserve me from the violent man. Evil in the heart simmers in malice, and at last boils in passion. Evil is a ragtag thing when it getteth liberty to manifest itself; and so "the evil man" soon develops into "the violent man" What watchfulness, strength, or valour can preserve the child of God from deceit and violence? There is but one sure Preserver, and it is our wisdom to hide under the shadow of his wings. It is a common thing for good men to be assailed by enemies: David was attacked by Saul, Doeg, Ahithophel, Shimei, and others; even Mordecai sitting humbly in the gate had his Haman; and our Lord, the Perfect One, was surrounded by those who thirsted for his blood. We may not, therefore, hope to pass through the world without enemies, but we may hope to be delivered out of their hands, and preserved from their rage, so that no real harm shall come of their malignity. This blessing is to be sought by prayer, and expected by faith.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Whole Psalm. Another Psalm "of David", to be sung by all saints, even as it was used by their Head, David's Son. In it we have (Psalms 140:1-3) the picture of the wicked, with a "Selah", that bids us pause over its dark colours. Then we have (Psalms 140:4-5) a view of the snares spread by the wicked, with another "Selah" -- pause. Thereafter, we see a soul in the attitude of faith (Psalms 140:6-8). They are laying the snares, but calm as Elisha beholding the Syrian host assembling (2Ki 6:15), the stayed soul sings "I have said to the Lord, My God art thou";

and then he prays, putting a "Selah" at the close, that we may again pause and survey the scene. --Andrew A. Bonar.

Whole Psalm. There is no doubt that this Psalm expresses the feelings of David on the first intelligence of Saul's setting out anew in pursuit of him (comp. Ps 140:2). And then, in Psalm 141, we have his supplication at the time when this danger was ever approaching nearer. Various things are said in this Psalm (according to the Hebrew) primarily of a single person (Saul:) thus e.g. Psalms 140:1,4; and the numerous tongues of which David complains (Psalms 140:3) are just the tongues of traitors who again informed Saul of this new place of David's residence in the wilderness of Engedi, where he might have imagined himself so secure. The laying of snares (Psalms 140:5) agrees perfectly in part with this treachery, and in part with the search after David by Saul and his numerous army, mentioned in 1 Samuel 24:2. In the same way might the burning coals, spoken of in Psalms 140:10, and likewise the deep pits (German, floods) mentioned there, have suggested themselves most naturally to David upon the rocks of Engedi, where he had the Dead Sea just before him. Psalms 140:10 seems also to allude to the events which happened on the night before the destruction of Sodom. --T. C. Barth, in "The Bible Manual."

Whole Psalm. As in Psalm 138. David set before his seed God's promise as the anchor of hope (2 Samuel 7:1-17); and in Psalm 139, God's omniscience as our consolation in danger and motive for shunning evil; so in this Psalm he sets forth the danger from calumnious enemies, and our only safety in Jehovah, our strength. --Andrew Robert Fausset.

Verse 1,4,6,8. Good men live by prayer. He who gets to the throne of grace is covered by the cloud of glory, through which no sun can smite by day, nor moon by night. -- William Swan Plumer.

Verse 1, 7-11. On the first reading of this Psalm one is inclined to think that there is somewhat of fierceness and bitterness in it, which is hardly consistent with the character of a child of God, and therefore unbecoming in David ... And yet I really think that a little more examination of the language of this Psalm will lead us to believe that we are doing David wrong in affixing anything like a meaning or desire of vindictiveness to his words.

Assuredly we can find no fault with one who takes his wrongs in prayer to God; who, like Hezekiah, takes the roll of his cares, and sorrows, and trials, and spreads it before the Lord. And this is what David does in the very first verse: "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man; preserve me from the violent man." I do not think a person who does this, who, when smarting under a sense of injury and wrong, goes at once to God and lays open his heart to him, is likely to go very far wrong; for even though he may have begun in somewhat of an unkindly spirit, yet prayer opens before us such a sight and sense of our own guiltiness and wrongs towards God, and thereby exercises such an abasing, as well as healing and soothing, influence over our feelings towards others, that we might almost be assured that he whose prayer might begin even with a vehement enumeration of his own wrongs, would end with something very like a determination to bless them that cursed, and to do good to them that hated him.

You will observe, too, how, from first to last, David leaves his cause in God's hands; it is not "my sword and my bow that shall help me"; he counted them vain things to help a man; and therefore, as he had so often said in other Psalms; "The Lord was his shield and his defence", and as God had already shielded his head in the day of battle, so he prays for the same protection against his enemies now. --Barton Bouchier.

Verse 1, 11. Three special forms of Satanic energy are individualized. The evil or wicked man, the violent man, and the man of tongue are severally appealed from by the suppliant speaker of the prayer of faith. --Arthur Pridham.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1-5.

Verse 1-5. In our position, age, and country, we are not in danger of violence from men, as was David; still, no man is absolutely safe front the danger.

b) A Christian clerk or shop assistant, because his presence is a check upon his sinful companions, may have snares laid for him, etc.

b) Maintain integrity and uprightness.

c) Should the mischievous ones succeed, still trust in God, who can make their mischief lead to your profit, and make his goodness outwit their devices. --J. F.

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. Which imagine mischiefs in their heart. They cannot be happy unless they are plotting and planning, conspiring and contriving. They seem to have but one heart, for they are completely agreed in their malice; and with all their heart and soul they pursue their victim. One piece of mischief is not enough for them; they work in the plural, and prepare many arrows for their bow. What they cannot actually do they nevertheless like to think over, and to rehearse on the stage of their cruel fancy. It is an awful thing to have such a heart disease as this. When the imagination gloats over doing harm to others, it is a sure sign that the entire nature is far gone in wickedness. Continually are they gathered together for war. They are a committee of opposition in permanent session: they never adjourn, but perpetually consider the all absorbing question of how to do the most harm to the man of God. They are a standing army always ready for the fray: they not only go to the wars, but dwell in them. Though they are the worst of company, yet they put up with one another, and are continually in each other's society, confederate for fight. David's enemies were as violent as they were evil, as crafty as they were violent, and as persistent as they were crafty. It is hard dealing with persons who are only in their element when they are at daggers drawn with you. Such a case calls for prayer, and prayer calls on God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. Continually are they gathered together for war. Literally, this clause reads, who gather wars, and so some understand it. But it is well known that the prepositions are often omitted in the Hebrew, and no doubt he means that they stirred up general enmity by their false information which acted as a trumpet sounding to battle. --John Calvin.

Verse 2-3. The wicked assault the righteous with three weapons: -- with the heart, by conspiracy; with the tongue, by lying; and with the hand, by violence. --John Lorinus, 1569-1634.

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. The rapid motion of a viper's tongue gives you the idea of its sharpening it; even thus do the malicious move their tongues at such a rate that one might suppose them to be in the very act of wearing them to a point, or rubbing them to a keen edge. It was a common notion that serpents inserted their poison by their tongues, and the poets used the idea as a poetical expression, although it is certain that the serpent wounds by his fangs and not by his tongue. We are not to suppose that all authors who used such language were mistaken in their natural history any more than a writer can be charged with ignorance of astronomy because he speaks of the sun's travelling from east to west. How else can poets speak but according to the appearance of things to an imaginative eye. The world's great poet puts it in "King Lear": "She struck me with her tongue,

Most serpent like, upon the very heart."

In the case of slanderers, they so literally sting with their tongues, which are so nimble in malice, and withal so piercing and cutting, that it is by no means unjust to speak of them as sharpened. "Adders' poison is under their lips." The deadliest of all venom is the slander of the unscrupulous. Some men care not what they say so long as they can vex and injure. Our text, however, must not be confined in its reference to some few individuals, for in the inspired epistle to the Romans it is quoted by the apostle as being true of us all. So depraved are we by nature that the most venomous creatures are our fit types. The old serpent has not only inoculated us with his venom, but he has caused us to be ourselves producers of the like poison: it lies under our lips, ready for use, and, alas, it is all too freely used when we grow angry, and desire to take vengeance upon any who have caused us vexation. It is sadly wonderful what hard things even good men will say when provoked; yea, even such as call themselves "perfect" in cool blood are not quite as gentle as doves when their claims to sinlessness are bluntly questioned. This poison of evil speaking would never fall from our lips, however much we might be provoked, if it were not there at other times; but by nature we have as great a store of venomous words as a cobra has of poison. O Lord, take the poison bags away, and cause our lips to drop nothing but honey. Selah. This is heavy work. Go up, go up, my heart! Sink not too low. Fall not into the lowest key. Lift up thyself to God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. To sharpen or whet the tongue imports the keenest and most extreme kind of talkativeness, much more to sharpen the tongue "like a serpent." Naturalists tell us that no living creature stirs his tongue so swiftly as a serpent, and serpents are therefore said to have a treble tongue, because, moving their tongue so fast, they seem to have three tongues. The Psalmist means -- the wicked speak thick and threefold, they sting and poison me with their tongues. --Joseph Caryl.

Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. This is an exact description of the way in which a serpent darts out his tongue before he inflicts the wound. See him: his head is erect, and his piercing eye is wildly and fiercely fixed on the object; the tongue rapidly appears and disappears, as if by that process it would be sharpened for the contest. Thus were the enemies of David making sharp their tongues for his destruction. -- Joseph Roberts, in "Oriental Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures", 1835.

Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent, etc. Is it not a fact, that there are many men, the very existence of whom is a baneful poison, as it were? They dart their livid tongue like the tongue of a serpent; and the venom of their disposition corrodes every object upon which it concentrates itself; ever vilifying and maligning, like the ill omened bird of night. --Pliny.

Verse 3. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. As the adder skilfully prepares herself for her work of death, so do the unhappy children of slander and falsehood prepare themselves, by every possible effort, for injuring their unoffending victims. -- John Morison.

Verse 3. In St. James's day, as now, it would appear that there were idle men and idle women, who went about from house to house, dropping slander as they went, and yet you could not take up that slander and detect the falsehood there. You could not evaporate the truth in the slow process of the crucible, and then show the residuum of falsehood glittering and visible. You could not fasten upon any word or sentence, and say that it was calumny; for in order to constitute slander, it is not necessary that the word spoken should be false -- half truths are often more calumnious than whole falsehoods. It is not even necessary that a word should be distinctly uttered; a dropped lip, an arched eyebrow, a shrugged shoulder, a significant look, an incredulous expression of countenance, nay, even an emphatic silence, may do the work; and when the light and trifling thing which has done the mischief has fluttered off, the venom is left behind, to work and rankle, to inflame hearts, to fever human existence, and to poison human society at the fountain springs of life. Very emphatically was it said by one whose whole being had smarted under such affliction, Adders' poison is under their lips. --Frederick William Robertson.

Verse 3. Slander and calumny must always precede and accompany persecution, because malice itself cannot excite people against a good man, as such; to do this, he must first be represented as a bad man. What can be said of those who are busied in this manner, but that they are a "generation of vipers", the brood of the old "Serpent", that grand accuser and calumniator of the brethren, having under their tongues a bag of "poison", conveying instant death to the reputation on which they fasten. Thus David was hunted as a rebel, Christ was crucified as a blasphemer, and the primitive Christians were tortured as guilty of incest and murder. --George Horne.

Verse 3. Man consists of soul and body; the body is but the shadow, or at best but the bearer of the soul: it's the soul that bears God's image; it's the soul especially for which Christ died. Now, by how much the soul is more precious than the body, by so much are the helps more excellent, and the enemies more dangerous than the body's. The body is fed with meat; but it is perishing meat (1 Corinthians 6:13); but the food of the soul is the heavenly manna (John 6:27). Answerably, the enemies are more hurtful, for that that hurts or kills the body toucheth not the soul; but what hurts or kills the soul kills the body with it, and destroys the whole man. The conclusion is, that therefore the bane or poison of the soul is much more hideous, horrible and hateful than that of the body; and of that poison speaks the present Scripture: adders' poison is under their lips.

A strange text, some may say, and 'tis true; but it is the fitter for these strange times, wherein the poison both of soul and body so far prevails. The words do describe in part the malignant and malicious nature of the unregenerate and sinful man; and to that purpose are they cited by the apostle to the Romans (Romans 3:13). The asp is but a little creature; but not a little poisonous. So little a creature hath been the bane and death of many a great person; let one suffice for all. That royal and renowned Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, chose rather to die by the biting of two asps than to be carried in triumph at Rome by Augustus. The manner of their poisoning is this, -- he that is bitten by the asp falls forthwith into a gentle sweat and a sweet sleep, and his strength and vital spirits decay and weaken by little till he die; thus the present pain is little, but the stroke is deadly. And even such stings are the tongues, and such swords the words of wicked men. And no marvel; for what can come but poisonous words and actions from them whose very inward nature is all poison within!

The poison of the soul is only sin, and this is like to poison in many respects. Poison, wherever it enters, stays not there, but diffuses itself all over the body, and never ceaseth till it has infected all. Such is the nature of sin; enter where it will it creeps from one member of the body to another, and from the body to the soul, till it has infected tim whole man; and then from man to man, till a whole family; and stays not there, but runs like a wildfire, from family to family, till it has poisoned a whole town, and so a whole country, and a whole kingdom. Woeful experience proves this true, both for Popish opinions, idle fashions, vain customs, and ill -- examples of all sorts, which once set on foot, spread themselves over the politic body of church and commonwealth, like a gangrene or a leprosy over the natural body, or like a poison through all the blood. Poison, having entered anywhere, as it seeks to creep presently over all, so desires it especially to seize upon the heart; such a malice and pride lies in the malignant nature of it, that it aspires to the heart; and such a craft and cunning lurks in it, that having once entered, it creeps closely and unfelt till it gets to the heart; but having possessed itself of that sovereign part of man, then like a tyrant it reigns and rages, and infecting first the vital blood and noble parts, it diffuses itself over all and every part. And such is the nature of sin, the spiritual poison of the soul; enter where it will, it is tim heart it aims at, and it will never stay till it comes there. The truth of this is so clear that proofs are needless; for who knows not that the senses are but the doors or windows, but the heart is the throne, and the soul itself the seat of sin: and hence it is that Solomon advises, -- "My son, keep thy heart with all diligence": Proverbs 4:23. --William Crashaw, in "The Parable of Poyson", 1618.

Verse 3. Adders' poison is under their lips. The word rendered "adder", bwfk[, achsub, occurs here only; and it is perhaps impossible to determine what species is intended. As the word, in its proper signification, seems to express coiling, or bending back -- an act common to most serpents -- the name has perhaps no determinate reference; or it may be another name for the pethen, mentioned under Job 20.; which seems also to have been the opinion of the Seventy, as they render both words by, avpif, and are followed by the Vulgate (aspis).

As to the poison, it will be observed, that in the venomous serpents there is a gland under the eye secreting the poisonous matter, which is conveyed, in a small tube or canal, to the end of a fang which lies concealed at the roof of the mouth. This fang is moveable at the pleasure of the serpent, and is protruded when it is about to strike at an antagonist. The situation of this poison, which is, in a manner, behind the upper lip, gives great propriety to the expression, "adders' poison is under their lips." The usage of the Hebrew language renders it by no means improbable that the fang itself is called !wfl lashon, a tongue, in the present text; and a serpent might then be said to sharpen its tongue, when, in preparing to strike, it protruded its fangs. We do not see any explanation by which a more consistent meaning may be extracted from the expression here employed. --John Kitto, in the "Pictorial Bible."

Verse 3. Often the tongue of the serpent is spoken of as the seat of its venom. This is popular, not scientific language. --William Swan Plumer.

Verse 3. Adder. The word acshub (pronounced, ak-shoob), only occurs in this one passage. The precise species represented by this word is unknown. Buxtorf, however, explains the word as the Spitter, "illud genus quod venelmm proeul exspuit." Now, if we accept this derivation, we must take the word acshub as a synonym for pethen. We have already identified the Pethen with the Naja haje, a snake which has the power of expelling the poison to some distance, when it is out of reach of its enemy. Whether the snake really intends to eject the poison, or whether it is merely flung from the hollow fangs by the force of the suddenly checked stroke, is uncertain. That the Haje cobra can expel its poison is an acknowledged fact, and the Dutch colonists of the Cape have been so familiarly acquainted with this habit, that they have called this reptile by the name of Spuugh Slange, or Spitting Snake, a name which, if we accept Buxtorf's etymology, is precisely equivalent to the word acshub. --J.G. Wood, in "Bible Animals."

Verse 3,5,8. Selah. We meet with Selah here for the first time since Psalm 89. From Psalm 90 to Psalm 140 no Selah occurs. Why omitted in these fifty we cannot tell any more than why so often recurring in others. However, there are only about forty Psalms in all in which it is used. --Andrew A. Bonar.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 3. The depraved state of the natural man as to his speech.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. To fall into their hands would be a calamity indeed. David in his most pitiable plight chose to fall into the hand of a chastising God rather than to be left in the power of men. No creature among the wild beasts of the wood is so terrible an enemy to man as man himself when guided by evil, and impelled by violence. The Lord by providence and grace can keep us out of the power of the wicked. He alone can do this, for neither our own watchfulness nor the faithfulness of friends can secure us against the serpentine assaults of the foe. We have need to be preserved from the smooth as well as the rough hands of the ungodly, for their flatteries may harm us as much as their calumnies. The hands of their example may pollute us, and so do us more harm than the hands of their oppression. Jehovah must be our keeper, or evil hands will do what evil hearts have imagined and evil lips have threatened. Preserve me from the violent man. His intense passion makes him terribly dangerous. He will strike anyhow, use any weapon, smite from any quarter: he is so furious that he is reckless of his own life if he may accomplish his detestable design. Lord, preserve us by thine omnipotence when men attack us with their violence. This prayer is a wise and suitable one. Who have purposed to overthrow my goings. They resolve to turn the good man from his resolve, they would defeat his designs, injure his integrity, and blast his character. Their own goings are wicked, and therefore they hate those of the righteous, seeing they are a standing rebuke to them. This is a forcible argument to use in prayer with God: he is the patron of holiness, and when the pure lives of his people are in danger of overthrow, he may be expected to interpose. Never let the pious forget to pray, for this is a weapon against which the most determined enemy cannot stand.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. Keep me, etc. From doing as they do, or as they would have me do, or as they promise themselves I will do. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 4. Preserve me from the violent man. The second clause of the first versicle of this verse is the same as the second versicle of Psalms 140:1, which seems the burden of the song. --"Speaker's Commentary."

Verse 4. To overthrow my goings. To take my feet from under me, to destroy the basis of belief, the power of advance in good works, that we may turn back from the way of salvation, or fall upon it, or, at any rate, may go very slowly along it. --Neale and Littledale.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4. (first clause). A wise prayer. The wicked will slander, and oppress, or mislead, flatter and defile. No one can keep us but the Lord.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. The proud have hid a snare for me. Proud as they are, they stoop to this mean action: they use a snare, and they hide it away, that their victim may be taken like a poor hare who is killed without warning -- killed in its usual run, by a snare which it could not see. David's enemies wished to snare him in his path of service, the usual way of his life. Saul laid many snares for David, but the Lord preserved him. All around us there are snares of one sort or another, and he will be well kept, aye, divinely kept, who never falls into one of them. And cords. With these they pull the net together and with these they bind their captive. Thus fowlers do, and trappers of certain large animals. The cords of love are pleasant, but the cords of hate are cruel as death itself. They have spread a net by the wayside. Where it will be near their prey; where the slightest divergence from the path will bring the victim into it. Surely the common wayside ought to be safe: men who go out of the way may well be taken in a net, but the path of duty is proverbially the path of safety; yet it is safe nowhere when malicious persons are abroad. Birds are taken in nets, and men are taken by deceit. Satan instructs his children in the art of fowling, and they right speedily learn how to spread nets: perhaps they have been doing that for us already; let us make our appeal to God concerning it. They have set gins for me. One instrument of destruction is not enough; they are so afraid of missing their prey that they multiply their traps, using differing devices, so that one way or another they may take their victim. Those who avoid the snare and the net may yet be caught in a gin, and accordingly gins are placed in all likely places. If a godly man can be cajoled, or bribed, or cowed, or made angry, the wicked will make the attempt. Ready are they to twist his words, misread his intentions, and misdirect his efforts; ready to fawn, and lie, and make themselves mean to the last degree so that they may accomplish their abominable purpose. Selah. The harp needs tuning after such a strain, and the heart needs lifting up towards God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords. The following story illustrates how cords have been used by thieves so lately as the year 1822: -- "Two skilful leaders of Dacoits, having collected some forty followers, and distributed among them ten matchlocks, ten swords, and twenty-five spears, waylaid a treasure going from the native Collector's treasury at Budrauna to Goruckpore. The prize consisted of 1,200 pounds of sterling, and was guarded by a Naik, or corporal, with four sepoys and five troopers. It had to pass through a dense jungle, and it was settled -- said one of them in after years -- that the attack should take place there; that we should have strong ropes tied across the road in front and festooned to trees on both sides, and, at a certain distance behind, similar ropes festooned to trees on one side, and ready to be fastened on the other, as soon as the escort of horse and foot should get well in between them. Having completed these preparations the gang laid down on either side of the road patiently awaiting their prey. `About five in the morning,' continued the narrator, `we heard a voice as if calling upon the name of God (Allah), and one of the gang started up at the sound, and said, "Here comes the treasure!" We put five men in front with their match locks loaded -- not with ball but shot, that we might, if possible, avoid killing anybody. When we got the troopers, infantry, and treasure all within the space, the hind ropes were run across the road, and made fast to the trees on the opposite side, and we opened a fire in upon the party from all sides. The foot soldiers got into the jungle at the sides of the road, and the troopers tried to get over the ropes at both ends, but in vain.' The corporal and a horse were killed; two troopers wounded, and the treasure carried off in spite of a hot pursuit." --From James Hutton's "Popular Account of the Thugs and Dacoits of India", 1857.

Verse 5. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords. There was "a trap hidden for him with cords"; a trap being sunk into some frequented hath, and always covered over with grass or brushwood, and having long cords attached to each side, by which the hunter, lurking at a little distance, might close it whenever he saw the game stepping on the spot. But the net spread for him by his enemies extended to the very "side of the encampment", which indicates, that even among the soldiers lying around him, there were some who had been bribed and persuaded to watch and betray him. -- Benjamin Weiss, in "A New Translation of the Psalms, with Notes", 1858.

Verse 5. Snare. Net. Gins. The several uses to which the contrivances denoted by the Hebrew words thus rendered were respectively applied, do not appear to be well ascertained. In general the Psalmist alludes to the artifices employed for capturing birds or beasts. It is, however, a curious circumstance, as noticed by Thevenot, that artifices of this kind are literally employed against men as well as other animals by some of the Orientals. "The most cunning robbers in the world", says he, "are in this country. They use a certain slip with a running noose, which they cast with so much sleight about a man's neck when they are within reach of him, that they never fail, so that they strangle him in a trice." -- Richard Mast.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5. The Dangers of Society.

Verse 5. The Net by the Wayside, or, covert temptations; temptations brought near, and made applicable to daily life.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God. Here was David's stay and hope. He was assured that Jehovah was his God, he expressed that assurance, and he expressed it before Jehovah himself. That had need be a good and full assurance which a man dares to lay before the face of the heart searching Lord. The Psalmist when hunted by man, addressed himself to God. Often the less we say to our foes, and the more we say to our best Friend the better it will fare with us: if we say anything, let it be said unto the Lord. David rejoiced in the fact that he had already said that Jehovah was his God: he was content to have committed himself, he had no wish to draw back. The Lord was David's own by deliberate choice, to which he again sets his seal with delight. The wicked reject God, but the righteous receive him as their own, their treasure, their pleasure, their light and delight. Hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD. Since thou art mine, I pray thee hear my cries. We cannot ask this favour of another man's god, but we may seek it from our own God. The prayers of saints have a voice in them; they are expressive pleadings even when they sound like inarticulate moanings.

The Lord can discern a voice in our waitings, and he can and will hearken thereto. Because he is God he can hear us; because he is our God he will hear us. So long as the Lord doth but hear us we are content: the answer may be according to his own will, but we do entreat to be heard: a soul in distress is grateful to any one who will be kind and patient enough to hearken to its tale, but specially is it thankful for an audience with Jehovah. The more we consider his greatness and our insignificance, his wisdom and our folly, the more shall we be filled with praise when the Lord attends unto our cry.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. The voice of my supplications. The one safety for simple and unlearned people when assailed by the crafty arguments of heretics and infidels is not controversy, but prayer, a weapon their adversaries seldom use and cannot understand. --Bruno of Aste, 1123.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 6.

Verse 6-7. David comforted himself,

Verse 6-8. Three arguments to be pleaded in a prayer for protection.

Verse 6-12. The Consolations of the Believer in Time of Trouble.

Verse 6-7,12-13. Times of Assault, Slander, and Temptation should be special times of Prayer and Faith. David here makes prominent five things.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. When he looked back upon past dangers and deliverances, the good man felt that he should have perished had not the Lord held a shield over his head. In the day of the clash of arms, or of the putting on of armour (as some read it), the glorious Lord had been his constant Protector. Goliath had his armour bearer, and so had Saul, and these each one guarded his master; yet the giant and the king both perished, while David, without armour or shield, slew the giant and baffled the tyrant. The shield of the Eternal is a better protection than a helmet of brass, When arrows fly thick and the battle axe crashes right and left, there is no covering for the head like the power of the Almighty. See how the child of providence glorifies his Preserver! He calls him not only his salvation, but the strength of it, by whose unrivalled force he had been enabled to outlive the cunning and cruelty of his adversaries. He had obtained a deliverance in which the strength of the Omnipotent was clearly to be seen. This is a grand utterance of praise, a gracious ground of comfort, a prevalent argument in prayer. He that has covered our head aforetime will not now desert us. Wherefore let us fight a good fight, and fear no deadly wound: the Lord God is our shield, and our exceeding great reward.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. Hebrew, of armour. For David had never indeed any battle with Saul, but declined it; but Saul often armed against him; but then God's providence covered him as a shield: but the head is only spoken of to set forth his whole body, because that is chiefly aimed at by the enemy, as where the life principally lieth. --John Mayer.

Verse 7. Thou hast covered my head, etc. That is, I had no other helmet or armour but thy Almighty power in the day when I fought with Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:39-40,50. -- Thomas Fenton.

Verse 7. Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. A captain or prince had always beside him in battle an armour bearer, whose duty it was "to cover his master's head", that is, to ward off with the shield the blows aimed at his head, and which, in the heat of the fight, had escaped his own notice. --Benjamin Weiss.

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked. Even they are dependent upon thee they can do no more than thou dost permit. Thou dost restrain them; not a dog of them can move his tongue without thy leave and license. Therefore I entreat thee not to let them have their way. Even though they dare to pray to their, do not hear their prayers against innocent men. Assuredly the Lord Jehovah will be no accomplice with the malevolent; their desires shall never be his desires; if they thirst for blood he will not gratify their cruelty. Further not his wicked devices They are so united as to be like one man in their wishes; but do rot hear their prayers. Though hand join in hand, and they desire and design as one man, yet do not thou lend them the aid of thy providence. Do not permit their malicious schemes to succeed. The Lord may allow success to attend the policy of the wicked for a time for wise reasons unknown to us, but we are permitted to pray that it be not so. The petition "Deliver us from evil" includes and allows such supplication. Lest they exalt themselves. If successful, the wicked are sure to grow proud, and insult the righteous over whom they have triumphed, and this is so great an evil, and so dishonouring to God, that the Psalmist uses it in his pleading as an argument against their being allowed to prosper. The glory of the wicked is opposed to the glory of God. If God seems to favour them they grow too high for this world, and their heads strike against the heavens. Let us hope that the Lord will not suffer this to be. Selah. Here let us exalt our thoughts and praises high over the heads of self exalting sinners. The more they rise in conceit the higher let us rise in confidence.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. His wicked device; which is to destroy me. "Exalt themselves"; not only against me, but against thee also, as if by their power and policy they had frustrated thy design and promise made to me. --M. Pool.

EXPOSITION

Verse 9. As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. To the Lord who had covered his head amid the din of arms the Psalmist appeals against his foes, that their heads may be covered in quite another sense -- covered with the reward of their own malice. David's foes were so many that they hemmed him in, encircling him as hunters do their prey. It is little wonder that he turns to the Lord in his dire need. The poet represents his adversaries as so united as to have but one head; for there is often a unanimity among evil spirits which makes them the more strong and terrible for their vile purposes. The lex talionis, or law of retaliation, often brings down upon violent men the evil which they planned and spoke of for others: their arrows fall upon themselves. When a man's lips vent curses they will probably, like chickens, come home to roost. A stone hurled upward into the air is apt to fall upon the thrower's head.

David's words may be read in the future as a prophecy; but in this verse, at any rate, there is no need to do so in order to soften their tone. It is so just that the mischief which men plot and the slander which they speak should recoil upon themselves that every righteous man must desire it: he who does not desire it may wish to be considered humane and Christlike, but the chances are that he has a sneaking agreement with the wicked, or is deficient in a manly sense of right and wrong. When evil men fall into pits which they have digged for the innocent we believe that even the angels are glad; certainly the most gentle and tender of philanthropists, however much they pity the sufferers, must also approve the justice which makes them suffer. We suspect that some of our excessively soft spoken critics only need to be put into David's place, and they would become a vast deal more bitter than he ever was.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 9. As for the head of those that compass me about, etc. God, he saith, had covered his head in the day of battle: now contrariwise ho showeth what should cover the head of his enemies, viz., it should come to them as with their lips they had maliciously spoken against him; for it may be thus rendered -- "The head of my besieger, let the trouble of his lips cover it": for cursing, "let him be covered with cursing as with a cloak." --John Mayer.

Verse 9. Those that compass me about. For an explanation of this expression we would refer the reader to "The Treasury of David", vol. 1 .p. 387, where he will find two very pertinent extracts from J. Stevenson and Dr. Shaw.

Verse 9. The mischief of their own lips. The pride and hauteur of the Jews in our Lord's day brought the Roman arms upon them, and caused them to fall into irremediable ruin. They invoked their own fate by exposing themselves to an invasion from Rome at all; but they did it still more in that terrific cry -- "His blood be upon us and on our children." -- William Hill Tucker, in "The Psalms, with Notes, Shewing their Prophetic and Christian Character", 1840.

Verse 9-10. Such passages admit of translation in the future, and are rather predictions than imprecations. --Ingram Cobbin, 1839.

Verse 9-11. The prophet, in these three verses, predicted those just judgments which heaven will inflict on the slanderers and persecutors of the righteous. Their lips, which uttered mischief against others, shall be the means of covering themselves with confusion, when out of their own mouths they shall be judged. Those tongues which have contributed to set the world on fire, shall be tormented with the hot burning coals of eternal vengeance: and they, who, with so much eagerness and diligence have prepared pits for the destruction of their brethren, shall be cast into a deep and bottomless pit, out of which they will not rise up again any more for ever. Evil speakers and false accusers shall gain no lasting establishment, but punishment shall hunt sin through all its doubles, and seize it at last as its legal prey. Let these great truths be firmly rooted in our hearts, and they will keep us steady in the worst of times. --George Horne.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 9. How the sin of evil speakers comes home to them. --W. B. H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 10. Let burning coals fall upon them. Then will they know that the scattering of the firebrands is not the sport they thought it to be. When hailstones and coals of fire descend upon them, how will they escape? Even the skies above the wicked are able to deal out vengeance upon them. Let them be cast into the fire. They have kindled the flames of strife, and it is fair that they should be cast therein. They have heated the furnace of slander seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated, and they shall be devoured therein. Who would have pitied Nebuchadnezzar if he had been thrown into his own burning fiery furnace? Into deep pits, that they rise not up again. They made those ditches or fosses for the godly, and it is meet that they should themselves fall into them and never escape. When a righteous man falls he rises again; but when the wicked man goes down "he falls like Lucifer, never to hope again." The Psalmist in this passage graphically depicts the Sodom of the wicked persecutor: fire falls upon him from heaven; the city blazes, and he is cast into the conflagration; the vale of Siddim is full of slime pits, and into these he is hurried. Extraordinary judgment overtakes the extraordinary offender: above, around, beneath, all is destruction. He would have consumed the righteous, and now he is consumed himself. So shall it be: so let it be.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 10. Let burning coals fall upon them, etc. The Psalmist seems here to allude to the destruction of the Sodomites. In these imprecations he considered his enemies as the enemies of God, rather than as his own; and lie thus cursed them, as knowing, in the quality of a prophet, that God himself had cursed them: and therefore these sorts of imprecations do not authorize other persons to curse their enemies. --Thomas Fenton.

Verse 10. Let burning coals full upon them, etc. An imprecation which (with the similar previous one, Psalms 9:6, etc.) is a prophecy; and one which, while it has had no fulfilment in the case of David's enemies, or any persecutors of the church in times past, brings again vividly before the mind the fiery judgment of the Lord's coming, and the awful sentence already pronounced against "the beast and false prophet", the leaders of the confederation of the kings of the earth and their armies, then "gathered together to make war against him" -- "these were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone": Revelation 19:19-20. So before, Psalms 55:15 63:9. --William De Burgh.

EXPOSITION

Verse 11. Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth. For that would be an established plague, a perpetual curse. Men of false and cruel tongues are of most use when they go to fatten the soil in which they rot as carcases: while they are alive they are the terror of the good, and the torment of the poor. God will not allow the specious orators of falsehood to retain the power they temporarily obtain by their deceitful speaking. They may become prominent, but they cannot become permanent. They shall be disendowed and disestablished in spite of all that they can say to the contrary. All evil bears the element of decay within itself; for what is it but corruption? Hence the utmost powers of oratory are insufficient to settle upon a sure foundation the cause which bears a lie within it. Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him. He hunted the good, and now his own evil shall hunt him. He tried to overthrow the goings of the righteous, and now his own unrighteousness shall prove his overthrow. As he was violent, so shall he be violently assaulted and hunted down. Sin is its own punishment; a violent man will need no direr doom than to reap what he has sown. It is horrible for a huntsman to be devoured by Iris own hounds; yet this is the sure fate of the persecutor.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 11. Let not an evil speaker a man full of tongue be established, etc. The man given to talk, the liar, the flatterer, the detractor, the scold, the brawler, "shall not be established in the earth", for such people are abhorred by the wicked as well as by the good. -- Robert Bellarmine.

Verse 11. Let not an evil speaker be established, etc. The positions laid down in this verse will find abundant illustration in every age of the church. "An evil speaker", who takes delight in wounding the reputation of others, is seldom established or prospered in the earth. Providence fights against such an unhappy wretch. "The violent man", the ishmaelite whose hand is against every man, is in general overthrown by the very same weapons which he wields against others. --John Morison.

Verse 11. An evil speaker. By "a man of the tongue", as the original has it, the Hebrews express a detractor or sycophant; one who gives his tongue the liberty to vent what mischief lie pleases. The Chaldee here expresses it by a delator or vile informer with a threefold or three forked tongue; because such a man wounds three at once; the receiver, the sufferer, and himself. --Thomas Fenton.

Verse 11. Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him. 'Tis an allusion to hounds that are of a quick scent, and pursue the game with pleasure; they do not see the deer or the hare, yet they follow upon the scent; and though they have sometimes a very cold and dead scent, yet they will follow and work it out. Thus "evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him"; and though sometimes he hath, as it were, got out of the view or sight of evil, and thinks himself under covert, yet these evils, like a company of greedy hounds, will pursue till they have overtaken and overthrown him. --Joseph Caryl.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 11. (first clause.)

Verse 11. (second clause.) The Cruel Hunter pursued by his own Dogs.

Verse 11. (second clause.) Theme -- Sins committed, and not repented of, pursue men to their ruin.

b) They may precipitate ruin, as Haman was hunted by his own sin to the gallows.

c) They may arouse destructive remorse, as in Judas.

d) Certainly they will pursue to the judgment seat, and hunt the soul into hell.

b) The mole terrible because self created.

c) Flee from the avenging pursuers to Christ, the only and safe refuge. --J. F.

Verse 11. (second clause.) The hunt and pursuit of the violent sinner.

EXPOSITION

Verse 12. I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and, the right of the poor. All through the Psalm the writer is bravely confident, and speaks of things about which he had no doubt: in fact, no Psalm can be more grandly positive than this protest against slander. The slandered saint knew Jehovah's care for the afflicted, for lie had received actual proofs of it himself. "I will maintain it" is the motto of the great Defender of the rights of the needy. What confidence this should create within the bosoms of the persecuted and poverty stricken! The prosperous and wealthy can maintain their own cause, but those who are otherwise shall find that God helps those who cannot help themselves. Many talk as if the poor had no rights worth noticing, but they will sooner or later find out their mistake when the Judge of all the earth begins to plead with them.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 12. I know. For I have a promise of it, and that's infallible. --John Trapp.

Verse 12-13. I know that the Lord will maintain the cause, etc. Why, how comes the Psalmist so confident? "Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name": as if he had said, Thou hast a name for a gracious and faithful God in thy promise, and this thou wilt never suffer to be blotted by failing in thy work. Christian, thou mayest venture all thou art worth on the public faith of Heaven: "His words are pure, as silver tried seven times in a furnace." He that will not suffer a liar or covenant breaker to set foot on his holy hill, will much less suffer any one thought of falseness or unfaithfulness to enter into his own most holy heart. --William Gurnall.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 12.

Verse 12. Something worth knowing.

Verse 12-13.

EXPOSITION

Verse 13. Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name. The former Psalm had its "surely", but this is a more pleasing one. As surely as God will slay the wicked he will save the oppressed, and fill their hearts and mouths with praises. Whoever else may be silent, the righteous will give thanks; and whatever they may suffer, the matter will end ill their living through the trial, and magnifying the Lord for his delivering grace. On earth ere long, and in heaven for ever, the pure in heart shall sing unto the Lord. How loud and sweet will be the songs of the redeemed in the millennial age, when the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace!

The upright shall dwell in thy presence. Thus shall they give thanks in the truest and fullest manner. This abiding before the Lord shall render to him "songs without words", and therefore all the more spiritual and true. Their living and walking with their God shall be their practical form of gratitude. Sitting down in holy peace, like children at their father's table, their joyful looks and language shall speak their high esteem and fervent love to him who has become their dwelling place. How high have we climbed in this Psalm -- from being hunted by the evil man to dwelling in the divine presence; so doth faith upraise the saint from the lowest depths to heights of peaceful repose. Well might the song be studded with Selahs, or uplifters.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 13. Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name, etc. Teacheth us two things, first, that it becometh the godly to show themselves continually thankful, because God is continually merciful to them; secondly, what is the excellent estate and condition of God's children, which, though it do not yet appear, yet shall it in the end break forth with fulness of glory." --Thomas Witcocks.

Verse 13. The upright shall dwell in thy presence. "Sit in thy presence", as thy friends or guests or favoured servants. Perhaps it may mean sit (enthroned) before thee. Compare Matthew 19:28. Some understand the sense to be shall dwell (in the land) before thee, i.e., under thy protection and inspection. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 13. One of the noblest forms of praise, -- dwelling in the presence of God. Or, reverent regard to God's presence, holy communion with the Lord, confiding rest in God's dealings, obedient doing of the heavenly will -- the best way of giving thanks to God.

Verse 13. Two assertions beyond contradiction.

Psalms 141

PSALM 141 OVERVIEW.

Title. A Psalm, Of David. Yes, David under suspicion, half afraid to speak lest he should speak unadvisedly while trying to clear himself; David slandered and beset by enemies; David censured even by saints, and taking it kindly; David deploring the condition of the godly party of whom he was the acknowledged heard: David waiting upon God with confident expectation. The Psalm is one of a group of four, and it bears a striking likeness to the other three. Its meaning lies so deep as to be in places exceedingly obscure, yet even upon its surface it has dust of gold. In its commencement the psalm is lighted up with the evening glow as the incense rises to heaven; then comes a night of language whose meaning we cannot see; and this gives place to morning light in which our eyes are unto the Lord.

Division. The Psalmist cries for acceptance in prayer (Psalms 141:1-2); Then he begs to be kept as to his speech, preserved in heart and deed, and delivered from every sort of fellowship with the ungodly. He prefers to be rebuked by the gracious rather than to be flattered by the wicked, and consoles himself with the confident assurance that be will one day be understood by the godly party, and made to be a comfort to them (Psalms 141:3-6). In the last verses the slandered saint represents the condition of the persecuted church, looks away to God and pleads for rescue from his cruel enemies, and for the punishment of his oppressors.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. Lord, I cry unto thee. This is my last resort: prayer never fails me. My prayer is painful and feeble, and worthy only to be called a cry; but it is a cry unto Jehovah, and this ennobles it. I have cried unto thee, I still cry to thee, and I always mean to cry to thee. To whom else could I go? What else can I do? Others trust to themselves, but I cry unto thee. The weapon of all prayer is one which the believer may always carry with him, and use in every time of need. Make haste unto me. His case was urgent, and he pleaded that urgency. God's time is the best time, but when we are sorely pressed we may with holy importunity quicken the movements of mercy. In many cases, if help should come late, it would come too late; and we are permitted to pray against such a calamity. Give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. See how a second time he talks of crying: prayer had become his frequent, yea, his constant exercise: twice in a few words he says, "I cry; I cry." How he longs to be heard, and to be heard at once! There is a voice to the great Father in every cry, and groan, and tear of his children: he can understand what they mean when they are quite unable to express it. It troubles the spirit of the saints when they fear that no favourable car is turned to their doleful cries: they cannot rest unless their "unto thee" is answered by an "unto me." When prayer is a man's only refuge, he is deeply distressed at the bare idea of his failing therein. "That were a grief I could not bear,

Didst thou not hear and answer prayer;

But a prayer hearing, answering God

Supports me under every load."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Whole Psalm. This psalm, like the one before it, is distinguished by a pregnant brevity and the use of rare expressions, while at the same time it is full of verbal and real coincidences with the other psalms of David. These indications are so clear and undeniable, that a sceptical critic of great eminence (De Wette) pronounces it one of the oldest psalms in the collection. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Whole Psalm. Few psalms in so small a compass crowd together so many gems of precious and holy truth. --Barton Bouchier.

Whole Psalm. Many commentators are strongly of opinion that this psalm was written as a memorial of that very interesting scene in the life of David recorded in 1 Samuel 24:1-22, relating to his generous treatment of Saul. Though he had an opportunity of putting his cruel persecutor to death in the cave of Engedi, yet he spared his life, only cutting off his skirt, and not suffering his followers to touch him; and when Saul had gone out of the cave, David, going out after him, remonstrated with him from some distance in the gentlest and most respectful language in regard to the injustice of his conduct towards him. It is thought that the sixth verse contains so express a reference to this very remarkable occurrence in David's history, as to leave little doubt that it was the occasion on which the psalm was composed. --James Anderson's Note to Calvin, in loc.

Whole Psalm. The imagery and allusions of the psalm are in keeping; viz., the oil which had lately anointed him; and the watch before his mouth, etc., suggested by the watching at the mouth of the cave, though ultimately referring to the tabernacle service. -- John Jebb.

Verse 1. LORD, I cry unto thee. Misbelief doth seek many ways for delivery from trouble; but faith hath but one way, -- to go to God, to wit, by prayer, for whatsoever is needful. -- David Dickson.

Verse 1. LORD, I cry unto thee. No distress or danger, how great soever, shall stifle my faith or stop my mouth, but it shall make me more earnest, and my prayers, like strong streams in narrow straits, shall bear down all before them. --John Trapp.

Verse 1. Unto thee ... unto me. Our prayer and God's mercy are like two buckets in a well; while the one ascends, the other descends. --Ezekiel Hopkins.

Verse 1. Note that the difference of tense, "I have cried" (Heb., 70., and Vulgate) followed by "when I cry", signifies the earnest perseverance of the saint in prayer, never ceasing, so long as trouble lasts. And trouble does last so long as we are in the world; wherefore the apostle teaches us to "Pray without ceasing." --Augustine and Bruno, in Neale and Littledale.

Verse 1-5. That the Psalmist was now in some distress, whereof he was deeply sensible, is evident from the vehemency of his spirit, which he expresses in the reiteration of his request or supplication (Psalms 141:1); and by his desire that his "prayer might come before the Lord like incense, and the lifting up of his hands as the evening sacrifice" (Psalms 141:2). The Jewish expositors guess, not improbably, that in that allusion he had regard unto his present exclusion from the holy services of the tabernacle, which in other places he deeply complains of.

For the matter of his prayer in the beginning of the psalm, it respecteth himself, and his deportment under his present condition, which he desireth may be harmless and holy, becoming himself, and useful to others. And whereas he was two ways liable to miscarry; first, by too high an exasperation of spirit against his oppressors and persecutors; and, secondly, by a fraudulent and pusillanimous compliance with them in their wicked courses; -- which are the two extremes which men are apt sinfully to run into in such conditions: he prays earnestly to be delivered from them both. The first he hath respect unto in Psalms 141:3, "Set a watch, O, LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips": namely, that he might not, under those great provocations which were given him, break forth into an unseemly intemperance of speech against his unjust oppressors, which sometimes fierce and unreasonable cruelties will wrest from the most sedate and moderate spirits. But it was the desire of this holy Psalmist, as in like cases it should be ours, that his heart might be always preserved in such a frame, under the conduct of the Spirit of God, as not to be surprised into an expression of distempered passion in any of his words or sayings. The other he regards in his earnest supplication to be delivered from it, Psalms 141:4: "Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties." There are two parts of his request unto the purpose intended.

These are the "dainties", for which an impotent longing and desire do betray the minds of unstable persons unto a compliance with ways of sin and folly: for I look on these "dainties" as comprising whatever the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life can afford. All these David prays to be delivered from any inclination unto; especially when they are made the allurements of a course of sin. In the enjoyment of these "dainties", it is the common practice of wicked men to soothe up, and mutually encourage one another in the way and course wherein they are engaged. And this completes that poor felicity which in this world so many aspire unto, and whereof alone they are capable. The whole of it is but a society in perishing sensual enjoyments, without control, and with mutual applause from one another. This the Psalmist had a special regard unto when casting his eye towards another communion and society which he longed after (Psalms 141:5). He saw there not dainties but rebukes: he discerned that which is most opposite unto those mutual applause and rejoicing in one another, which is the salt and cement of all evil societies, for he noticed rebukes and reproofs for the least miscarriages that shall be observed. Now whereas the dainties which some enjoy in a course of prosperous wickedness, are that alone which seems to have anything in it amongst them that is desirable, and on the other side rebukes and reproofs are those alone which seem to have any sharpness, or matter of uneasiness and dislike in the society of the godly, David balances that which seemeth to be sharpest in the one society, against that which seems to be sweetest in the other, and, without respect unto other advantages, prefers the one above the other. Hence, some read the beginning of the words, "Let the righteous rather smite me", meaning, "rather than that I should eat of the dainties of the ungodly." --John Owen.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1.

Verse 1. Holy haste.

Verse 1-2.

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. As incense is carefully prepared, kindled with holy fire, and devoutly presented unto God, so let my prayer be. We are not to look upon prayer as easy work requiring no thought. It needs to be "set forth"; what is more, it must be set forth "before the Lord," by a sense of his presence and a holy reverence for his name: neither may we regard all supplication as certain of divine acceptance, it needs to be set forth before the Lord "as incense," concerning the offering of which there were rules to be observed, otherwise it would be rejected of God. And the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Whatever form his prayer might take his one desire was that it might be accepted of God. Prayer is sometimes presented without words by the very motions of our bodies: bent knees and lifted hands are the tokens of earnest, expectant prayer. Certainly work, or the lifting up of the hands in labour, is prayer if it be done in dependence upon God and for his glory: there is a hand prayer as well as a heart prayer, and our desire is that tiffs may be sweet unto the Lord as the sacrifice of eventide. Holy hope, the lifting up of hands that hang down, is also a kind of worship: may it ever be acceptable with God. The Psalmist makes a bold request: he would have his humble cries and prayers to be as much regarded of the Lord as the appointed morning and evening sacrifices of the holy place. Yet the prayer is by no means too bold, for, after all, the spiritual is in the Lord's esteem higher than the ceremonial, and the calves of the lips are a truer sacrifice than the calves of the stall.

So far we have a prayer about prayer: we have a distinct supplication in the two following verses.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee. Margin, directed. The Hebrew word means to fit; to establish; to make firm. The Psalmist desires that his prayer should not be like that which is feeble, languishing, easily dissipated; but that it should be like that which is firm and secure. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. Literally, Let my prayer, incense, be set in order before Thee, -- implying that prayer was in the reality what incense was in the symbol ... Passing to New Testament Scripture, though still only to that portion which refers to Old Testament times, we are told of the people without being engaged in player, while Zacharias was offering incense within the Sanctuary (Luke 1:10); they were in spirit going along with the priestly service. And in the book of Revelation the prayers of saints are once and again identified with the offering of incense on the golden altar before the throne. Revelation 5:8 8:3-4. --Patrick Fairbairn, in "The Typology of Scripture."

Verse 2. Set forth. Prayer is knowing work, believing work, thinking work, searching work, humbling work, and nothing worth if heart and hand do not join in it. -- Thomas Adam, 1701-1784.

Verse 2. Set forth before thee as incense, whose fragrant smoke still ascends upwards. But many times in the very ascent, whilst it strives up higher and higher, infimo phantasmate verberatur, saith Gregory, "it is beaten back again by earthly imaginations which intervene", and then is extenuated by degrees, and vanisheth to nothing. Therefore the prophet prays ut diriyatur oratio, "that his prayer may be set before God", ut stubiliatur; so some render it out of the Hebrew, "that it may be established", that it may neither evaporate itself nor be whiffed about with the wind of vain and contrary imaginations, which come ab extrinseco from without], and may corrupt it. --Anthony Farindon.

Verse 2. As incense. That in general by incense prayer is signified, the Scripture expressly testifieth. And there is a fourfold resemblance between them:

Verse 2. As incense ... as the evening sacrifice. Though this address of mine must necessarily want all that solemnity of preparation required in the service of thy holy Tabernacle, the cloud of incense and perfume, etc., the "mincha" or oblation of fine flour, etc., yet let the purity and fervour of my heart, and the innocency of my hands, now lifted up to thee in tiffs sad hour of my distress, be accepted instead of all these, and prevail for deliverance and a safe retreat to me and my companions. --Charles Peters (--1777), in "A Critical Dissertation on the Book of Job", 1751.

Verse 2. As the evening sacrifice. This should be our daily service, as a lamb was offered up morning and evening for a sacrifice. But, alas! how dull and dead are our devotions! Like Pharaoh's chariots, they drive on heavily. Some, like Balaam's ass, scarce ever open their mouths twice. --Thomas Adams.

Verse 2. My hands. Spreading forth our hands in believing and fervent prayer is the only way of grasping mercy. --F. E., in "The Saints of Ebenezer", 1667.

Verse 2. In the gorgeous ceremonial worship of the Hebrews, none of the senses were excluded from taking part in the service ... The sense of smell occupied, perhaps, the most prominent place; for the acceptance of the worship was always indicated by a symbol borrowed from this sense: "The Lord smelled a sweet savour." The prayer of the people ascended as incense, and the lifting up of their hands as the evening sacrifice. The offering of incense formed the essential part of the religious service. The altar of incense occupied one of the most conspicuous and honoured positions in the tabernacle and temple ... On this altar a censer full of incense poured forth its fragrant clouds every morning and evening; and yearly, as the day of atonement came round, when the high priest entered the holy of holies, he filled a censer with live coals from the sacred fire on the altar of burnt offerings, and bore it into the sanctuary, where lie threw upon the burning coals the "sweet incense beaten small", which lie had brought in his hand. Without this smoking censer lie was forbidden, on pain of death, to enter into the awful shrine of Jehovah. Notwithstanding the washing of his flesh, and the linen garments with which he was clothed, tie dare not enter the holiest of all with the blood of atonement, unless he could personally shelter himself under a cloud of incense.

It has been supposed by some writers that incense was invented for the purpose of concealing or neutralizing the noxious effluvia caused by the number of beasts slaughtered every day in the sanctuary. Other writers have attached a mystical import to it, and believed that it was a symbol of the breath of the world arising in praise to the Creator, the four ingredients of which it was composed representing the four elements. While a third class, looking upon the tabernacle as the palace of God, the theocratic King of Israel, and the ark of the covenant as his throne, regarded the incense as merely corresponding to the perfume so lavishly employed about the person and appointments of an Oriental monarch. It may doubtless have been intended primarily to serve these purposes and convey these meanings, but it derived its chief importance in connection with the ceremonial observances of the Mosaic ritual from the fact of its being the great symbol of prayer. It was offered at the time when the people were in the posture and act of devotion; and their prayers were supposed to be presented to God by the priest, and to ascend to him in the smoke and odour of that fragrant offering. Scripture is full of allusions to it, understood in this beautiful symbolical sense. Acceptable, prevailing prayer was a sweet smelling savour to the Lord; and prayer that was unlawful, or hypocritical, or unprofitable, was rejected with disgust by the organ of smell.

Doubtless the Jews felt, when they saw the soft white clouds of fragrant smoke rising slowly from the altar of incense, as if the voice of the priest were silently but eloquently pleading in that expressive emblem in their behalf. The association of sound was lost in that of smell, and the two senses were blended in one. And this symbolical mode of supplication, as Dr. George Wilson has remarked, has this one advantage over spoken or written prayer, that it appealed to those who were both blind and deaf, a class that are usually shut out from social worship by their affliction. Those who could not hear the prayers of the priest could join in devotional exercises symbolized by incense, through the medium of their sense of smell; and the hallowed impressions shut out by one avenue were admitted to the mind and heart by another.

The altar of incense stood in the closest connection with the altar of burnt offerings. The blood of the sin offering was sprinkled on the horns of both on the great day of annual atonement. Morning and evening, as soon as the sacrifice was offered, the censer poured forth its fragrant contents, so that the perpetual incense within ascended simultaneously with the perpetual burnt offering outside. Without the live coals from off the sacrificial altar, the sacred incense could not be kindled; and without the incense previously filling the holy place, the blood of atonement from the altar of burnt offering could not be sprinkled on the mercy seat. Beautiful and expressive type of the perfect sacrifice and the all prevailing intercession of Jesus -- of intercession founded upon atonement, of atonement preceded and followed by intercession! Beautiful and expressive type, too, of the prayers of believers kindled by the altar fire of Christ's sacrifice, and perfumed by his merits! --Hugh Macmillan, in "The Ministry of Nature", 1871.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 2. True prayer acceptable as incense and as the evening sacrifice. It is spiritual, solemn, ordained of God, brings Christ to remembrance.

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth. That mouth had been used in prayer, it would be a pity it should ever be defiled with untruth, or pride, or wrath; yet so it will become unless carefully watched, for these intruders are ever lurking about the door. David feels that with all his own watchfulness he may be surprised into sin, and so he begs the Lord himself to keep him. When Jehovah sets the watch the city is well guarded: when the Lord becomes the guard of our mouth the whole man is well garrisoned. Keep the door of my lips. God has made our lips the door of the mouth, but we cannot keep that door of ourselves, therefore do we entreat the Lord to take the rule of it. O that the Lord would both open and shut our lips, for we can do neither the one nor the other aright if left to ourselves. In times of persecution by ungodly men we are peculiarly liable to speak hastily, or evasively, and therefore we should be specially anxious to be preserved in that direction from every form of sin. How condescending is the Lord! We are ennobled by being door keepers for him, and yet he deigns to be a door keeper for us.

Incline not my heart to any evil thing. It is equivalent to the petition, "Lead us not into temptation." O that nothing may arise in providence which would excite our desires in a wrong direction. The Psalmist is here careful of his heart. He who holds the heart is lord of the man: but if the tongue and the heart are under God's care all is safe. Let us pray that he may never leave us to our own inclinations, or we shall soon decline from the right.

To practise wicked works with men that work iniquity. The way the heart inclines the life soon tends: evil things desired bring forth wicked things practised. Unless the fountain of life is kept pure the streams of life will soon be polluted. Alas, there is great power in company: even good men are apt to be swayed by association; hence the fear that we may practise wicked works when we are with wicked workers. We must endeavour not to be with them lest we sin with them. It is bad when the heart goes the wrong way alone, worse when the life runs in the evil road alone; but it is apt to increase unto a high degree of ungodliness when the backslider runs the downward path with a whole horde of sinners around him. Our practice will be our perdition if it be evil: it is an aggravation of sin rather than an excuse for it to say that it is our custom and our habit. It is God's practice to punish all who make a practice of iniquity. Good men are horrified at the thought of sinning as others do; the fear of it drives them to their knees. Iniquity, which, being interpreted, is a want of equity, is a thing to be shunned as we would avoid an infectious disease. And let me not eat of their dainties. If we work with them we shall soon eat with them. They will bring out their sweet morsels, and delicate dishes, in the hope of binding us to their service by the means of our palates. The trap is baited with delicious meats that we may be captured and become meat for their malice. If we would not sin with men we had better not sit with them, and if we would not share their wickedness we must not share their wantonness.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth, etc.

Verse 3. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth, etc. Watching and prayer are often joined together. We are best kept when recommended into God's hand. I do observe here, First, That unadvised and passionate speeches do easily drop from us in our troubles, especially in our persecution. Secondly, That a godly, conscientious man is very tender of these, as of all evil. He that would live in communion with God for the present, and hope to appear with comfort before him hereafter, is sensible of the least thing that tends to God's displeasure, and God's dishonour: this is the true spirit of one that will be owned by Christ at the last day. Thirdly, There is no way to prevent being provoked to impatience and rashness of speech, or any evil, but by keeping a watch, and renewing our obligations to God. Fourthly, Whoever would keep a watch must call in the aid and assistance of God's grace; "Lord, set a watch before my mouth." --Thomas Manton.

Verse 3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, etc. Thus holy men have kept the sessions at home, and made their hearts the foremen of the jury, and examined themselves as we examine others. The fear of the Lord stood at the door of their souls, to examine every thought before it went in, and at the door of their lips, to examine every word before it went out, whereby they escaped a thousand sins which we commit, as though we had no other work. --Henry Smith.

Verse 3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. Nature having made my lips to be a door to my words, let grace keep that door, that no word may be suffered to go out which may any way tend to the dishonour of God, or the hurt of others. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 3. Set a watch, etc. Let a seal for words not to be spoken lie on the tongue. A watch over words is better than over wealth. --Lucian.

Verse 3. Keep the door of my lips. That it move not creaking and complaining, as on rusty hinges, for want of the oil of joy and gladness. David had somewhat to do with his tongue, as we see (Psalms 39:1,3); and when he had carted the ark, how untowardly he spake, as if the fault were more in God than himself, that there was such a breach made in Uzzah (1Ch 13:12). It was but need thus to pray. --John Trapp.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 3.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, etc. The present pleasure and commodity of sin is in high estimation with the sinner, and much sweeter to him than what he may lawfully enjoy; the pleasures of sin are his delicates. No man can keep himself from being taken with the allurements of a sinful course, except the Lord preserve him: Let me not eat of their dainties. The holiest men in Scripture have been most sensible of the impotency of their own free will, and of their inability to resist temptations, or to bring the principles of grace into action; most diffident of themselves, most dependent upon God, most careful to make use of means, and conscientious in following of ordinances, as their prayers do testify: "Incline not my heart to any evil thing", etc. --David Dickson.

Verse 4. Incline not my heart. Heb. Let not be inclined my heart. --John Jebb.

Verse 4. My heart. That man is like Esau which had an inheritance, which had a heart but now he hath not possession of his own; therefore, give God thy heart, that he may keep it; and not a piece of thy heart, not a room in thy heart, but thy heart. The heart divided, dieth. God is not like the mother which would have the child divided, but like the natural mother, which said, rather than it should be divided, let her take all. Let the devil have all, if he which gave it be not worthy of it. God hath no cope-mate, therefore he will have no parting of stakes, but all or none; and therefore he which asks here thy heart, in the sixth of Deuteronomy and the fifth verse, asketh "all thy heart, all thy soul, and all thy strength"; thrice he requireth all, lest we should keep a thought behind. Yet it is thy heart, that is, a vain heart, a barren heart, a sinful heart, until thou give it unto God, and then it is the spouse of Christ, the temple of the Holy Ghost, and the image of God, so changed, and formed, and refined, that God calls it a new heart.

There is such strife for the heart as there was for Moses's body. "Give it me", saith the Lord; "give it me", saith the tempter; "give it me", saith the pope; "give it me", saith riches; "give it me", saith pleasure; as though thou must needs give it to some one. Now here is the choice, whether thou wilt give it to God or the devil; God's heart or the devil's heart; whose wilt thou be? --Henry Smith.

Verse 4. Let me not eat of their dainties. Sin is not only meat, but sweet meat, not only bread, but pleasant bread to an evil heart. Daniel for some weeks ate no pleasant bread; he ate bread to keep life and soul together, but he forbare feasting or good cheer. Sin is a feast to a carnal man, it is his good cheer, yea, it is "dainties" to him. David, speaking of wicked men, says, Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties. These "dainties" may be expounded either for the prosperity that comes in by wicked practices (some by wicked ways get not only their ordinary food but "dainties"); or those "dainties" are sin itself: they feasted themselves in doing evil: "Lord, let me not eat of their dainties." If that be their food I had rather starve than eat with them. --Joseph Caryl.

Verse 4. Their dainties. The enemies of David were sensual and luxurious; and they would have gladly admitted him to share in their banquets, if his character had resembled their own. He entreats to be preserved from inducement so to do. --William Walford.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4. Total abstinence from evil desires, practices, and delights.

Verse 4. A prayer,

Verse 4. Deprecation of,

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness. He prefers the bitters of gracious company to the dainties of the ungodly. He would rather be smitten by the righteous than feasted by the wicked. He gives a permit to faithful admonition, he even invites it -- "let the righteous smite me." When the ungodly smile upon us their flattery is cruel; when the righteous smite us their faithfulness is kind. Sometimes godly men rap hard; they do not merely hint at evil, but hammer at it; and even then we are to receive the blows in love, and be thankful to the hand which smites so heavily. Fools resent reproof; wise men endeavour to profit by it. And let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break ray head. Oil breaks no heads, and rebuke does no man any harm; rather, as oil refreshes and perfumes, so does reproof when fitly taken sweeten and renew the heart. My friend must love me well if he will tell me of my faults: there is an unction about him if he is honest enough to point out my errors. Many a man has had his head broken at the feasts of the wicked, but none at the table of a true hearted reprover. The oil of flattery is not excellent; the oil so lavishly used at the banquet of the reveller is not excellent; head breaking and heart breaking attend the anointings of the riotous; but it is otherwise with the severest censures of the godly: they are not always sweet, but they are always excellent; they may for the moment bruise the heart, but they never break either it or the head. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. Gracious men never grow wrathful with candid friends so as to harbour an ill feeling against them; if so, when they saw them in affliction, they would turn round upon them and taunt them with their rebukes. Far from it; these wisely grateful souls are greatly concerned to see their instructors in trouble, and they bring forth their best prayers for their assistance. They do not merely pray for them, but they so closely and heartily sympathize that their prayers are "in their calamities," down in the dungeon with them. So true is Christian brotherhood that we are with our friends in sickness or persecution, suffering their griefs; so that our heart's prayer is in their sorrows. When we can give good men nothing more, let us give them our prayers, and let us do this doubly to those who have given us their rebukes.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me, etc. This verse is so obscure as to be almost unintelligible. According to the English versions, it expresses his willingness to be rebuked by good men for his benefit. But this sense is not only hard to be extracted from the words, but foreign from the context. Of the many contradictory interpretations which have been proposed the most probable is that which makes the sentence mean, that the sufferings endured by the good man, even at the hand of the wicked, are chastisements inflicted by a righteous God in justice and with mercy, and as such may be likened to a festive ointment, which the head of the sufferer should not refuse, as he will still have need of consolation and occasion to invoke God, in the midst of trials and of mischiefs yet to be experienced. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me, The word slh is seldom used in Scripture but to signify a severe stroke which shakes the subject smitten, and causeth it to tremble; see Pr 23:35 1 Samuel 14:16 Psalms 74:6; and it is used for the stroke of the hammer on the anvil in fashioning of the iron (Isaiah 41:7). Wherefore the word dsx following may be taken adverbially, as a lenitive of that severity which this word imports: "Let him smite me, but" leniter, benigne, misericorditer, "gently, kindly, friendly, mercifully": and so some translations read the words, "Let the righteous smite me friendly, or kindly." --John Owen.

Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness, etc. Grace will teach a Christian to take those potions which are wholesome, though they be not toothsome. Faithful reproof is a token of love, and therefore may well be esteemed a kindness. Such wounding of a friend is healing, and so David might well call it an excellent oil. And he did not only say so, which is easy and ordinary, but acted accordingly. He did not as the papists, who highly commend holy water, but turn away their faces when it comes to be sprinkled on them. When he had by sin, and continuance in it, so gangrened his flesh, and corrupted himself, that he was in danger of death, he suffered his sores to be thoroughly searched without regret. Nathan was the chirurgeon whom God employed to search that wound which had divers mouths for festering in his soul; and truly he did not dally with his patient, though he were a prince, but thrust his instrument to the bottom; yet whatever pain it put him to, he took it patiently, and was so far from being angry with the prophet, that he made him one of his privy council. It is a sign of a polluted nature for a man, like a serpent, if he be but touched, to gather poison, and vomit it up at the party. "Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee": Proverbs 9:8. --George Swinnock.

Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me, etc. If the righteous smite us by reproofs, it must be taken as a kindness, and as a precious balsam, which doth not break our head, but heal us. Not that we are bound to belie ourselves in compliance with every man's censorious humour that will accuse us; but we must be readier to censure ourselves than others, and readier to confess a fault than to expect a confession from others whom we reprove. Sincerity and serious repentance will be honourable in that person who is most careful to avoid sin, and most ready penitently to confess it when he hath been overcome, and truly thankful to those that call him to repentance; as being more desirous that God and his laws and religion should have the glory of their holiness, than that he himself should have the undue glory of innocency; and escape the deserved shame of his sin.

It is one of the most dangerous diseases of professors, and one of the greatest scandals of this age, that persons taken for eminently religious arc more impatient of plain, though just, reproof than many a drunkard, swearer, or fornicator; and when they have spent hours or days in the seeming earnest confession of their sin, and lament before God and man that they cannot do it with more grief and tears, yet they take it for a heinous injury in another that will say half so much against them, and take him for a malignant enemy of the godly who will call them as they call themselves. --Richard Baxter (1615-1691), in "The Morning Exercises."

Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me. If a righteous or a right wise man smite and reprove, he will do it,

Verse 5. The righteous, etc. The minister cannot be always preaching; two or three hours, may be, in a week, he spends among his people in the pulpit, holding the glass of the gospel before their faces; but the lives of professors, these preach all the week long: if they were but holy and exemplary, they would be as a repetition of the preacher's sermon to their families and neighbours among whom they converse, and keep the sound of his doctrine continually ringing in their ears. This would give Christians an amiable advantage in doing good to their carnal neighbours by counsel and reproof, which now is seldom done, and when done it proves to little purpose, because not backed with their own exemplary walking. "It behooves him", saith Tertullian, "that would counsel or reprove another, to guard his speech with the authority of his own conversation, lest, wanting that, what he says puts himself to the blush." We do not love one that hath a stinking breath to come very near us; such, therefore, had need have a sweet scented life.

Reproofs are a good physic, but they have an unpleasant reception; it is hard for men not to throw them back on the face of him that gives them. Now nothing is more powerful to keep a reproof from thus coming back than the holiness of the person that reproves. "Let the righteous smite me", saith David, "it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head." See how well it is taken from such a hand, from the authority that holiness carries with it. None but a vile wretch will smite a righteous man with reproach for smiting him with a reproof, if softly laid on, and like oil fermented, and wrought into him, as it should, with compassion and love to his soul! Thus we see how influential the power of holiness would be unto the wicked, neither would it be less upon our brethren and fellow Christians. Holy David professed he would take it as a kindness for the righteous man to smite him; yea, as kindly as if he broke a box of precious oil upon his head, which was amongst the Jews a high expression of love. --William Gurnall.

Verse 5. It shall be a kindness.

Verse 5. It shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head. Some persons pride themselves on being blunt, or, as they call it, "honest"; but very blunt people do little good to others, and get little love to themselves. The Scriptures recommend gentleness and kindness. Reproof should fall like the dew, and not like the rushing hailstorm. The "oil" insinuates itself; the stone wounds and then rebounds. Christians should take heed of getting fond of the work of "rebuking." Such "spiritual constables" do a great deal of mischief without intending it. They are in a church what a very witty and sarcastic person is in society, or what a tell tale is in a school; and approximate very closely to that class which the apostle terms "busy bodies in other men's matters." Our manner must be tender and winning. The nail of reproof, says an old writer, must be well oiled in kindness before it is driven home. Meddling with the faults of others is like attempting to move a person afflicted with the rheumatic gout: it must be done slowly and tenderly, nor must we be frightened by an out cry or two. The great thing is to show the person that you really love him; and if you manifest this in the sight of God, he will bless your efforts, and give you favour in the sight of an erring brother. --Christian Treasury.

Verse 5. It shall be an excellent oil. Certain oils are said to have a most salutary effect on the head; hence in fevers, or any other complaints which affect the head, the medical men always recommend oil. I have known people who were deranged, cured in a very short time by nothing more than the application of a peculiar kind of oil to the head. There are, however, other kinds which are believed, when thus applied, to produce delirium. Thus the reproofs of the righteous were compared to "excellent oil", which produced a most salutary effect on the head. So common is this practice of anointing the head, that all who can afford it do it every week.

But, strange as it may appear, the crown of their heads is the place selected for chastisement; thus owners of slaves, or husbands, or school masters, beat the heads of the offenders with their knuckles. Should all urchin come late to school, or forget his lesson, the pedagogue says to some of the other boys, "Go beat his head!" "Begone, fellow! or I will beat thy head." Should a man be thus chastised by an inferior, he quotes the old proverb: "If my head is to be beaten, let it be done with the fingers that have rings on"; meaning a man of rank. "Yes, yes; let a holy man smite my head! and what of that? it is an excellent oil." "My master has been beating my head, but it has been good oil for me." -- Joseph Roberts.

Verse 5. Oil, which shall not break my head. When I first took this text in hand, this seemed unto me a very strange and uncouth expression. If the Psalmist had said, It shall be a stone that shall not break my head, etc., we had easily understood him; but to speak of an oil, or a balm, which we know to be so soft, so supple, so lithe and gentle an ointment, that he should speak of breaking his head with oil, it is strange. I confess it troubled me a while, till at length I conceived it might be spoken by contraries; as when a physician gives a patient some pectoral, or cordial, and saith, Take this, it will not hurt you; his meaning is, it will help and do him good. So this oil shall not break my head; that is, it shall heal it, being broken by my own corruption, by Satan's temptations, and by the evil influence of such as flatter me in my sins. --John Gore.

Verse 5. If David could say of his enemy that cursed him, "Let him alone, for God hath bidden him to curse"; much more safely mayest thou say of thy friend that reproves thee, "Let him alone, for God hath bidden him to smite." And as the apostle saith of ministers, that God "doth entreat you by us"; so persuade yourselves that God doth reprove you by them. --John Gore.

Verse 5. It was the saying of a heat hell, though no heathenish saying, "That he who would be good, must either have a faithful friend to instruct him, or a watchful enemy to correct him." Should we murder a physician because he comes to cure us; or like him worse, because he would make us better? The flaming sword of reprehension is but to keep us from the forbidden fruit of transgression. "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head." Let him smite me as with a hammer, for so the word signifies. A Boanerges is as necessary as a Barnabas. --William Seeker.

Verse 5. Yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. That is, if ever they who are my reprovers fall into calamity, though they may think they provoked me so by reproving me, that they have lost my love, and have cast themselves out of my prayers, or that I will never speak well of them or for them again; yet I will pray for them with all my heart, as their matter shall require. I will pray for them when they have most need of prayer, even "in their calamities." Some heighten the sense thus, -- The more they sharpen their reproof, the more I think myself bound to pray for them. It shows an excellent spirit, not to be hindered from doing good to others by anything they do or speak against us, nor by their sharpest (though perhaps mistaken) reproofs of us. Thus it was that that good man Job "prayed for his friends", who had spoken much against him, and not only reproved him without cause, but reproached him without charity. --Joseph Caryl.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5. Rebukes of good men.

Verse 5. (last clause.) "Intercessory Prayer." See" Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1,049.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. This is a verse of which the meaning seems far to seek. Does it refer to the righteous among the Israelites? We think so. David surely means that when their leaders fell never to rise again, they would then turn to him and take delight in listening to his voice. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet. And so they did: the death of Saul made all the best of the nation look to the son of Jesse as the Lord's anointed; his words became sweet to them. Many of those good men who had spoken severely of David's quitting his country, and going over to the Philistines, were nevertheless dear to his heart for their fidelity, and to them he returned nothing but good will, loving prayers, and sweet speeches, knowing that by and by they would overlook his faults, and select him to be their leader. They smote him when he erred, but they recognized his excellences. He, on his part, bore no resentment, but loved them for their honesty. He would pray for them when their land lay bleeding at the feet of their foreign enemies; he would come to their rescue when their former leaders were slain; and his words of courageous hopefulness would be sweet in their ears. This seems to me to be a good sense, consistent with the context. At the same time, other and more laboured interpretations have their learned admirers, and to these we will refer in our notes from other authors.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. When their judges are overthrown, etc. When the judgments in reserve for the leaders of my enemies shall come upon them, they will perceive too late how reasonable are my words, and wish that they had hearkened to them sooner. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 6. Overthrown. The verb rendered "overthrown" is used of Jezebel in 2 Kings 9:33; "Throw her down. So they threw her down." --Speaker's Commentary.

Verse 6. They shall hear my words; for they are sweet. This is especially true of all the words which David spake by inspiration, or the Spirit of God spake to him; articulately in his book of Psalms; concerning the Messiah, the covenant of grace, and the blessings of it; of the rich experiences of grace he had, and the several doctrines of the gospel declared by him; which were sweet, delightful, and entertaining to those who have ears to hear such things; or whose ears are opened to hear them, so as to understand them and distinguish them, but to others not. --John Gill.

Verse 6. They shall hear my words; for they are sweet. Those that slighted the word of God before, will relish it and be glad of it when they are in affliction; for that opens the ear to instruction. When the world is bitter the word is sweet. Oppressed innocency cannot gain a hearing with those that live in pomp and pleasure; but when they come to be overthrown themselves, they will have more compassionate thoughts of the afflicted. -- Matthew Henry.

Verse 6. For they are sweet. They shall be pleasant; mild; gentle; equitable; just. After the hash and severe enactments of Saul, after enduring his acts of tyranny, the people will be glad to welcome me, and to live under the laws of a just and equal administration. The passage, therefore, expresses confidence that Saul and his hosts would be overthrown, and that the people of the land would gladly hail the accession to the throne of one who had been anointed to reign over them. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 6-7. The mild and dutiful behaviour of David towards Saul and his friends are set together by way of contrast, in the strongest light, from the instances of each sort here produced. The first is, David's humanity towards Saul, in giving him his life at two several times, when he had it in his power to destroy him as he pleased. "Their judges have been dismissed in the rocky places; and have heard my words that they are sweet"; that is, "Their princes have been dismissed in safety, when I had them at an advantage in those rocky deserts; and only heard me expostulate with them in the gentlest words."

The other is, Saul's barbarity and cruelty towards David (or his friends, which is much the same) in the horrid massacre of Ahimelech and the priests, by the hand of Doeg the Edomite, done in such a savage manner, that he compares it to the chopping and cleaving wood; "Like as when one cutteth and cleaveth, so have our bones been scattered on the earth at the command of Saul"; for so I read the Hebrew words, le-pi Saul, at the mouth, that is, the command of Saul.

Should we suppose this passage to refer to the first time of David's sparing Saul, viz., when he had him in his power in the cave of Engedi (here called jede selay), the sides of the rock, or the rocky places, the speech he made on this occasion when he called after Saul (and which is recorded in 1 Samuel 24:8-16.) might well be called sweet or pleasant words. For they set his own innocence and the king's unjust behaviour to him in so strong a light, and with all that gentleness and mildness, and even this hard hearted prince could not forbear being greatly affected with it for the present; and we are told (1 Samuel 24:16-17) that "he lifted up his voice and wept." --Charles Peters.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 6.

Verse 6. A Desert Oasis.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. David's case seemed hopeless: the cause of God in Israel was as a dead thing, even as a skeleton broken, and rotten, and shovelled out of the grave, to return as dust to its dust. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth. There seemed to be no life, no cohesion, no form, order, or headship among the godly party in Israel: Saul had demolished it, and scattered all its parts, so that it did not exist as an organized whole. David himself was like one of these dried bones, and the rest of the godly were in much the same condition. There seemed to be no vitality or union among the holy seed; but their cause lay at death's door. As when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth. They were like wood divided and thrown apart: not as one piece of timber, nor even as a bundle, but all cut to pieces, and thoroughly divided. Leaving out the word "wood", which is supplied by the translators, the figure relates to cleaving upon the earth, which probably means ploughing, but may signify any other form of chopping and splitting, such as felling a forest, tearing up bushes, or otherwise causing confusion and division. How often have good men thought thus of the cause of God! Wherever they have looked, death, division, and destruction have stared them in the face. Cut and cloven, hopelessly sundered! Scattered, yea, scattered at the grave's mouth! Split up and split for the fire! Such the cause of God and truth has seemed to be. "Upon the earth" the prospect was wretched; the field of the church was ploughed, burrowed, and scarified: it had become like a wood chopper's yard, where everything was doomed to be broken up. We have seen churches in such a state, and have been heart broken. What a mercy that there is always a place above the earth to which we can look! There lives One who will give a resurrection to his cause, and a reunion to his divided people. He will bring up the dead bones from the grave's mouth, and make the dried faggots live again. Let us imitate the Psalmist in the next verse, and look up to the living God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, etc. The primary reference may be to the slaughter of the priests by the command of Saul, 1 Samuel 22:16-19. The language, however, may be illustrative of the many massacres like that on the eve of St. Bartholomew, so numerous as to be scattered on the face of the earth, marking the passage of pious martyrs from this world to a better, and testifying where the blood of the slain shall be disclosed for the judgment of their murderers. --W. Wilson.

Verse 7. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, etc. Assuming the very extreme, it is a look of hope into the future: should his bones and the bones of his followers be even scattered about the mouth of Sheol (cf. the Syrian picture of Sheol: "the dust upon its threshold, `al-escufteh", Deutsche Morgenland. Zeit-schrift, 20. 513), their soul below, their bones above -- it would nevertheless be only as when one in ploughing cleaves the earth; i.e., they do not lie there in order that they may continue lying, but that they may rise up anew, as the seed that is sown sprouts up out of the upturned earth. --Franz Delitzsch.

Verse 7. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth. That is to say, I and my company are in a dying condition, free among the dead; yea, if taken we should be put to most cruel deaths, hewn in pieces, or pulled limbmeal, and left unburied; and our dead bodies mangled by a barbarous inhumanity, as wood cleavers make the shivers fly hither and thither. This is the perilous case of me and my partisans. --John Trapp.

Verse 7. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth. This seems to be strong eastern painting, and almost figurative language; but that it may be strictly true, the following extract demonstrates: "At five o'clock we left Garigana, our journey being still to the eastward of north; and, at a quarter past six in the evening, arrived at the village of that name, whose inhabitants had all perished with hunger the year before; their wretched bones being all unburied, and scattered upon the surface of the ground, where the village formerly stood. We encamped among the bones of the dead, as no space could be found free from them; and on the 23rd, at six in the morning, full of horror at this miserable spectacle, we set out for Teawa." -- (James Bruce's Travels.) To the Jews such a spectacle must have been very dreadful, as the want of burial was esteemed one of the greatest calamities which could befall them. --Burder's "Oriental Customs."

Verse 7. Like one ploughing and cleaving in the earth. This clause may be explained not of cleaving wood but ploughing, to which the first verb is applied in Arabic. Like (one) ploughing and cleaving (making furrows) in the earth, not for the sake of mangling its surface, but to make it fruitful and productive, (so) our bones are scattered at the mouth of hell as the necessary means of a glorious resurrection. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 7. Who can attend the digging of a grave, and view the ruins then disclosed, without exclaiming, Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth? --George Horne.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7-8. A cemetery scene.

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord. He looked upward and kept his eyes fixed there. He regarded duty more than circumstances; he considered the promise rather than the external providence; and he expected from God rather than from men. He did not shut his eyes in indifference or despair, neither did he turn them to the creature in vain confidence, but he gave his eyes to his God, and saw nothing to fear. Jehovah his Lord is also his hope. Thomas called Jesus Lord and God, and David here speaks of his God and Lord. Saints delight to dwell upon the divine names when they are adoring or appealing. In thee is my trust. Not alone in thine attributes or in thy promises, but in thyself. Others might confide where they chose, but David kept to his God: in him he trusted always, only, confidently, and unreservedly. Leave not my soul destitute; as it would be if the Lord did not remember and fulfil his promise. To be destitute in circumstances is bad, but to be destitute in soul is far worse; to be left of friends is a calamity, but to be left of God would be destruction. Destitute of God is destitution with a vengeance. The comfort is that God hath said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. Mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord. If you would keep your mind fixed in prayer, keep your eye fixed. Much vanity comes in at the eye. When the eyes wander in prayer, the heart wanders. To think to keep the heart fixed in prayer, and yet let the eyes gaze abroad, is as if one should think to keep his house sate, yet let the windows be open. --Thomas Watson.

Verse 8. Leave not my soul destitute. The literal Hebrew is, Pour not out my soul, but keep it in thy cup of salvation. --Agellius. Compare Isa 53:12: "He hath poured out his soul unto death."]

Verse 8. Leave not my soul destitute, or, "Cast not out my soul." That is, cast not my life away, as water, which is of no account, is cast out of a vessel containing it. -- Daniel Cresswell.

Verse 8. Leave not my soul destitute. His soul knew what it was to be "destitute"; he had known the misery of spiritual beggary and soul poverty. It was not with him as natural poverty is with the rich, a matter of speculation, a mere matter of theory; but a matter of personal and painful experience ... It is in the margin "Make not my soul bare", Strip me not of every hope; leave me not completely naked; abandon me not to nature's beggary and misery; let me not go down into the pit with all my sins upon my head; leave not my soul destitute of pardon and peace. --Joseph C. Philpot.

Verse 8-10. -- O pour not out my soul, I pray,

From the dark snare preserve my way, The chambers of the blind entangling net, Which by my path the powers of evil set.

Behold them hid, the godless crew, Low in the toils they darkly drew: The while, with gathering heart and watchful eye I wait mine hour to pass victorious by. --John Keble.

EXPOSITION

Verse 9. Keep me from, the snares which they have laid for me. He had before asked, in Psalms 141:3, that the door of his mouth might be kept; but his prayer now grows into "Keep me." He seems more in trouble about covert temptation than concerning open attacks. Brave men do not dread battle, but they hate secret plots. We cannot endure to be entrapped like unsuspecting animals; therefore we cry to the God of wisdom for protection. And the gins of the workers of iniquity. These evil workers sought to catch David in his speech or acts. This was in itself a piece of in equity, and so of a piece with the rest of their conduct. They were bad themselves, and they wished either to make him like themselves, or to cause him to seem so. If they could not catch the good man in one way, they would try another; snares and gins should be multiplied, for anyhow they were determined to work his ruin. Nobody could preserve David but the Omniscient and Omnipotent One: he also will preserve us. It is hard to keep out of snares which you cannot see, and to escape gins which you cannot discover. Well might the much hunted Psalmist cry, "Keep me."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 9-10. Snares, Gins, Nets. The usual method of capturing or killing the lion in Palestine was by pitfalls or nets, to both of which there are many references in the Scriptures. The mode of hunting the lion with nets was identical with that which is practised in India at the present time. The precise locality of the lion's dwelling place having been discovered, a circular wall of net is arranged round it, or if only a few nets can be obtained, they are set in a curved form, the concave side being towards the lion. They then send dogs into the thicket, hurl stones and sticks at the den, shoot arrows into it, fling burning torches at it, and so irritate and alarm the animal that it rushes against the net, which is so made that it falls down and envelops the animal in its folds. If the nets be few, the drivers go to the opposite side of the den, and induce the lion to escape in the direction where he sees no foes, but where he is sure to run against the treacherous net. Other large and dangerous animals were also captured by the same means. Another and more common, because an easier and a cheaper method, was, by digging a deep pit, covering the mouth with a slight covering of sticks and earth, and driving the animal upon the treacherous covering. It is an easier method than the net, because after the pit is once dug, the only trouble lies in throwing the covering over its mouth. But it is not so well adapted for taking beasts alive, as they are likely to be damaged, either by the fall into the pit, or by the means used in getting them out again. Animals, therefore, that are caught in pits are generally, though not always, killed before they are taken out. The net, however, envelops the animal so perfectly, and renders it so helpless, that it can be easily bound and taken away. The hunting net is very expensive, and requires a large staff of men to work it, so that none but a rich man could use the net in hunting.

Besides the net, several other modes of bird catching were used by the ancient Jews, just as is the case at the present day. Boys, for example, who catch birds for their own consumption, and not for the market, can do so by means of various traps, most of which are made on the principle of the noose, or snare. Sometimes a great number of hair nooses are set in places to which the birds are decoyed, so that in hopping about, many of them are sure to be entangled in the snares. Sometimes the noose is ingeniously suspended in a narrow passage which the birds are likely to traverse, and sometimes a simple fall trap is employed. --J. G. Wood.

EXPOSITION

Verse 10. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape. It may not be a Christian prayer, but it is a very just one, and it takes a great deal of grace to refrain from crying Amen to it; in fact, grace does not work towards making us wish otherwise concerning the enemies of holy men. Do we not all wish the innocent to be delivered, and the guilty to reap the result of their own malice? Of course we do, if we are just men. There can be no wrong in desiring that to happen in our own case which we wish for all good men. Yet is there a more excellent way.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 10. Into their own nets. The word rendered "nets" occurs only in this place, as the closely corresponding word in Psalms 140:10, which is rendered "deep pits", occurs there only. --Speaker's Commentary.

Psalms 142

Psalm 142.

Title. Maschil of David. This Maschil is written for our instruction. It teaches us principally by example how to order our prayer in times of distress. Such instruction is among the most needful, practical, and effectual parts of our spiritual education. He who has learned how to pray has been taught the most useful of the arts and sciences. The disciples said unto the Son of David, "Lord, teach, us to pray"; and here David gives us a valuable lesson by recording his own experience as to supplication from beneath a cloud.

A Prayer when he was in the cave. He was in one of his many lurking places, either Engedi, Adullam, or some other lone cavern wherein he could conceal himself from Saul and his blood hounds. Caves make good closets for prayer; their gloom and solitude are helpful to the exercise of devotion. Had David prayed as much in his palace as he did in his cave, he might never have fallen into the act which brought such misery upon his later days.

Subject. There can be little doubt that this song dates from the days when Saul was sorely persecuting David, and David himself was in soul trouble, probably produced by that weakness of faith which led him to associate with heathen princes. His fortunes were evidently at their lowest, and, what was worse, his repute had fearfully fallen; yet he displayed a true faith in God, to whom he made known his pressing sorrows. The gloom of the cave is over the psalm, and yet as if standing at the mouth of it the prophet poet sees a bright light a little beyond.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. I cried unto the LORD with my voice. It was a cry of such anguish that he remembers it long after, and makes a record of it. In the loneliness of the cave he could use his voice as much as he pleased; and therefore he made its gloomy vaults echo with his appeals to heaven. When there was no soul in the cavern seeking his blood, David with all his soul was engaged in seeking his God. He felt it a relief to his heart to use his voice in his pleadings with Jehovah. There was a voice in his prayer when he used his voice for prayer: it was not vox et praeterea nihil. It was a prayer vivo corde as well as vivâ voce.

With my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. He dwells upon the fact that he spoke aloud in prayer; it was evidently well impressed upon his memory, hence he doubles the word and says, "with my voice; with my voice." It is well when our supplications are such that we find pleasure in looking back upon them. He that is cheered by the memory of his prayers will pray again. See how the good man's appeal was to Jehovah only: he did not go round about to men, but he ran straight forward to Jehovah, his God. What true wisdom is here! Consider how the Psalmist's prayer grew into shape as he proceeded with it. Its first poured out his natural longings, -- "I cried"; and then he gathered up all his wits and arranged his thoughts, -- "I made supplication." True prayers may differ in their diction, but not in their direction: an impromptu cry and a preconceived supplication must alike ascend towards the one prayer hearing God, and he will accept each of them with equal readiness. The intense personality of the prayer is noteworthy: no doubt the Psalmist was glad of the prayers of others, but he was not content to be silent himself. See how everything is in the first person, -- "I cried with my voice; with my voice did I make my supplication." It is good to pray in the plural -- "Our Father", but in times of trouble we shall feel forced to change our note into "Let this cup pass from me."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Title. He calls this prayer Maschil, "a psalm of instruction", because of the good lessons he had himself learned in the cave, learned on his knees, and so learned that he desired to teach others. --Matthew Henry.

Title. A prayer when he was in the cave. Every part of this psalm shows the propriety of its inscription or title. He expressly mentions his being in a place where he was entirely shut up, where he saw no possible method of escaping, as having no friends that dared to own him and appear for his deliverance, and when every one seemed to desert him, and to have abandoned all care of his safety and life. This he pathetically describes, and in such terms as cannot fail to move the tender affections of every one who considers them. On the first sense of his danger, shut up in a cave, surrounded by three thousand chosen soldiers, closely observed by a watchful enemy who would spare no art or pains to apprehend him, he seems almost to have despaired of himself, and declares that his spirit is quite overwhelmed with the greatness of his distress. At length, recollecting his principles, and the promises that God had made him, he earnestly supplicates the protection of God, and assures himself that he should yet praise God for his deliverance, and that good men should share his joy, and encompass the altar of God with thanksgiving for the mercy that he had shown him. --Samuel Chandler.

Title. "The cave." Leaving our horses in charge of some Arabs, and taking one for our guide, we started for the cave now known as Mughâret Khureitûn, which is believed to be the cave Adullam, having a fearful gorge below, gigantic cliffs above, and the path winding along a narrow shelf of the rock. At length, from a great rock hanging on the edge of the shelf, we entered by a long leap a low window which opened into the perpendicular face of the cliff. We were then within the traditional hold of David, and, creeping half doubled through a narrow crevice for a few rods, we stood beneath the dark vault of the first grand chamber of this mysterious and oppressive cavern, 1 Samuel 22:1-2 2 Samuel 23:13-17. Our whole collection of lights did little more than make the damp darkness visible. After groping about as long as we had time to spare, we returned to the light of day, fully convinced that, with David and his lion hearted followers inside, all the strength of Israel under Saul could not have forced an entrance -- would not have even attempted it. --William M. Thompson.

Verse 1. I cried unto the LORD. Thou hast posted me over to no deputy for the hearing of my prayer, neither dost thou require that I should bring a spokesman for the presenting of it; but thou hast commanded me to come myself, and to come to thee thyself. --Sir Richard Baker on the Lord's Prayer.

Verse 1. With my voice. The Lord needs not the tongue to be an interpreter between him and the hearts of his children. He that hears without ears can interpret prayers though not uttered by the tongue. Our desires are cries in the ears of the Lord of hosts. The vehemency of the affections may sometimes cause the outcrying of the voice; but alas! Without this it is but a tinkling cymbal ... There is a use of words in prayer, to excite, and convey, and give vent to, affection: Hosea 14:2, "Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously." The prophet doth not only prescribe that they should take affections, but take with them words. -- Thomas Manton.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1.

Verse 1-2.

--G.R. EXPOSITION Verse 2 . I poured out my complaint before him. His inward meditation filled his soul: the bitter water rose up to the brim; what was to be done? He must pour out the wormwood and the gall, he could not keep it in; he lets it run away as best it can, that so his heart may be emptied of the fermenting mixture. But he took care where he outpoured his complaint, lest he should do mischief, or receive an ill return. If he poured it out before man he might only receive contempt from the proud, hardheartedness from the careless, or pretended sympathy from the false; and therefore he resolved upon an outpouring before God alone, since he would pity and relieve. The word is Scarcely "complaint"; but even if it be so we may learn from this text that our complaint must never be of a kind that we dare not bring before God. We may complain to God, but not of God. When we complain it should not be before men, but before God alone. I shewed before him my trouble. He exhibited his griefs to one who could assuage them: he did not fall into the mistaken plan of so many who publish their sorrows to those who cannot help them. This verse is parallel with the first; David first pours out his complaint, letting it flow forth in a natural, spontaneous manner, and then afterwards he makes a more elaborate show of his affliction; just as in the former verse ( Psalms 141:1-10 ) he began with crying, and went on to "make supplication." Praying men pray better as they proceed. Note that we do not show our trouble before the Lord that he may see it, but that we may see him. It is for our relief, and not for his information that we make plain statements concerning our woes: it does us much good to set out our sorrow in order, for much of it vanishes in the process, like a ghost which will not abide the light of day; and the rest loses much of its terror, because the veil of mystery is removed by a clear and deliberate stating of the trying facts. Pour out your thoughts and you will see what they are; show your trouble and the extent of it will be known to you: let all be done before the Lord, for in comparison with his great majesty of love the trouble will seem to be as nothing. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 2 . I poured out my complaint before him . Literally, my meditation; that is -- what so much occupied my thoughts at the time I expressed aloud. The word "complaint" does not express the idea. The meaning is, not that he complained of God or of man; but that his mind meditated on his condition. -- Albert Barnes. Verse 2 . I poured out , etc. I did it fully, and fervently, and confidently. -- Matthew Henry. Verse 2 . Poured out ... before him. Those words teach us that in prayer we should not try to keep anything back from God, but should show him all that is in our hearts, and that in his presence in our closet, with the door shut, but not before men. The Carmelite adds that there is much force in the words with my voice, twice repeated (as in Heb., A.V. Vulgate, etc.) to show us that we ought to pray to God directly for ourselves, and in person, and not be contented with an Ora pro me addressed to some one else. -- Cassiodorus and Ayguan, in Neale and Littledale. Verse 2 . I shewed before him my trouble . Be very particular in secret prayer, both as to sins, wants, and mercies ... Be not ashamed to open out all thy necessities. David argues because he is "poor and needy"; four several times he presses his wants and exigencies before God, like an earnest but holy beggar ( Psalms 40:17 70:5 86:1 109:22). He "shewed before him" his trouble. He presents "before" God his ragged condition, and spreads open his secret wounds; as Job said, he "would order" his "cause before him": Job 23:4 ... Before God we may speak out our minds fully, and name the persons that afflict, affront, and trouble us; and woe to them that a child of God upon a mature judgment names in prayer! I find not that such a prayer in Scripture ever returned empty ... A great reason why we reap so little benefit in prayer is, because we rest too much in generals; and if we have success, it is but dark, so that often we cannot tell what to make of the issues of prayer. Besides, to be particular in our petitions would keep the spirit much from wandering when we are intent upon a weighty case, and the progress of the soul in grace would manifest its gradual success in prayer. -- Samuel Lee (1625-1691), in "The Morning Exercises." Verse 2 . The committing of our cause to God is at once our duty , our safety, and our ease. - -Abraham Wright. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 2 . The true place for prayer -- "before him." The freedom of prayer -- "poured out." The unveiling of the heart in prayer -- "shewed before him my trouble."

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. The bravest spirit is sometimes sorely put to it. A heavy fog settles down upon the mind, and the man seems drowned and smothered in it; covered with a cloud, crushed with a load, confused with difficulties, conquered by impossibilities. David was a hero, and yet his spirit sank: he could smite a giant down, but he could not keep himself up. He did not know his own path, nor feel able to bear his own burden. Observe his comfort: he looked away from his own condition to the ever observant, all knowing God: and solaced himself with the fact that all was known to his heavenly Friend. Truly it is well for us to know that God knows what we do not know. We lose our heads, but God never closes his eyes: our judgments lose their balance, but the eternal mind is always clear.

In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. This the Lord knew at the time, and gave his servant warning of it. Looking back, the sweet singer is rejoiced that he had so gracious a Guardian, who kept him from unseen dangers. Nothing is hidden from God; no secret snare can hurt the man who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, for he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The use of concealed traps is disgraceful to our enemies, but they care little to what tricks they resort for their evil purposes. Wicked men must find some exercise for their malice, and therefore when they dare not openly assail they will privately ensnare. They watch the gracious man to see where his haunt is, and there they set their trap; but they do it with great caution, avoiding all observation, lest their victim being forewarned should escape their toils. This is a great trial, but the Lord is greater still, and makes us to walk safely in the midst of danger, for he knows us and our enemies, our way and the snare which is laid in it. Blessed be his name.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me. "When even my spirit (the higher faculty) is wrapped in darkness upon me" that is, when even my spirit (ruach), which ought to elevate my soul (nephesh) falls heavily upon me, as in a swoon. "When heavy, like a veil of woe,

My spirit on me lay."

What is here said of the spirit, is oftener predicted of the soul, the seat of the passions. See Psalms 42:6 43:5 131:2. The dejection of the spirit represents a still more sorrowful and downcast condition, than the fainting of the soul. See Ps 143:3-4, and compare our Lord's words, "My soul is troubled" (John 12:27) with the Evangelist's statement, "Jesus was troubled in spirit" (John 13:21 11:33). -- Christopher Wordsworth.

Verse 3. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me. Literally, in the muffling upon me of my spirit. When my spirit was so wrapped in trouble and gloom, so "muffled round with woe", that I could not see the path before me, was distracted and unable to choose a line of conduct, Thou (emphatic) knewest my path. --A.S. Aglen, in "An Old Testament Commentary for English" Readers, 1884.

Verse 3. I wish you much comfort from David's thought: When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. The Lord is not withdrawn to a great distance, but his eye is upon you. He sees you not with the indifference of a mere spectator; but he observes with attention, he knows, he consider's your path: yea, he appoints it, and every circumstance about it is under his direction. Your trouble began at the hour he saw best, it could not come before; and he has marked the degree of it to a hair's breadth, and its duration to a minute. He knows likewise how your spirit is affected; and such supplies of grace and strength, and in such seasons as he sees needful, he will afford in due season. So that when things appear darkest, you shall still be able to say, Though chastened, not killed. Therefore hope in God, for you shall yet praise him. -- John Newton (1725-1807), in "Cardiphonia."

Verse 3. Thou knewest. From human eyes 'tis better to conceal

Much that I suffer, much I hourly feel;

But, oh, this thought can tranquillize and heal,

All, all is known to thee.

Nay, all by thee is ordered, chosen, planned,

Each drop that fills my daily cup, thy hand

Prescribes for ills, none else can understand,

All, all is known to thee. --Charlotte Elliott.

Verse 3. Although we as Christians possess the full solution of the problem of suffering, yet we frequently find ourselves in the position of Job, in regard to this or that particular affliction. There are sorrows so far reaching, so universal; there are losses so absolute, and blows so terrible and inexplicable, that it seems for a time as if we were wrapped in thickest gloom, and as if the secret of the Lord had not been revealed. Why was this man stricken, and that man spared? Why was such and such a being, in whom so many hopes centred, or who had already realised so many pleasant expectations, why was he withdrawn? Why was that other person left, a useless encumbrance to earth? Why was that voice, which found echo in so many hearts, suddenly silenced? Why have I been smitten? Why have I lost that which rendered my moral life beautiful and useful? Oftentimes the soul seems lost for awhile in thoughts which overwhelm it, it loses its foothold, it tumbles about helplessly amid the deep waters of affliction. It seems as if all were over. Do not believe it. Remember Job; you cannot go to greater lengths of despair than he, and yet God had pity on him. There is much comfort for you in this example of indescribable suffering, exasperated to the highest degree, and yet pardoned and consoled. Cling to the memory of this blessed fact as to a cable of deliverance, a board or a plank amidst the shipwreck. And then remember that affliction forms part of God's plan, and that he also asks you to manifest ready and absolute confidence in him. --E. De Pressense, D.D., in "The Mystery of Suffering", 1869.

Verse 3. They have privily laid a snare for me. Snares on the right hand, and snares on the left: snares on the right hand, worldly prosperity; snares on the left hand, worldly adversity; snares on the right hand, flattery; snares on the left hand, alarm. Do thou walk in the midst of the snares: depart not from the way: let neither flattery ensnare thee, nor alarm drive thee off it. --Augustine.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 3. (first clause).

Verse 3. (latter clause). Temptations.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me. He did not miss a friend for want of looking for him, nor for want of looking in a likely place. Surely some helper would be found in the place of honour; some one would stand at his right hand to undertake his defence. He looked steadily, and saw all that could be seen, for he "beheld"; but his anxious gaze was not met by an answering smile. Strange to say, all were strange to David. He had known many, but none would know him. When a person is in ill odour it is wonderful how weak the memories of his former friends become: they quite forget, they refuse to know. This is a dire calamity. It is better to be opposed by foes than to be forsaken by friends, When friends look for us they affect to have known us from our birth, but when we look for friends it is wonderful how little we can make them remember: the fact is that in times of desertion it is not true that no man did know us, but no man would know us. Their ignorance is wilful.

Refuge failed me. Where in happier days I found a ready harbour I now discovered none at all. My place of flight had taken to flight. My refuge gave me a refusal.

No man cared for my soul. Whether I lived or died was no concern of anybody's. I was cast out as an outcast. No soul cared for my soul. I dwelt in No man's land, where none cared to have me, and none cared about me. This is an ill plight -- no place where to lay our head, and no head willing to find us a place. How pleased were his enemies to see the friend of God without a friend! How sad was he to be utterly deserted in his utmost need! Can we not picture David in the cave, complaining that even the cave was not a refuge for him, for Saul had come even there? Hopeless was his looking out, we shall soon see him looking up.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. I looked on my right hand, and beheld. The first two verbs must be translated as imperatives, as in the margin of the English Bible. ("Look on the right hand, and see.") The right hand is mentioned as the post of a protector. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 4. Looked on my right hand. The allusion here, it is supposed, is to the observance of the ancient Jewish courts of judicature, in which the advocate, as well as the accuser, stood on the right hand of the accused (Psalms 110:5). The Psalmist felt himself in the condition of one who had nobody to plead his cause, and to protect him in the dangerous circumstances in which he was placed. --James Anderson's Note to Calvin in loc.

Verse 4. There was no man that would know me. The fact that David, although surrounded by a band of loyal subjects, confesses to having no true friend, is to be understood similarly to the language of Paul when he says in Philippians 2:20: "I have no man like minded." All human love, since sin has taken possession of humanity, is more or less selfish, and all fellowship of faith and of love imperfect; and there are circumstances in life in which these dark sides make themselves felt overpoweringly, so that a man seems to himself to be perfectly isolated, and turns all the more urgently to God, who alone is able to supply the soul's want of some object to love, whose love is absolutely unselfish, and unchangeable, and unclouded, to whom the soul can confide without reserve whatever burdens it, and who not only honestly desires its good, but is able also to compass it in spite of every obstacle. Surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies, and misunderstood, or at least not thoroughly understood by his friends, David feels himself broken off from all created beings. --Franz Delitzsch.

Verse 4. There was no man that would know me. Teacheth us of what little estimation God's children be, with the world and worldly men. --Thomas Wilcocks.

Verse 4. There was no man that would know me. Persecution from the side of our enemies presses sorely, but abandonment by our friends, who should have stood by one's side as helpers and defenders, presses more sorely still. --Taube, in Lange's Commentary.

Verse 4. Observe the beautiful opposition between "Thou knewest" (Psalms 142:3) and "no man would know me." Refuge failed me, -- literally "perished" from me (Jeremiah 25:35 Amos 2:14). But "thou hast been my refuge in the day of my trouble"; Ps 59:16. --Andrew Robert Fausset.

Verse 4-5. Refuge failed me ... Thou art my refuge. Travellers tell us that they who are at the top of the Alps can see great showers of rain fall under them, but not one drop of it falls on them. They who have God for their portion are in a high tower, and thereby safe from all troubles and showers. A drift rain of evil will beat in at the creature's windows, be they never so well pointed; all the garments this world can make up cannot keep them that travel in such weather from being wet to the skin. No creature is able to bear the weight of its fellow creature; but as reeds, they break under the pressure, and as thorns, they run into the sides of those who lean on them. The bow drawn beyond its compass breaks in sunder, and the string wound above its strength snaps in pieces. Such are outward helps to all that trust to them in hardships. --George Swinnock.

Verse 4-5. Refuge failed me ... Thou art my refuge. Are there any among us to whom the world's face is quite changed, and the brooks of comfort in it are dried up, and they are so tossed, chased, and harassed in it that they have forgotten their resting place? Are any of you "become a stranger unto your brethren and an alien unto your mother's children"? Ps 69:8. Is it grown such a strange world, that even "your own familiar friend, in whom you trusted, which did eat of your bread, hath lifted up his heel against you"? (Psalms 41:9); and that wherever you turn yourselves in it, to find rest and refuge, the door is shut in your face? Here is a refuge for you; here is one open door; come in, thou blessed of the Lord: "the Lord gathereth the outcasts of Israel" Psalms 147:2. It seems the Lord minds to have you in: he is doing with you as a father with a stubborn son who ran away from his father's house, thinking to shift for himself among his friends, and not come back: the father sends peremptory word through them all, saying, "In whoever's house my son is skulking, presently turn him out of doors, and let none of you take him in; and if he come to you give him not one night's lodging, nay, let him not eat in your house." Wherefore is all this but just to get him back again to his father's house? --Thomas Boston, 1676-1732.

Verse 4-5. When all slighted him, when none took care of him; what doth David in this case? The words in Psalms 142:5 tell us what. I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. As if he had said, Upon these unkindnesses, disrespects, and slightings which I found in the world, I took occasion, yea, I was stirred in my spirit to cry unto thee, O Lord, and to say, "Thou art my refuge", that is, then I made thee my refuge more than ever. Having made thee my choice in my best times, when men honoured and embraced me, I am much encouraged in these evil times when men regard me not to shelter my weather beaten self in thy name and power. When we have most friends in the world, then God is our best friend, but when the world hates us, and frowns upon us, especially when (as the prophet speaks of some, Isaiah 66:5) "our brethren hate us, and cast us out for the name's sake of God himself", saying, "Let the Lord be glorified", when 'tis thus with us (I say) our souls are even forced into the presence of God, to renew our interests in his love, and to assure our souls that we are accepted with him. --Joseph Caryl.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4. (last clause). The soul considered of no value.

c) If you neglect family prayer, or observe it as a mere form. d) If you do not regularly go to prayer meetings.

Remark: The great responsibility resting upon every Christian.

--Jacob Knapp, in "The Homiletic Monthly", 1882.

Verse 4. (last clause). The burden of souls.

--W.W. Wythe, in "The Pulpit Analyst", 1870.

Verse 4-5.

--G.R.

Verse 4-5.

b) God stands in a most near relation to the saints, and condescends to sustain many endearing characters of love, which he fulfils to their advantage.

c) The saints, through the power of God's grace upon their souls, have chosen him for their portion, and their highest felicity.

--John Farmer, 1744.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. I cried unto thee, O Lord. As man would not regard him, David was driven to Jehovah, his God. Was not this a gain made out of a loss? Wealth gained by a failure? Anything which leads us to cry unto God is a blessing to us. This is the second time that in this short psalm we find the same record, "I cried unto thee, O LORD": the saintly man is evidently glad to remember his cry and its results. We hear often of the bitter cry of outcast London, here is another bitter cry, and it comes from an outcast, in wretched lodgings, forgotten by those who should have helped him.

I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. There is a sort of progressive repetition all through this sacred song; he cried first, but he said afterwards: his cry was bitter, but his saying was sweet; his cry was sharp and short, but his saying was fresh and full. It gives a believer great pleasure to remember his own believing speeches: he may well desire to bury his unbelieving murmurings in oblivion, but the triumphs of grace in working in him a living faith, he will not dream of forgetting. What a grand confession of faith was this! David spoke to God, and of God "Thou art my refuge." Not thou hast provided me a refuge, but thou, thyself, art my refuge. He fled to God alone; he hid himself beneath the wings of the Eternal. He not only believed this, but said it, and practised it. Nor was this all; for David, when banished from his portion in the promised land, and cut off from the portion of goods which he by right inherited, found his portion in God, yea, God was his portion. This was so not only in reference to a future state, but here among living men. It is sometimes easier to believe in a portion in heaven than in a portion upon earth: we could die more easily than live, at least we think so. But there is no living in the land of the living like living upon the living God. For the man of God to say these precious things in the hour of his dire distress was a grand attainment. It is easy to prate bravely when we dwell at ease, but to speak confidently in affliction is quite another matter.

Even in this one sentence we have two parts, the second rising far above the first. It is something to have Jehovah for our refuge, but it is everything to have him for our portion. If David had not cried he would not have said; and if the Lord had not been his refuge he would never have been his portion. The lower step is as needful as the higher; but it is not necessary always to stop on the first round of the ladder.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. I have cried unto thee, Jehovah, I have said, etc. I have cried and still cry; I have said and still say. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 5. I said. This imports,

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5. The soul choosing God.

--W.B.H.

Verse 5. "How we may bring our Hearts to bear Reproofs." See John Owen's Sermon in "The Morning Exercises", vol. 2, page 600, etc.; and in his "Works", vol. 16, p. 23, etc. EXPOSITION Verse 6 . Attend unto my cry. Men of God look upon prayer as a reality, and they are not content without having an audience with God; moreover, they have such confidence in the Lord's condescending grace, that they hope he will even attend to that poor broken prayer which can only be described as a cry. For I am brought very low, and therefore all the prayer I can raise is a mournful cry. This is his argument with God: he is reduced to such a sad condition that if he be not rescued he will be ruined. Gracious men may not only be low, but very low; and this should not be a reason for their doubting the efficacy of their prayers, but rather a plea with the Lord why they should have special attention. Deliver me from my persecutors. If he did not get out of their hands, they would soon kill him out of hand, and as he could not himself effect an escape, he cried to God, "deliver me." For they are stronger than As he before found a plea in his sadness, so now in his feebleness: Saul and his courtiers were in power, and could command the aid of all who sought royal favour; but poor David was in the cave, and every Nabal girded at him. Saul was a monarch, and David a fugitive; Saul had all the forms of law on his side, while David was an outlaw: so that the prayer before us comes from the weak, who proverbially go to the wall, -- a good place to go to if they turn their faces to it in prayer, as Hezekiah did in his sickness. The Lord is wont to take the side of the oppressed, and to show his power by baffling tyrants; David's supplication was therefore sure to speed. In these sentences we see how explicitly the man of God described his case in his private communings with his Lord: in real earnest he poured out his complaint before him and showed before him his trouble. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 6 . Attend unto my cry . Can I see another's woe, And not be ill sorrow too? Can I see another's grief, And not seek for kind relief? Can I see a falling tear, And not feel my sorrow's share? Can a father see his child Weep, nor be with sorrow filled? Can a mother sit and hear An infant groan, an infant fear? No, no; never can it be! Never, never can it be! And can he, who smiles on all, Hear the wren, with sorrows small -- Hear the small bird's grief and care, Hear the woes that infants bear, And not sit beside the nest, Pouring pity in its breast? And not sit the cradle near, Weeping tear on infant's tear? And not sit both night and day Wiping all our tears away? Oh, no! never can it be! Never, never can it be! He doth give his joy to all; He becomes an infant small; He becomes a man of woe; He doth feel the sorrow too. Think not thou canst sigh a sigh, And thy Maker is not by; Think not thou canst weep a tear, And thy Maker is not near. Oh! he gives to us his joy, That our grief he may destroy: Till our grief is fled and gone, He doth sit by us and moan. --William Blake (1757-1828), in "Songs of Innocence", 1789. Verse 6 . I am brought very low , etc. However true this may have been of David lurking in a cave, while his enemy, Saul, was at the head of a powerful army, it is more literally true of Christ, who could truly say, "I am brought very low", because "he himself became obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross." He was also "brought very low", when he, that had the right of sitting on the cherubim, hung between two robbers. Truly also were his enemies "stronger than he" when "their hour came", and "power was given to darkness", so as to appear, for awhile, to eclipse the sun of justice itself. -- Robert Bellarmine. Verse 6 . For they are stronger than But they are not stronger than Thou . Thou canst make us "stronger than our enemies": Ps 105:24. He who is stronger than the strong man armed ( Luke 11:22 ), Israel's oppressor, and whose very "weakness is stronger than men" ( 1 Corinthians 1:25 ), shall "ransom" her "from him that was stronger than" she: Jeremiah 31:11 Psalms 18:17 . --Andrew Robert Fausset. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 6 . Two petitions and two arguments. Verse 6-7 . The language of Despondency. "I am brought very low." "My enemies are stronger than I." "My soul is in prison." Of Prayer. "Attend unto me." "Deliver me." "Bring me out of prison." Of Praise. For the congratulation of others. For his own deliverance and prosperity. --G.R. Verse 6 . Low and Lowly. Here is David, In a low place; the depths of a cave. In a low way: "very low"; "stronger than I." But see, "with the lowly is wisdom" ( Proverbs 11:2 ); he prays. The Lord "hath respect to the lowly", Psalms 138:6 . He will not pray in vain. --W.B.H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name. That God may be glorified is another notable plea for a suppliant. Escaped prisoners are sure to speak well of those who give them liberty; Soul emancipation is the noblest form of liberation, and calls for the loudest praise: he who is delivered from the dungeons of despair is sure to magnify the name of the Lord. We are in such a prison that only God himself can bring us out of it, and when he does so he will put a new song into our mouths. The cave was not half such a dungeon to David's body as persecution and temptation made for his soul. To be exiled from the godly is worse than imprisonment, hence David makes it one point of his release that he would be restored to church fellowship --

The righteous shall compass me about. Saints gather around a child of God when his Father smiles upon him; they come to hear his joyful testimony, to rejoice with him, and to have their own faith encouraged. All the true believers in the twelve tribes were glad to rally to David's banner when the Lord enlarged his spirit; they glorified God for him and with him and through him. They congratulated him, consorted with him, crowned him, and championed him. This was a sweet experience for righteous David, who had for awhile come under the censure of the upright. He bore their smiting with patience, and now he welcomes their sanction with gratitude.

For thou shalt deal bountifully with me. God's bountiful dealing is sure to bring with it the sympathy and alliance of all the favourites of the Great King. What a change from looking for a friend and finding none to this enthusiastic concourse of allies around the man after God's own heart! When we can begin a psalm with crying, we may hope to close it with singing. The voice of prayer soon awakens the voice of praise.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Bring my soul out of prison, etc. As if he should say, O Lord, I confess I am a poor prisoner to sin and Satan, I would fain be set at liberty to believe thy word, and to do thy will; but, alas, I cannot. I find many a door fast shut upon me in this prison, and many a lock upon the doors, many lets and impediments which I am never able to remove; and therefore, gracious Lord, do that for me, which neither I myself nor all the friends I can make are ever able to do for me; pay the debts of thy poor prisoner in my blessed Surety, and set open the prison doors: "Bring my soul out of prison, O Lord, that I may praise thy name!" --Matthew Lawrence, in "The Use and Practice of Faith", 1657.

Verse 7. The righteous shall compass me about. In a circle, like a crown, as the word signifies; when delivered they should flock to him and come about him to see him and look at him, as a miracle of mercy, whose deliverance was marvellous; and to congratulate him upon it, and to join with him in praise unto God for it. The Targum is, "For my sake the righteous will make to thee a crown of praise." --John Gill.

Verse 7. For thou shalt deal bountifully with me. Others' mercies ought to be the matter of our praises to God; and others' praises to God on our behalf ought to be both desired and rejoiced in by us. --Matthew Henry.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7. A prisoner. A freedman. A singer. A centre. A wonder.

Verse 7. Prison Dreams.

--W.B.H.

Verse 7. (middle clause). A Queen Bee. An under shepherd. A warm hearth. A Museum of wonders. Or, they shall surround me, interested in my story -- "out of prison"; drawn by my song -- "praise thy name"; attracted by likeness of character, and admiring the goodness of the Lord.

Verse 7. (last clause). Take this with Psalms 116:7. "The Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee." Infer the future from the past.

WORKS WRITTEN ABOUT THE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SECOND PSALM. IN SPURGEON'S DAY

In Chandler's "Life of David", vol. 1, pp. 157-160, there is an Exposition of this Psalm.

Psalms 143

PSALM 143 OVERVIEW.

Title. A Psalm of David. It is so much like other Davidic psalms that we accept the title without a moment's hesitation. David's history illustrates it, and his spirit breathes in it. Why it has been set down as one of the seven Penitential Psalms we can hardly tell; for it is rather a vindication of his own integrity, and an indignant prayer against his slanderers, than a confession of fault. It is true the second verse proves that he never dreamed of justifying himself before the Lord; but even in it there is scarcely the brokenness of penitence. It seems to us rather martial than penitential, rather a supplication for deliverance from trouble than a weeping acknowledgment of transgression. We suppose that seven penitentials were needed by ecclesiastical rabbis, and therefore this was impressed into the service. In truth, it is a mingled strain, a box of ointment composed of divers ingredients, sweet and bitter, pungent and precious. It is the outcry of an overwhelmed spirit, unable to abide in the highest state of spiritual prayer, again and again descending to bewail its deep temporal distress; yet evermore struggling to rise to the best things. The singer moans at intervals; the petitioner for mercy cannot withhold his cries for vindication. His hands are outstretched to heaven, but at his girdle hangs a sharp sword, which rattles in its scabbard as he closes his psalm.

Division. This psalm is divided by the Selah. We prefer to follow the natural cleavage, and therefore have made no other dissection of it. May the Holy Spirit lead us into its inner meaning.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications. In the preceding psalm he began by declaring that he had cried unto the Lord; here he begs to be favourably regarded by Jehovah the living God, whose memorial is that he heareth prayer. He knew that Jehovah did hear prayer, and therefore he entreated him to hear his supplication, however feeble and broken it might be. In two forms he implores the one blessing of gracious audience: -- "hear" and "give ear." Gracious men are so eager to be heard in prayer that they double their entreaties for that boon. The Psalmist desires to be heard and to be considered; hence he cries, "hear", and then "give ear." Our case is difficult, and we plead for special attention. Here it is probable that David wished his suit against his adversaries to be heard by the righteous Judge; confident that if he had a hearing in the matter whereof he was slanderously accused, he would be triumphantly acquitted. Yet while somewhat inclined thus to lay his case before the Court of King's Bench, he prefers rather to turn it all into a petition, and present it before the Court of Requests, hence he cries rather "hear my prayer" than "hear my suit." Indeed David is specially earnest that he himself, and the whole of his life, may not become the subject of trial, for in that event he could not hope for acquittal. Observe that he offered so much pleading that his life became one continual prayer; but that petitioning was so varied in form that it broke out in many supplications.

In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. Saints desire to be answered as well as heard: they long to find the Lord faithful to his promise and righteous in defending the cause of justice. It is a happy thing when we dare appeal even to righteousness for our deliverance; and this we can do upon gospel principles, for "if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." Even the sterner attributes of God are upon the side of the man who humbly trusts, and turns his trust into prayer. It is a sign of our safety when our interests and those of righteousness are blended. With God's faithfulness and righteousness upon our side we are guarded on the right hand and on the left. These are active attributes, and fully equal to the answering of any prayer which it would be light to answer. Requests which do not appeal to either of these attributes it would not be for the glory of God to hear, for they must contain desires for things not promised, and unrighteous.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Whole Psalm. This psalm of David most aptly answereth to that psalm which precedes it; for in Psalms 142:1-7 he showeth that he prayed, repeating it twice (Psalms 143:1); and here he twice saith, "Hear my prayer, give ear to my supplication." In Psalms 142:3 he saith, "When my spirit was overwhelmed within me"; here (Psalms 143:4), "My spirit is overwhelmed within me." --John Mayer.

Whole Psalm. The promise referred to throughout this octave of Psalms 138- 145. is that recorded in 2 Samuel 7:12, etc., "When thy days be fulfilled ... I will set up thy seed after thee ... and I will establish his kingdom ... If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him ... But my mercy shall not depart away from him; and thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever." What fixes the connection of the psalm with the history is the frequent application of the term "Thy (Jehovah's) servant", by David to himself in the latter, as in Psalms 143:2 144:12 of the former. Jehovah had first used it of David, "Tell to my servant, to David"; David therefore fastens on it as his plea again and again (2 Samuel 7:5,9-21,25-29). David's plea, "For I am thy servant", is no boast of his service, but a magnifying of God's electing grace: "Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?" 2 Samuel 7:18.

The cry (Psalms 143:6) "My soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land", answers to David's own words in Ps 63:1, when he was fleeing from Absalom, and still in the wilderness of Judah (title, Ps. 63.) on the near side of Jordan: "My soul thirsteth for thee." The history here again is an undesigned agreement with the psalm (2 Samuel 16:2,14): "The King, and all the people with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves" with Ziba's fruits; also 2 Samuel 17:2. The Hebrew for "thirsty" in Psalm 143 is the same as for "weary" in Psalms 63:1, and in 2 Samuel 16:14, and means "panting", "weary", "thirsting." --Andrew Robert Fausset, in "Studies in the 150. Psalms", 1876.

Whole Psalm. At the making of this psalm (as it plainly appeareth) David was cast into some desperate danger; whether by Saul when he was forced to flee into the cave, as in the former psalm, or by Absalom his son, or by any other, it is uncertain. Howsoever, in this he complains grievously to God of the malice of his enemies, and desireth God to hear his prayers, he acknowledgeth that he suffereth those things by God's just judgment, most humbly craving mercy for his sins; desiring not only to be restored, but also to be governed by God's Spirit, that he may dedicate and consecrate the rest of his life to God's service. This worthy psalm, then, containeth these three things. First, a confession of his sins. Secondly, a lamentation over his injuries. Thirdly, a supplication for temporal deliverance and spiritual graces. --Archibald Symson.

Whole Psalm. It is not without some use to observe in this psalm how the, heart of its devout composer turned alternately from spiritual to temporal, and again from temporal to spiritual subjects. He first complains of his sins, and begs for mercy; then of his enemies, and prays for deliverance. Then he laments his darkness, and pleads for the light of God's countenance, and for wisdom, and understanding. After this, the thought of his enemies rushes in again upon his soul, and he flees to God for protection. Lastly, he again puts up his prayer for wisdom and holiness: "Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness." This is a peculiarly important petition: before he had prayed to know the way in which he should walk, he now prays that he may walk in it. --John Fawcett, 1769-1851.

Whole Psalm. This is appointed by the Church for Ash Wednesday, and is the seventh and last of the Penitential Psalms. These seven Penitential Psalms also sometimes called "the Special Psalms", and have long been used in Church as the completest and most spiritual acts of repentance which she possesses. They have sometimes been considered as directed against the seven deadly sins; as, for instance, Psalms 6:1-10, against Wrath; Ps 32:1-11, against Pride Psalms 38:1-22, against Gluttony; Psalms 51:1-19, against Impurity; Ps 102:1-28, against Covetousness; Psalms 130:1-8, against Envy; and the present Psalm against Indifference, Carelessness. --J. W. Burgon.

Verse 1. Hear my prayer, O LORD, etc. Alas, O Lord, if thou hear not prayer, I were as good not pray at all; and if thou hear it, and give not car it, it were as good thou didst not hear it at all. O, therefore, "hear my O God, and give ear to my supplications"; that neither my praying may be lost, want of thy hearing it, nor thy hearing it be lost for want of thy attending it. When I only make a prayer to God, it seems enough that he hear it; but make a supplication, it requires that he give ear unto it: for seeing a supplication hath a greater intention in the setting out, it cannot without a greater, attention be entertained.

But what niceness of words is this? as though it were not all one "to hear" and "to give ear"? or as though there were any difference between a prayer a supplication? Is it not perhaps so indeed? for hearing sometimes may be passive, where giving ear is always active; and seeing Christ, we doubt not, heard the woman of Canaan's first cry, while it was a prayer; but gave no ear till her second cry, when it was grown to a supplication. However it be, as hearing, O God, without giving ear would be to no purpose, so thy giving without giving answer would do me no good; O, therefore, "answer me," God: for if thou answer not my prayer, how canst thou answer my expectations. My prayer is but the seed; it is thy answer that makes the harvest. If thou shouldest not answer me at all, I could not hope for any harvest at all; thou shouldest answer me, and not "in thy righteousness", that would be a indeed, but nothing but of blasted corn. Therefore, answer me, O God, but" thy righteousness"; for thy righteousness never made an unpleasing answer was an answer in thy righteousness which thou madest to Noah: "My shall not always strive with man; for the imagination of man's heart is evil his infancy." It was an answer in thy righteousness which thou madest to Abraham: "Fear not; I will be thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." It was an answer in thy righteousness which thou madest to the thief upon the cross: "This day thou shalt be with me in paradise." Oh, then, answer me in thy righteousness, O God, and then the harvest of my hope will be as the seven years of plenty foretold by Joseph. --Sir Richard Baker.

Verse 1. Hear my prayer. ... give ear to my supplications... answer me. He doth here three times repeat his camest desire to be heard, as in fifth psalm four times he doubles and ingeminateth this same suit to be heard. ... When he doubles his request of hearing, he would have God hear with both his ears, that is, most attentively and readily: so instant is a mind that he desireth the prayer he putteth up to be remembered, as was said the angel to the centurion: "Thy prayer and almsdeeds are come up God": Acts 10:4. -- Archibald Symson.

Verse 1. In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. It was thy righteousness that thou didst make the promise, but it is thy faithfulness that thou wilt keep thy promise: and seeing I am certain of thy making it, how can I be doubtful of thy keeping it? If thou shouldest not answer me in thy righteousness, yet thou shouldest be righteous still; but if thou shouldest not answer me in thy faithfulness, thou shouldest not be faithful still. -- Sir Richard Baker.

Verse 1. Answer me in thy righteousness. Forgiveness is not inconsistent with truth or righteousness, and the pardon which in mercy God bestows upon the sinner is bestowed in justice to the well beloved Son who accepted and discharged the sinner's obligations. This is an infinitely precious truth, and the hearts of thousands in every age have been sustained and gladdened by it. A good old Christian woman in humble life so fully realized this, that when a revered servant of God asked her, as she lay on her dying pillow, the ground of her hope for eternity, she replied, with great composure, "I rely on the justice of God"; adding, however, when the reply excited surprise, "justice, not to me, but to my Substitute, in whom I trust." --Robert Macdonald, in "From Day to Day; or, Helpful Words for Christian Life", 1879.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1. Three threes.

Verse 1-2. A suitable prayer for a believer who has reason to suppose that he is suffering chastening for sin.

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. And enter not into judgment with thy servant. He had entreated for audience at the mercy seat, but he has no wish to appear before the judgment seat. Though clear before men, he could not claim innocence before God. Even though he knew himself to be the Lord's servant, yet he did not claim perfection, or plead merit; for even as a servant he was unprofitable. If such be the humble cry of a servant, what ought to be the pleading of a sinner? For in thy sight shall no man living be justified. None can stand before God upon the footing of the law. God's sight is piercing and discriminating; the slightest flaw is seen and judged; and therefore pretence and profession cannot avail where that glance reads all the secrets of the soul. In this verse David told out the doctrine of universal condemnation by the law long before Paul had taken his pen to write the same truth. To this day it stands true even to the same extent as in David's day: no man living even at this moment may dare to present himself for trial before the throne of the Great King on the footing of the law. This foolish age has produced specimens of n pride so rank that men have dared to claim perfection in the flesh; but these vain glorious boasters are no exception to the rule here laid down: they are but men, and poor specimens of men. When their lives are examined they are frequently found to be more faulty than the humble penitents before whom they vaunt their superiority.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. Enter not into judgment with thy servant. The Divine justice has just been invoked in the first verse; and now the appellant suddenly seems to deprecate it. These verses really sum up the apparent paradox of the Book of Job (see Job 4:17 9:2,32 14:3 Job 15:14 22:4, etc.). In one breath Job frequently pours forth pathetic protestations of his innocence, and a dread lest God should take him at his word, and arraign him for trial. The godly man, in his desire to have his character vindicated before man, appeals to the just Judge, but instantly falls back with a guilty sense that before his tribunal none can stand: "For merit lives from man to man,

And not from man, O Lord, to thee." --A. S. Aglen.

Verse 2. He doth not pray absolutely that God "would not enter into judgment with him", for this were to forego his government of the world; but that he would not do so on account of his own duties and obedience. But if so be these duties and obedience did answer, in any sense or way, what is required of us as a righteousness unto justification, there was no reason why he should deprecate a trial by them, or upon them. --John Owen.

Verse 2. He doth not say, "with an enemy, a rebel, a traitor, an impenitent sinner"; but "with thy servant", one that is devoted to thy fear, one that is consecrated to thy service, one that is really and indeed "wholly thine, as much and as fully as he can be." As if he had said, "Lord, if the holiest, purest, best of men should come and stand before thee in judgment, or plead with thee, they must needs be cast in their cause. `If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,' alas! `O Lord, who shall stand?'" Ps 130:3. --Thomas Lye (1621-1684), in "The Morning Exercises."

Verse 2. Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for thou hast already entered into judgment with thy Son, and laid upon him the iniquity of us all. "Enter not into judgment with thy servant", for thy servant enters into judgment with himself; and "if we will judge ourselves we shall not be judged." --Matthew Henry.

Verse 2. Not the proudest philosopher among the Gentiles, nor the most precise Pharisee among the Jews; we may go yet further and say, not the holiest saint that ever lived, can stand righteous before that bar. God hath nailed that door up, that none can for ever enter by a law righteousness into life and happiness. This way to heaven is like the northern passage to the Indies, whoever attempts it is sure to be frozen up before he gets half way thither. --William Gurnall.

Verse 2. Enter not into judgment, etc. Some years ago I visited a poor young woman dying with consumption. She was a stranger in our town, and had been there a few weeks before, some time in her girlhood, and had attended my Sabbath school class. What did I find was her only stay, and hope, and comfort in the view of the dark valley of the shadow of death, which was drawing down upon her? One verse of a psalm she had learned at the class, and never forgot. She repeated it with clasped hands, piercing eyes, and thin voice trembling from her white lips. "Thy servant also bring thou not

In judgment to be tried:

Because no living man can be

In thy sight justify'd."

No sinner can endure sight of thee, O God, if he tries to be self justified. --James Comper Gray, in "The Biblical Museum", 1879.

Verse 2. Enter not into judgment with thy servant. We read of a certain Dutch divine, who being to die, was full of fears and doubts. And when some said to him, "You have been so active and faithful, why should you fear?" Oh, said he, the judgment of man and the judgment of God are different. --John Trapp.

Verse 2. Enter not into judgment. A metaphor taken from the course pursued by those who seek to recover the very utmost to which they are entitled by strict legal process. Compare Job 22:4-5. In a similar sense we are commanded to pray to God that he will forgive us our debts. --Daniel Cresswell.

Verse 2. There is probably here a tacit reference to the great transgression, the consequences of which followed David all his days. --William Walford.

Verse 2. Thy servant. A servant is one who obeys the will of another ... There were these four ways in which one might come to be a servant -- by birth, by purchase, by conquest, and by voluntary engagement. Some were servants in one of the ways, and some in another. There were servants who were born in the master's house, servants who were bought with the master's money, servants who were the captives of his sword and bow, and servants who had freely engaged themselves to do his work ... In the case of the believer there is something that is peculiar and remarkable. He is God's servant by birth. But he is more -- he is God's servant by purchase. And that is not all: he is God's servant by conquest. Yes, and by voluntary engagement too. He is the servant of God, not in some one of the four ways, but in all of them together. --Andrew Gray (1805-1861), in "Gospel Contrasts and Parallels."

Verse 2. Not only the worst of my sins, but the best of my duties speak me a child of Adam. --William Beveridge.

Verse 2. So far from being able to answer for my sins, I cannot answer even for my righteousness. --Bernard of Clairvaux, 1091-1153.

Verse 2. A young man once said to me: "I do not think I am a sinner." I asked him if he would be willing his mother or sister should know all he had done, or said, or thought, -- all his motions and all his desires. After a moment he said: "No, indeed, I should not like to have them know; no, not for the world." "Then can you dare to say, in the presence of a holy God, who knows every thought of your heart, `I do not commit sin'?" --John B. Gough, in "Sunlight and Shadow", 1881.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 2.

EXPOSITION Verse 3 . For the enemy hath persecuted my soul. He has followed me up with malicious perseverance, and has worried me as often as I have been within his reach. The attack was upon the soul or life of the Psalmist: our adversaries mean us the worst possible evil, their attacks are no child's play, they hunt for the precious life. He hath smitten my life down to the ground. The existence of David was made bitter by the cruelty of his enemy; he was as one who was hurled down and made to lie upon the ground, where he could be trampled on by his assailant. Slander has a very depressing effect upon the spirits; it is a blow which overthrows the mind as though it were knocked clown with the fist. He hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. The enemy was not content with felling his life to the ground -- he would lay him lower still, even in the grave; and lower than that, if possible, for the enemy would shut up the saint in the darkness of hell if he could. David was driven by Saul's animosity to haunt caverns and holes, like an unquiet ghost; he wandered out by night, and lay hid by day like an uneasy spirit which had long been denied the repose of the grave. Good men began to forget him, as though he had been long dead; and bad men made ridicule of his rueful visage as though it belonged not to a living man, but was dark with the shadow of the sepulchre. Poor David! He was qualified to bless the house of the living, but he was driven to consort with the dead! Such may be our case, and yet we may be very dear to the Lord. One thing is certain, the Lord who permits us to dwell in darkness among the dead, will surely bring us into light, and cause us to dwell with those who enjoy life eternal. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 3 . For the enemy , etc. If ever trouble be just cause for calling upon thee, how can mine be more just, when the enemy hath persecuted my soul, hath smitten my life down to the ground, and hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead? All this "the enemy" hath done unto me: but what enemy? Is it not the enemy of all mankind, who hath singled me out, as it were to a duel? And can I resist him myself alone, whom the whole army of mankind cannot? But is it not the enemy of thyself, O God, who is but my enemy because I am thy servant? And wilt thou see thy servants persecuted -- in thy cause persecuted -- and not protect them? Shall I suffer, grievously suffer, for thy sake, and wilt thou forsake me? Alas, O Lord; if they were but some light evils that are inflicted upon me I would bear them without complaining, and never make my moan to thee about them; but they are the three greatest miseries that can be thought of; the greatest persecution, the greatest overthrow, and the greatest captivity. For what persecution so grievous as to be persecuted in my soul? for he plays no less a game than for souls: he casts indeed at the body sometimes, and sometimes at goods, yet these are but the bye; the main of his aim is at the soul; for if he can otherwise win the soul he cares not much for either body or goods, but rather makes use of them to keep men in security; for whatsoever he doth, whatsoever he leaves undone, it is all done but in persecution of the soul; and he can persecute as well with prosperity as with adversity, and knows how to fit their several application. It seems as if he takes me for another Job; he sees he can do no good upon me with fawning and clawing, and therefore falls now to quarrelling and striking, and he strikes no light blows; for "he hath stricken my life down to the ground"; and lower would have struck it, if thou, God, hadst nut broken his blow. He strikes me downward, to keep me from heaven, as much as he can: and now that he sees me down, he lets not me rest so neither; but seizes upon me, and being himself the prince of darkness, hath kept me in darkness; not for a night or two, as men stay at their inn, but for a much longer time, as at their dwelling; and it is no ordinary darkness that he hath made me to dwell in, but even the darkness of dead men; and that in the highest degree, as those that have been long dead. They that have been dead but a while are yet remembered sometimes, and sometimes talked of; but they that have been long dead are as quite forgotten as if they had never been; and such, alas, am So long have I been made to dwell in darkness, as if I had been dead many years ago, that he that would seek to find me out must be fain to look for me amongst the tombs and monuments. Indeed, to dwell in darkness is no better than the house of death: for as long as we are in life, if we want sometimes the light of the sun, yet the light of a candle will serve to supply it; but I, alas, am kept in such darkness that neither the sunshine of thy gospel nor the lantern of thy law gives any light unto me. I cannot with confidence say, as once I did, "Thou, O Lord, shalt light my candle for me"; and as a body being dead grows cold and stiff, and is not to be bowed, so my soul with continuance in sinning is grown hardened, and, as it were, stiff in sin; that it is as hard a matter to make me flexible to any goodness as to bring a body long dead to life again. --Sir Richard Baker. Verse 3 . To dwell in darkness . To seek my safety in holes and obscure places in the wilderness. See 2 Samuel 17:16 . As those that have been long dead. That is, where I seem to be buried alive, and to have no more hopes of being restored to a happy condition in this world than those that have been long dead have of living again in it. --Thomas Fenton. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 3-6 . Consider, The great lengths God may sometimes permit the enemy to go, Psalms 143:3 . The case of Job a good illustration. The deep depression of spirit he may even permit his saints to experience, Ps 143:4. The good things he has provided for their meditation when even at their worst, Psalms 143:5 . The two things his grace will never suffer to die, whose existence is a pledge of near approaching joy, -- The thirsting after himself. b) The practice of prayer. The whole is a good text for a lecture on the life and experience of Job. --J. F.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. David was no stoic: he felt his banishment, and smarted under the cruel assaults which were made upon his character. He felt perplexed and overturned, lonely and afflicted. He was a man of thought and feeling, and suffered both in spirit and in heart from the undeserved and unprovoked hostility of his persecutors. Moreover, he laboured under the sense of fearful loneliness; he was for a while forsaken of his God, and his soul was exceeding heavy, even unto death. Such words our Lord Jesus might have used: in this the Head is like the members, and the members are as the Head.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed, etc. David was not only a great saint, but a great soldier, and yet even he was sometimes ready to faint in the day of adversity. "Howl, fir trees, if the cedars be shaken." --Matthew Henry.

Verse 4. (second clause.) Within -- literally, "in the midst of me"; implying how deeply the feeling had penetrated. "Is desolate", or rather, "is stupefied", in a similar sense to that of the Hebrew (Isaiah 59:16 63:5 Daniel 8:27). So the Chaldaic, The 70., Vulgate, Arabic, and Syriac, "is agitated." --Andrew Robert Fausset.

Verse 4. Is desolate. Or rather, "is full of amazement", literally, "astonishes itself"; seeks to comprehend the mystery of its sufferings, and is ever beaten back upon itself in its perplexity: such is the full force of the reflexive conjugation here employed. --J. J. Stewart Perowne.

Verse 4-5. How poor a judgment can be formed of a man's state from the considerations of comfort only. A holy man, we clearly see, may be void of comfort; his spirit may be overwhelmed, and his heart desolate. Nay, was it not so even with the holy Jesus himself? was he not very heavy, and his soul exceeding sorrowful even unto death? But never did the Saviour's faith and submission to his Father's will shine more brightly than in that hour of darkness. And David's faith also rises to meet the occasion. His trial is great, and his faith is great also. Hardly when he is on the mount of praise, and singing his songs of Zion in the most triumphant strain, does he appear more admirable than when struggling through this painful conflict. He is troubled on every side, yet not removed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. He has no arm of flesh to trust to, and nothing within himself to support his hope; but with what simplicity, and energy of trust, does he betake himself to God, revolving ill his memory past seasons of deliverance, and staying his mind on the power and truth of Jehovah! "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands." --John Fawcett.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4-6.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. I remember the days of old. When we see nothing new which can cheer us, let us think upon old things. We once had merry days, days of deliverance, and joy and thanksgiving; why not again? Jehovah rescued his people in the ages which lie back, centuries ago; wily should he not do the like again? We ourselves have a rich past to look back upon; we have sunny memories, sacred memories, satisfactory memories, and these are as flowers for the bees of faith to visit, from whence they may make honey for present use. I meditate on all thy works. When my own works reproach me, thy works refresh me. If at the first view the deeds of the Lord do not encourage us, let us think them over again, ruminating and considering the histories of divine providence. We ought to take a wide and large view of all God's works; for as a whole they work together for good, and in each part they are worthy of reverent study. I muse on the work of thy hands. This he had done in former days, even in his most trying hours. Creation had been the book in which he read of the wisdom and goodness of the Lord. He repeats his perusal of the page of nature, and counts it a balm for his wounds, a cordial for his cares, to see what the Lord has made by his skilful hands. When the work of our own hand grieves us, let us look to the work of God's hands. Memory, meditation, and musing are here set together as the three graces, ministering grace to a mind depressed and likely to be diseased. As David with his harp played away the evil spirit from Saul, so does he hero chase away gloom from his own soul by holy communion with God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. I remember the days of old; I meditate, etc. This meditation gives an ease to the overwhelming of my spirits, a comfort to the desolateness of my heart; for I am thinking sometimes upon Jonah, how he was overwhelmed with waters and swallowed up of a whale, and yet at last delivered; sometimes I am thinking of Joseph, how he was bound and left desolate in a pit, and yet at last relieved; and then I meditate thus with myself, -- Is God's power confined to persons? could he deliver them in their extremities, and can he not deliver me in mine? --Sir Richard Baker.

Verse 5. I meditate on all thy works. Let us look for God in the future more earnestly than we have done in the past, -- look for him in vineyards and orchards and harvest fields, -- in the bright plumage of birds, and the delicate bloom of fruit, and the sweet gracefulness of flowers, -- in the dense foliage of the forest, and the sparse heather of the moor, -- in the rich luxuriance of fertile valleys, and the rugged grandeur of the everlasting hills, -- in the merry dance of the rivulet, and the majestic tides of the ocean -- in the gay colours of the rainbow, and the splendour of the starry heavens, -- in the gentle radiance of the moon, and the gorgeous light of setting suns, -- in the clear azure sky, and the weird pageantry of clouds, -- in the snow mantled wintry landscape, and the brilliant effulgence of a summer's noon, -- in the virgin loveliness of spring, and in the pensive fading beauty of autumn, -- let us look for him with an earnest, eager, and unwearied gaze, till we see him to be a God of wisdom as well as power, of love as well as sovereignty, of beauty as well as glory. --A. W. Momerie, in "The Origin of Evil, and other Sermons", 1881.

Verse 5, 6. I meditate. I stretch forth my hands. Meditation is prayer's handmaid to wait on it, both before and after the performance of supplication. It is as the plough before the sower, to prepare the heart for the duty of prayer; and as the harrow after the sower, to cover the seed when 'tis sown. As the hopper feeds the mill with grist, so does meditation supply the heart with matter for prayer. --William Gurnall.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5-6. I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee. Hand in hand: or the child of God admiring the work of God's hands, and praying with uplifted hands to be wrought upon by the like power.

Verse 5. David's method.

Verse 6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee. He was eager for his God. His thoughts of God kindled in him burning desires, and these led to energetic expressions of his inward longings. As a prisoner whose feet are bound extends his hands in supplication when there is hope of liberty, so does David. My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. As the soil cracks, and yawns, and thus opens its mouth in dumb pleadings, so did the Psalmist's soul break with longings. No heavenly shower had refreshed him from the sanctuary: banished from the means of grace, his soul felt parched and dry, and he cried out, "My soul to thee"; nothing would content him but the presence of his God. Not alone did he extend his hands, but his heart was stretched out towards the Lord. He was athirst for the Lord. If he could but feel the presence of his God he would no longer be overwhelmed or dwell in darkness; nay, everything would turn to peace and joy.

Selah. It was time to pause, for the supplication had risen to agony point. Both harp strings and heart strings were strained, and needed a little rest to get them right again for the second half of the song.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee. As a poor beggar for an alms. Beggary here is not the easiest and poorest trade, but the hardest and richest of all other. --John Trapp.

Verse 6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee, as if I were in hope thou wouldst take me by the hand and draw me to thee. --Sir Richard Baker.

Verse 6. My soul thirsteth after thee, etc. Alas! this thirst is rare to be found. Worldly thirsts there are in many: the drunkard's thirst, Deuteronomy 29:19; the worldling's thirst, Habakkuk 2:5; the epicure's thirst, whose belly is his god, Philippians 3:19; the ambitious man's thirst -- Diotrephes, 3 John 1:9; and the malicious man's thirst, the blood thirsty, Psalms 5:6. Thirst after these things doth keep away that thirst after grace without which we shall never escape Dives' thirst in hell, Luke 16:24. If we have a godly thirst, it will appear by diligence in frequenting the place and means of grace, Proverbs 8:34; brute beasts for want of water will break through hedges, and grace thirsty souls will make their ways through all encumbrances to come where they may have satisfaction. --Thomas Pierson, 1570-1633.

Verse 6. My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. He declareth his vehement affection to God by a very pretty similitude, taken from the ground which is thirsty by the long drought of summer, wherein the earth, rent in pieces, as it were, and with open mouth through long thirst, seeketh drink from heaven. By which he showeth that he came to God as destitute of natural substance, and therefore seeketh from above that which he lacked. So in all his extremities he looked ever upward; from above he seeketh help and comfort. Albeit we be in extremity, and as it were rent asunder, yet here is comfort, -- there are waters in heaven which will refresh us, if we gape after them. Here is a blessing -- those that thirst shall be satisfied. If we thirst for mercy, for deliverance, for spiritual or temporal comfort, we shall be satisfied therewith; for if God heard the prayers of Hagar and Ishmael being athirst in the wilderness, and opened unto them a fountain (Ge 21:17,19), will he forsake Isaac, the child of promise? If he heard Samson in the bitterness of his heart, when he said, "I die from thirst", and opened a spring out of the jawbone of an ass (Judges 15:19), will he forsake us in time of our distress, if we thirst aright? -- Archibald Symson.

Verse 6. My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Sir John Chardin, in his MSS. says: - - "The lands of the East, which the great dryness there causes to crack, are the ground of this figure, which is certainly extremely beautiful; for these dry lands have chinks too deep for a person to see the bottom of: this may be observed in the Indies more than anywhere, a little before the rains fall, and wherever the lands are rich and hard." -- Harmer's Observations.

Verse 6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee, etc. It is not a strange thing, then, for the soul to find its life in God. This is its native air: God as the Environment of the soul has been from the remotest age the doctrine of all the deepest thinkers in religion. How profoundly Hebrew poetry is saturated with this high thought will appear when we try to conceive of it with this left out. True poetry is only science in another form. And long before it was possible for religion to give scientific expression to its greatest truths, men of insight uttered themselves in psalms which could not have been truer to Nature had the most modern light controlled the inspiration. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." What fine sense of the natural analogy of the natural and spiritual does not underlie these words. As the hart after its environment, so man after his; as the water brooks are fitly designed to meet the natural wants, so fitly does God implement the spiritual need of man. It will be noticed that in the Hebrew poets the longing for God never strikes one as morbid, or unnatural to the men who uttered it. It is as natural for them to long for God as for the swallow to seek her nest. Throughout all their images no suspicion rises within us that they are exaggerating. We feel how truly they are reading themselves, their deepest selves. No false note occurs in all their aspiration. There is no weariness even in their ceaseless sighing, except the lover's weariness for the absent -- if they would fly away, it is only to be at rest. Men who have no soul can only wonder at this. Men who have a soul, but with little faith, can only envy it. How joyous a thing it was to the Hebrews to seek their God! How artlessly they call upon him to entertain them in his pavilion, to cover them with his feathers, to hide them in his secret place, to hold them in the hollow of his hand, or stretch around them the everlasting arms! These men were true children of nature. As the humming bird among its own palm trees, as the ephemera in the sunshine of a summer evening, so they lived their joyous lives. And even the full share of the sadder experiences of life which came to all of them but drove them the further into the secret place, and led them with more consecration to make, as they expressed it, "the Lord their portion." All that has been said since from Marcus Aurelius to Swedenborg, from Augustine to Schleiermacher, of a besetting God as the full complement of humanity is but a repetition of the Hebrew poets' faith. And even the New Testament has nothing higher to offer man than this. The Psalmist's" God is our refuge and strength" is only the earlier form, less defined, less practicable, but not less noble, of Christ's "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." -- Henry Drummond, in "Natural Law in the Spiritual World", 1884.

Verse 6-7. I stretch forth my hands ... Hear me, etc. So will the weary bands be raised yet again, through faith in him who stretched forth his hands upon the cross. So will the fainting soul wait and long for the outpouring of his grace, who upon the cross said, "I thirst." We shall thirst for our salvation, even as the parched up fields and dying herbs seem to gasp and pant like living things for the sweet and cheering showers in the fierce heat of summer. So will the soul cry to the heard, and that soon, lest its faith grow faint with delay; and the hiding of God's face, the denying of his smile of pardon, will press on the spirit like sickness, and weigh it down like the heaviness of death. --J. W. Burgon.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 6. God alone the desire of his people.

Verse 6. Deep calling to deep.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth. If long delayed, the deliverance would come too late. The afflicted suppliant faints, and is ready to die. His life is ebbing out; each moment is of importance; it will soon be all over with him. No argument for speed can be more powerful than this. Who will not run to help a suppliant when his life is in jeopardy? Mercy has wings to its heels when misery is in extremity. God will not fail when our spirit fails, but the rather he will hasten his course and come to us on the wings of the wind. Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Communion with God is so dear to a true heart that the withdrawal of it makes the man feel as though he were ready to die and perish utterly. God's withdrawals reduce the heart to despair, and take away all strength from the mind. Moreover, his absence enables adversaries to work their will without restraint; and thus, in a second way, the persecuted one is like to perish. If we have God's countenance we live, but if he turns his back upon us we die. When the Lord looks with favour upon our efforts we prosper, but if he refuses to countenance them we labour in vain.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Hear me speedily. David is in trouble, and he betakes himself to prayer. Prayer is the sovereign remedy the godly fly to in all their extremities. The saints in sorrows have fled for comfort and healing unto prayers and supplications. Heaven is a shop full of all good things -- there are stored up blessings and mercies; this the children of God know who fly to this shop in their troubles, begging for help from this holy sanctuary. "In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord": Psalms 77:2. When any vexation makes our life grievous unto us, what should we seek but help? of whom should we seek, but of the Lord? how should we seek, but by prayer? ... "Speedily." His request is not only for hearing, but for speedy hearing: "Hear me, and hear me speedily"; answer, and answer quickly. This is the tone and tune of men in distress. Man in misery earnestly sues for speedy delivery. In our afflictions and troubles, deliverance, though it should come with wings, we never think it comes soon enough. Weak man cannot content himself to know he shall have help, unless it be present help. -- Thomas Calvert, 1647.

Verse 7. My spirit faileth. This is David's first reason to move the Lord; he is at the last cast and even giving up the ghost with long waiting for help: from his low condition we may see what is often the condition of God's children, -- and the best of God's servants have waited for comfort and the feelings of his Spirit, to the very failing of their own spirit. David, a man after God's own heart, is yet brought low with the faintness and failing of his heart, in waiting for help from God. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Ge 3:19); this lies upon the sons of men. But here, not sweat of face only, that were but small; but sighs and fainting of the heart lie upon the sons of God, in seeking and hungering after a taste of God's bread of life, inward comfort, assurance, and joy of the Holy Ghost. Thus the Church was brought to this sick bed ere her comfort came: "For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me:" Lamentations 1:16. The disciples spirits were even failing in the tempest, when Christ slept and seemed to neglect them, as if he cared not though they perished. How should our spirits do other but fail, when our Comforter sleeps, when our only friend seems to be our enemy?

Failing of spirit is both a motive which God means to yield unto and to be won by withal; and it is also his opportunity, when he usually helps. It is a strong motive in our prayers to move him, for he is pitiful, and will not let his children utterly fail and perish; he is a pitiful Spirit to failing spirits. "I will not contend (saith the Lord) for ever, neither will I be always wroth;" why? we deserve his wrath should last and take fire for ever against us; yea, but (saith the Lord) this is the reason, "The spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made" (Isaiah 57:16): I love and pity the fainting souls and spirits of men: I will help my children; how can I see my creatures whom I made and do love, to perish for want of my help? David knew the Lord's nature, and that this was speeding argument in prayer, which made him here and elsewhere so often use it. A pitiful father will not see the spirit of his children utterly fail. It is his opportunity; he usually helps when all other helps fail, that we may the more strongly cleave to him, and ground ourselves upon him, as knowing how infirm we are, if he confirm us not. When man's cruse of oil is dry, and fails, and can drop no more, then is God's time to prepare his. Thus helped he the Israelites at the Red Sea, when all man's strength and wisdom was at a stand. He loves to be seen in the mount, in extremities. --Condensed from Thomas Calvert.

Verse 7. The prayer of David becomes, as he proceeds, both more spiritual and more fervent. In the sixth verse we find him thirsting after God; and now that thirst is become so intense that it admits of no delay. In the beginning of the psalm he was content to say, "Hear my prayer"; but now he cries, "Hear me speedily." This is not the language of sinful impatience: it is, indeed, good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God; yet a man may desire, not only an answer, but also a speedy answer, without incurring the charge of impatience. Whatever a man desires to have he desires to have soon; nor can he be otherwise than grieved at anything which delays the accomplishment of his wishes. In such desire or grief there is nothing sinful, provided it do not lead to murmuring or distrust of God. Hence this petition for speedy relief, and manifestation of God's presence and favour is very frequent with the Psalmist. He often prays, "Make haste, O Lord, to deliver; make haste to help me, O Lord." Nay, if a man does not desire the light of God's countenance soon, it is a certain proof that he does not desire it at all. If the natural language of his heart be not, "hear me speedily", delay is to him no exercise of patience. The very idea of patience implies that something is contrary to our wish; and the stronger the desire is, the more difficult will that exercise of patience become.

"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick"; and therefore David adds, "my spirit faileth." He believed verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living; yet so intense was his desire, that faith could hardly keep his spirit from fainting, while the blessing, which he so eagerly pursued, seemed still distant, and fled before him. He is afraid lest if God should long delay, and withdraw himself, faith and hope could hold out no longer. He therefore pleads, "hide not thy face from me, lest I become like them that go down into the pit"; and urges the failing of his spirit before him who" will not contend for ever, lest the spirit should fait before him." --John Fawcett.

Verse 7-8, 10-11. Observe how David mixes together prayers for joy, for guidance, and for sanctification -- "Hide not thy face from me." "Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk." "Teach me to do thy will." "Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning." "Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake." Now this is exactly right: our prayers, as well as our other obedience, must be without partiality; nay, we should desire comfort for the sake of holiness, rather than holiness for the sake of comfort. --John Fawcett.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7. Reasons for speedy answers.

Verse 7. Never despair.

Verse 7. Cordial for the swooning heart.

Verse 8. The two prayers "Cause me to hear", and "Cause me to know." The two pleas -- "In thee do I trust", and "I lift up my soul unto thee."

Verse 8. Psalms 142:3. "Thou knewest my path." Psalms 143:8. -- "Cause me to know the way."

Verse 8. On fixing a time for the answering of our prayer.

Verse 8. Listening for Lovingkindness.

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust. Lord, my sorrow makes me deaf, -- cause me to hear: there is but one voice that can cheer me -- cause me to hear thy lovingkindness; that music I would fain enjoy at once -- cause me to hear it in the morning, at the first dawning hour. A sense of divine love is to the soul both dawn and dew; the end of the night of weeping, the beginning of the morning of joy. Only God can take away from our weary ears the din of our care, and charm them with the sweet notes of his love. Our plea with the Lord is our faith: if we are relying upon him, he cannot disappoint us: "in thee do I trust" is a sound and solid argument with God. He who made the ear will cause us to hear: he who is love itself will have the kindness to bring his lovingkindness before our minds. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. The Great First Cause must cause us to hear and to know. Spiritual senses are dependent upon God, and heavenly knowledge comes from him alone. To know the way we ought to take is exceedingly needful, for how can we be exact in obedience to a law with which we are not acquainted? or how can there be an ignorant holiness? If we know not the way, how shall we keep in it? If we know not wherein we should walk, how shall we be likely to follow the right path?, The Psalmist lifts up his soul: faith is good at a dead lift: the soul that trusts will rise. We will not allow our hope to sink, but we will strive to get up and rise out of our daily griefs. This is wise. When David was in any difficulty as to his way he lifted his soul towards God himself, and then he knew that he could not go very far wrong. If the soul will not rise of itself we must lift it, lift it up unto God. This is good argument in prayer: surely the God to whom we endeavour to lift up our soul will condescend to show us what he would have us to do. Let us attend to David's example, and when our heart is low, let us heartily endeavour to lift it up, not so much to comfort as to the Lord himself.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness. Here he craveth God's favour and kindness, as tie doth in many other psalms. Because in his favour is life, wealth, and grace, all good things, and pleasure for evermore, so that if he look kindly to us we need be afraid of nothing. But how shall he be assured of his favour? Even by hearing it, as he saith in the fifty-first psalm: "Make me to hear joy and gladness." The voice which is heard is the word of God, which, being apprehended by faith, is able to comfort our souls in whatsoever temptation. It is no marvel that such atheists and papists who altogether refuse the word of God, live comfortless and die without comfort, because they refuse that instrument which should carry joy to them. Good reason they die athirst, since they reject that vessel, the word of God, by which they might be refreshed. Therefore since faith cometh by hearing of God's word, and all our comfort cometh by it, let us pray God to bore our ears and our hearts, that we may receive the glad tidings of reconciliation from God.

Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. The second petition ariseth very well from the first. For when we have obtained an assurance of God's favour, as he is reconciled to us in Jesus Christ, it followeth next that we should desire to conform our lives to the obedience of his commandments. For no man will frame himself to walk in God's ways till he be assured of God's favour. Therefore faith in God's promises is the most effectual cause to bring forth good works; and an assurance of justification the surest means to produce sanctification.

For I lift up my soul unto thee. Behold what a wonderful effect God worketh by afflictions: they depress and cast down the outward man, and our inward man by them is elevated and raised aloft; yea, the more we are afflicted, the more we are stirred up. The oftener the messenger of Satan is sent to buffet us, the more earnestly (with Paul) we cry unto the Lord to be delivered (2 Corinthians 12:8). So if we be cast down to hell in our feelings, what the worse are we if by that we be raised up to heaven? --Archibald Symson.

Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the mourning, etc. To hear thy lovingkindness in the morning makes my waking to be saluted, as it were, with music; makes my troubles seem as if they were but dreams; makes me find it true that though "weeping may endure for a night, yet joy cometh in the morning": Psalms 30:5 ... It may well be said we hear this lovingkindness in the morning, seeing it makes it morning to us whensoever we hear it. --Sir Richard Baker.

Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning. If evil fall upon us in the night, we would have it removed ere the morning; if in the morning, we would not have it our bed fellow in the evening. We would have the Lord's promise run thus, -- Your sorrows shall not endure the whole night, your joy shall come long before the morning. The luxurious Emperor ?Smyndirides the Sybarite and his drunken mates sat and drank all the night, and slept all the day, insomuch that it was said of them, they never saw sunset nor sunrise. Such would we have the evils we suffer -- of so short continuance that, neither sunset nor sunrise might see us in our misery. This makes me wonder at that strange Egyptian beast called Pharaoh, who being demanded of Moses when he would have God's plague of the frogs removed, answered, "Tomorrow." Surely, here he spake not as a man, to whom one hour's trouble is accounted a day, a day a month, a month a year. For in leaving of two things we change our desires, and are much different.

Verse 8. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning. This is a short and sweet morning prayer. God hears early prayer, and lovingly responds to it. The smiles of his face, the sweetness of his voice, the gifts of his hand, bless the morning, bless all the day. Do we write and read experimentally? Then we know the blessedness of divine love. The subject is truly pleasant and precious. "Lovingkindness" is a favourite expression, is a choice theme of David's. It is used more in the Book of Psalms than in any other book in the Scriptures. Lovingkindness is love showing kindness; it is the sun of love shining with rays of kindness; the river of love sending forth streams of kindness; it is the heart of love uttering itself by words of kindness, doing deeds, and giving gifts of kindness.

Here it is the voice of the lovingkindness of the Lord that David desires to hear. This voice is the music of heaven, the joyful sound of the gospel, and it makes a jubilee in the Christian's heart. To him there is beauty, sweetness, fulness in the theme; it is his joy and rejoicing. This is the voice that speaks pardon. Pardon is through Jesus the medium of this kindness. Apart from this there is no hope of forgiveness. We plead this and realize pardon. "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions": Psalms 51:1. It is the Lord's lovingkindness that pardons me. This voice speaks peace: "The Lord will speak peace unto his people." Precious peace is the result of pardoning kindness. This voice also speaks joy. This is the alone and all sufficient source of joy. It is sought elsewhere, but found only here. It sweetens every bitter, and makes sweeter every sweet. It is a balsam for every wound, a cordial for every fear. The present is but a taste, but a drop of the future fulness of joy. How sweetly refreshing is the joy of the Lord's lovingkindness. This voice speaks hope. With the sweet music of this voice falling upon our ears, the night of hopelessness passes away, and the morning of expectation opens upon us. It assures us of supplies for our wants, of safety in danger, of endurance to the end, and of a glorious portion in eternity.

The morning is the season in which David desires to hear the voice of the lovingkindness of the Lord. The morning is a season often mentioned by him, and as a time of devotion is much prized by him. "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up": Psalms 5:3. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning: let it engage my thoughts and affections. It is well to have a subject like this to occupy our waking thoughts, and to take hold of our first desires. If other thoughts get into our hearts in the morning, we may not be able to turn them out all the day. Prayer and praise, reading and meditation, will be sweet with such a subject occupying and influencing our minds. They will be exercises of cheerfulness, freedom, and blessedness.

Cause me to hear this voice. It speaks every morning, but many ears are deaf to it. But while others are indifferent to it, cause me to hear it; let me not lose the opportunity: waken my ear morning by morning, so that I may hail the season and enjoy the privilege. And when the morning of eternity shall come, "cause me to hear the voice of thy lovingkindness" welcoming me to its joys. --W. Abbot, in "The Baptist Messenger", 1870.

Verse 8. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. The whole valley is surrounded by ranges of regal crags; but the mountain of the Gemmi, apparently absolutely inaccessible, is the last point to which you would turn for an outlet. A side gorge that sweeps up to the glaciers and snowy pyramids flashing upon you in the opposite direction is the route which you suppose your guide is going to take; and visions of pedestrians perilously scaling icy precipices, or struggling up to the middle through ridges of snow, begin to surround you, as the prospect of your own experience in this day's expedition. So convinced was I that the path must go in that direction, that I took a short cut, which I conceived would bring me again into the mule path at a point under the glaciers; but after scaling precipices and getting lost in a wood of firs in the valley, I was glad to rejoin my friend with the guide, and to clamber on in pure ignorance and wonder ... Now what a striking symbol is this of things that sometimes take place in our spiritual pilgrimage. We are often brought to a stand, hedged up and hemmed in by the providence of God so that there seems no way out. A man is sometimes thrown into difficulties in which he sits down beginning to despair, and says to himself, "Well, this time it is all over with me"; like Sterne's starling, or, worse, like Bunyan's man in the cage, he says, "I cannot get out." Then when God has drawn him from all self confidence and self resource, a door opens in the wall and he rises up, and walks at liberty, praising God. --George Barrell Cheerer, 1807-.

Verse 8-10. After thou hast prayed, observe what God doth towards thee; especially how lie doth guide thy feet and heart after prayer; there is much in that. That which was the spirit of supplication in a man when he prayed, rests upon him as the spirit of obedience in his course. That dependence which he hath upon God for the mercy he seeks for is a special motive and means to keep him fearful of offending, and diligent in duty. He looks to his paths, and endeavours to behave himself as becomes a suitor, as well as to pray as a suitor. David walked by this principle when he said (Psalms 66:18), "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me"; that consideration still came in as a curb unto sin. Therefore David, in these verses, when he was to pray, even as for his life, for deliverance from his enemies, he specially prays God to direct him and keep him, that he might not sin against him; for he knew that by sinning he should enervate and spoil all his prayers. He cries not only "Hear me speedily", but also, "Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; teach me to do thy will." This he especially prays for, more than for deliverance, for else he knew God would not hear him. Therefore when thou art in treaty with God for any mercy, observe, doth God still after praying keep thee in a more obedient frame of spirit? If so, it is a sign he intends to answer thee. The same is true when he keeps thee from using ill means, etc. When he meant to give David the kingdom, he kept him innocent, and made his heart tender, so that it smote him but for cutting off the lap of Saul's garment. --Thomas Goodwin.

EXPOSITION

Verse 9. Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies. Many foes beset us, we cannot overcome them, we cannot even escape from them; but Jehovah can and will rescue us if we pray to him. The weapon of all prayer will stand us in better stead than sword and shield. I flee unto thee to hide me. This was a good result from his persecutions. That which makes us flee to our God may be an ill wind, but it blows us good. There is no cowardice in such flight, but much holy courage. God can hide us out of reach of harm, and even out of sight Of it. He is our hiding place; Jesus has made himself the refuge of his people: the sooner, and the more entirely we flee to him the better for us. Beneath the crimson canopy of our Lord's atonement believers are completely hidden; let us abide there and be at rest. In the seventh verse our poet cried, "Hide not thy face", and here he prays, "Hide me." Note also how often he uses the words "unto thee"; he is after his God; lie must travel in that direction by some means, even though he may seem to be beating a retreat; his whole being longs to be near the Lord. Is it possible that such thirsting for God will be left unsupplied? Never, while the Lord is love.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 9. Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies. In the former verse he desireth God's mercy and lovingkindness, and that he might be showed the way wherein he should walk: now he desireth to be free of temporal danger. This is a good method in prayer, first to seek the kingdom of God and spiritual graces, for then all other things shall be added to us. We seek in vain temporal deliverances of God if we neglect to seek spiritual graces, which are most necessary for us.

As for enemies, the church and her members neither have wanted nor shall want innumerable foes, against whom we can only oppose God's protection. In number, in power, in policy and subtilty they are ever above us. There is no help for us against them all but our gracious God. Esau came with four hundred against Jacob, a naked man, with his wife, children, and droves of cattle. But Mahanaim was with him; he was guarded by God's angels. And, therefore, since the church of God in France, Germany, and elsewhere is in danger of the Leviathan and the sons of Anak, let us run to the Lord, and cry unto him, -- O God Jehovah, who art one against all, deliver thy church from her enemies, who likewise are thy enemies. --Archibald Symson.

Verse 9. I flee unto thee to hide me. Is David's valour come to this, that ho is come now to be glad to fly? Had he not done better to have died valiantly than to fly basely? O my soul, to fly is not always a sign of baseness; it is not always a point of valour to stand to it; but then to fly when we feel our own weakness, and to him to fly, in whom is our strength -- this is, if not valour, at least wisdom, but it is, to say true, both wisdom and true valour. And now, O God, seeing I find my own weakness, and know thy strength, what should I do but fly, and whither fly but only to thee? -- to thee, a strong fortress to all that build upon thee; to thee, a safe sanctuary to all that fly unto thee. --Sir Richard Baker.

Verse 9. I flee unto thee to hide me. This implies,

Happy soul, that, free from harms,

Rests within his Shepherd's arms!

Who his quiet shall molest?

Who shall violate his rest?

He who found the wandering sheep,

Loves, and still delights to keep. --James Smith, in "The Believer's Daily Remembrancer."

Verse 9. I flee unto thee to hide me. The Lord hid the prophets so that Ahab could not find them out: 1 Kings 18:13. If we will creep under his wings he will surely keep us. -- Archibald Symson.

Verse 9. I flee unto thee to hide me. It may be rendered, "With thee have I hid"; that is, myself: so Arama gives the sense. "I have hid myself with thee." Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi interpret it to this purpose, "I have hid my affairs, my straits and troubles, my difficulties and necessities, from men, and have revealed them unto thee, who alone can save." The Targum is, "I have appointed thy Word to be (my) Redeemer." --John Gill.

Verse 9-10. Be persuaded actually to hide yourselves with Jesus Christ. To have a hiding place and not to use it is as bad as to want one: fly to Christ; run into the holes of this rock. Three things must be done by all those that would hide themselves with Christ.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 9. Admirable points in this prayer to be imitated by us. There is,

Verse 9.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. How childlike -- "teach me"! How practical "Teach me to do"! How undivided in obedience -- "to do thy will"! To do all of it, let it be what it may. This is the best form of instruction, for its source is God, its object is holiness, its spirit is that of hearty loyalty. The man is hidden in the Lord, and spends his peaceful life in learning the will of his Preserver. A heart cannot long be desolate which is thus docile. For thou art my God. Who else can teach me as thou canst? Who else will care to do it but my God? Thou hast given me thyself, thou wilt surely give me lily teaching. If I have thee, may I not ask to have thy perfect mind? When the heart can sincerely call Jehovah "my God", the understanding is ready to learn of him, the will is prepared to obey him, the whole man is eager to please him. "Thy spirit is good." God is all spirit and all good. His essence is goodness, kindness, holiness: it is his nature to do good, and what greater good can he do to us than to hear such a prayer as that which follows -- Lead we into the land of uprightness? David would fain be among the godly, in a land of another sort from that which had cast him out. He sighed for the upland meadows of grace, the table lands of peace, the fertile plains of communion. He could not reach them of himself; he must be led there. God, who is good, can best conduct us to the goodly land. There is no inheritance like a portion in the land of promise, the land of precept, the land of perfectness. He who teaches us must put us into leading strings, and guide and conduct us to his own dwelling place in the country of holiness. The way is long, and steep, and he who goes without a divine leader will faint on the journey; but with Jehovah to lead it is delightful to follow, and there is neither stumbling nor wandering.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. He saith not, Teach me to know thy will, but to do thy will. God teaches us in three ways. First, by his word. Secondly, he illuminates our minds by the Spirit. Thirdly, he imprints it in our hearts and maketh us obedient to the same; for the servant who knoweth the will of his master, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes: Luke 12:47. --Archibald Symson.

Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. We are to pray that God would teach us to know, and then teach us to do, his will. Knowledge without obedience is lame, obedience without knowledge is blind; and we must never hope for acceptance if we offer the blind and the lame to God. --Vincent Alsop (-1703), in "The Morning Exercises."

Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. The Lord doth no sooner call his people to, himself, but as soon as ever he hath thus crowned them with these glorious privileges, and given them any sense and feeling of them, them they immediately cry out, O Lord, what shall I now do for thee? How shall I now live to thee? They know now that they are no more their own, but his; and therefore should now live to him.

It is true indeed obedience to the law is not required of us now as it was of Adam; it was required of him as a condition antecedent to life, but of those that be in Christ it is required only as a duty consequent to life, or as a rule of life, that seeing he hath purchased our lives in redemption, and actually given us life in vocation and sanctification, we should now live unto him, in all thankful and fruitful obedience, according to his will revealed in the moral law. It is a vain thing to imagine that our obedience is to have no other rule but the Spirit, without an attendance to the law: the Spirit is indeed the efficient cause of our obedience, and hence we are said to be "led by the Spirit" (Romans 8:14); but it is not properly the rule of our obedience, but the will of God revealed in his word, especially in the law, is the rule; the Spirit is the wind that drives us in our obedience; the law is our compass, according to which it steers our course for us: the Spirit and the law, the wind and the compass, can stand well together. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God (there is David's rule, viz., God's will revealed); Thy Spirit is good (there is David's wind, that enabled him to steer his course according to it). The Spirit of life doth free us from the law of sin and death; but not from the holy, and pure, and good, and righteous law of God. Romans 8:1-3. --Thomas Shepherd, in "The Sound Believer", 1671.

Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will, etc. We are inclined and enabled to good by the sanctifying Spirit. In the Christian religion, not only the precepts are good, but there goeth along with them the power of God to make us good. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good. The Spirit's direction hath strength joined with it. And he is a good Spirit, as he doth incline us to good. The Spirit is the only fountain of all goodness and holiness: Nehemiah 9:20, "Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them." Why is he so often called the good Spirit, but that all his operations tend to make men good and holy? Ephesians 5:9, "The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth." -- Thomas Manton.

Verse 10. Thy Spirit is good; lead me, says the Psalmist. And therefore it is a usual phrase in Romans 8:1-39, and Galatians 4:1-31, our being led by the Spirit. --Thomas Goodwin.

Verse 10. Lead me into the land of uprightness, into the communion of saints, that pleasant land of the upright; or into a settled course of holy living, which will lead to heaven, that land of uprightness, where holiness will be in perfection, and he that is holy will be holy still. We should desire to be led and kept safe to heaven, not only because it is a land of blessedness, but because it is a land of uprightness; it is the perfection of grace. -- Matthew Henry.

Verse 10. Lead me. Man by nature is as a cripple and blind, he cannot go upright unless he be led by a superior spirit; yea, he must be carried as an eagle carrieth her little ones, or as a mother her tender child. Think not that we can step one right step to heaven but by the conduct and convoy of God's Holy Spirit. Miserable are those who go without his conduction. --Archibald Symson.

Verse 10. The land of uprightness. Mishor is the name for the smooth upland downs of Moab (Deuteronomy 3:10 Joshua 13:17 20:8 Jeremiah 48:8,21). Derived from the root "yashar", "even, level plain", it naturally came to be used figuratively for equity, right, righteous, and uprightness. Malachi 2:6 Isaiah 11:4 Psalms 45:7 67:5 143:10. --Cunningham Geikie, in "Hours with the Bible", 1884.

Verse 10. The land of uprightness. The land of plainness, a land where no wickedness of men, and malice of Satan, vex the soul from day to day; a land where no rough paths and crooked turns lengthen out the traveller's weary journey (see Psalms 143:5); but where all is like the smooth pasture lands of Reuben (Deuteronomy 3:10 Joshua 13:9), a fit place for flocks to lie down. --Andrew A. Bonar.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 10. Two childlike requests -- "Teach me ... lead me."

Verse 10. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1519, "At School."

Verse 10. (first half.)

Verse 10. Teach me to do thy will. We may call this sentence a description of David's school; and it is a very complete one; at least, it hath in it the three best things that belong to a school.

Verse 10. (latter half.)

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 11. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's. sake. Oh for more life as well as more light! Teaching and leading call for invigoration, or we shall be dull scholars and slow pilgrims. Jehovah, the Lord and giver of life, is the only one from whom life can come to renew and revive us; -- hence, the prayer is to him only. Perchance a servant might teach and lead, but only the Master can enliven. We are often near to death, and hence each one may fitly cry, "Quicken me"; but what is there in us which we can plead as a reason for such a favour? Nothing, literally nothing. We must beg it for his name's sake. He must quicken us because he is the living God, the loving God, the Lord who delighteth in mercy. What blessed arguments lie clustered together in his glorious name! We need never cease praying for want of acceptable pleas; and we may always fall back upon the one before us -- "thy name's sake." It will render the name of Jehovah the more glorious in the eyes of men if he creates a high degree of spiritual life in his servants; and this is a reason for his doing so, which we may urge with much confidence.

For thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. Let men see that thou art on the side of right, and that thou wilt not allow the wicked to ride roughshod over those who trust in thee. Thou hast promised to succour thy people; thou art not unrighteous to forget their work of faith; thou art, on the contrary, righteous in answering sincere player, and in comforting thy people. David was heavily afflicted. Not only was there trouble in his soul, but his soul was in trouble; plunged in it as in a sea, shut up in it as in a prison. God could bring him out of it, and especially he could at once lift up his soul or spirit out of the ditch. The prayer is an eager one, and the appeal a bold one. We may be sure that trouble was soon over when the Lord heard such supplications.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 11. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake. For the sake of thine own glory, that thou mayest show thyself to be the God of lovingkindness and power which thou art esteemed to be. --Andrew Robert Fausset.

Verse 11. For thy righteousness' sake. It is worthy of observation that the Psalmist pleads God's righteousness as the Foundation on which he bases his supplication for the deliverance of his soul from trouble, and God's lovingkindness or mercy as that on which he grounds his prayer, or his conviction, that God will destroy his enemies. This is not the language of a revengeful and bloodthirsty spirit. --Speaker's Commentary.

Verse 11. Bring my soul out of trouble. I can bring it in, but thou only canst bring it out. -- John Trapp.

Verse 11-12. Thy name's sake ... thy righteousness' sake ... And of thy mercy. Mark here, my soul, with what three cords David seeks to draw God to grant him his suits: for his name's sake, for his righteousness' sake, and for his mercy's sake, -- three such motives, that it must be a very hard suit that God will deny, if either of them be used. But though all the three be strong motives, yet as David riseth in his suits, so he may seem also to rise in his motives; and by this account; for his righteousness' sake will prove a motive of a higher degree than for his name's sake, and for his mercy's sake the highest of them all -- as indeed his mercy seat is the highest part of all his ark, if it be not rather that as the attributes of God, so these motives, that are drawn from the attributes, are of equal preeminence. But if the three motives be all of them so strong, being each of them single, how strong would they be if they were all united, and twisted, I may say, into one cord? And united they are all, indeed, into a motive, which God hath more clearly revealed to us than he did to David (although it be strange, seeing it was his Lord; and yet not strange, seeing it was his son); and this is the motive: for thy Son Christ Jesus' sake; for he is the verbum abbreviatum the Word in brief, in whom are included all the motives -- all the powerful motives -- that can be used to God for obtaining our suits. --Sir Richard Baker.

Verse 11-12. The verbs in these two last verses, as Dr. Hammond hath noted, should be rendered in the future; "Thou shalt quicken", etc., and then the psalm will end, as usual, with an act of faith and assurance, that all those mercies, which have been asked, shall be obtained; that God, for the sake of his "name", and his "righteousness", of his glory, and his faithfulness in the performance of his promises, will not fail to be favourable and gracious to his servants, "quickening" them even when dead in trespasses and sins, and bringing them, by degrees, "out of all their troubles": going forth with them to the battle against their spiritual "enemies", and enabling them to vanquish the authors of their "affliction" and misery, to mortify the flesh, and to overcome the world; that so they may triumph with their Redeemer, in the day when he shall likewise quicken their mortal bodies, and put all enemies under their feet. --George Horne.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 11. (first clause.)

Verse 11. (second clause.) How is the righteousness of God concerned in our deliverance from trouble?

EXPOSITION

Verse 12. And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul. He believes that it will be so, and thus prophesies the event; for the words may be read as a declaration, and it is better so to understand them. We could not pray just so with our Christian light; but under Old Testament arrangements the spirit of it was congruous to the law. It is a petition which justice sanctions, but the spirit of love is not at home in presenting it. We, as Christians, turn the petition to spiritual use only. Yet David was of so generous a mind, and dealt so tenderly with Saul, that he could hardly have meant all that his words are made in our version to say. For I am lay servant; and therefore I hope that my Master will protect me in his service, and grant me victory while I fight his battles. It is a warrior's prayer, and smells of the dust and smoke of battle. It was heard, and therefore it was not asking amiss. Still there is a more excellent way.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 12. Of thy mercy cut off mine enemies. He desireth God to slay his enemies in his mercy, when rather their destruction was a work of his justice? I answer, that the destruction of the wicked is a mercy to the church. As God showed great mercy and kindness to his church by the death of Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Herod, and other troublers thereof. --Archibald Symson.

Verse 12. Cut off mine enemies, etc. When you find these imprecations to be prophecies of events which the Psalmist himself could not understand; but were to be fulfilled in persons whom the Psalmist could not know, as they were to live in distant future ages, -- for instance, Judas, and the Romans, and leaders of the Jewish nation, -- who would make these imprecations proofs of a revengeful spirit? --James Bennet (1774- 1862), in "Lectures on the Acts of the Apostles", 1847.

Verse 12. I am thy servant. David the king professes himself one of God's pensioners. Paul, when he would blaze his coat of arms, and set forth his best heraldry, he doth not call himself Paul, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, or Paul of the tribe of Benjamin, but Paul "a servant of Christ": Romans 1:1. Theodosius thought it a greater dignity to be God's servant than to be an emperor. Christ Himself, who is equal with his Father, yet is not ashamed of the title servant: Isaiah 53:11. Every servant of God is a son, every subject a prince: it is more honour to serve God than to have kings to serve us: the angels in heaven are servants to the saints. --Thomas Watson.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 12.

WORKS ON THE HUNDRED AND FORTY-THIRD PSALM.

Meditations And Disqvisitions Upon The Three last Psalms of David Pss. 102., 130., 143.. By Sr. Richard Baker, Knight, London, ... 1639. The above is scarce, but will be found in Mr. Higham's Reprint of Sir R. Baker on the Psalms.]

A Sacred Septenarie, Or, A Godly And Fruitfull Exposition on the Seven Psalms Of Repentance... by Mr. Archibald Symson ... London, 1638 4to., contains an Exposition of this Psalm, pp. 276-308. There is an Exposition of Psalm 143., in Vol. 1., pp. 35-66, Of "Sermons chiefly designed for the Use of Families, by John Fawcett, A.M. 2 Vols. 8vo, second edition, Carlisle; 1818."

Psalms 144

PSALM 144 OVERVIEW.

Albeit that this Psalm is in some measure very similar to Psalms 18:1-50, yet it is a new song, and in its latter portion it is strikingly so. Let the reader accept it as a new psalm, and not as a mere variation of an old one, or as two compositions roughly joined together. It is true that it would be a complete composition if the passage from Psalms 144:12-15 were dropped; but there are other parts, of David's poems which might be equally self contained if certain verses were omitted; and the same might be said of many uninspired sonnets. It does not, therefore, follow that the latter part was added by another hand, nor even that the latter part was a fragment by the same author, appended to the first song merely with the view of preserving it. It seems to us to be highly probable that the Psalmist, remembering that he had trodden some of the same ground before, felt his mind moved to fresh thought, and that the Holy Spirit used this mood for his own high purposes. Assuredly the addendum is worthy of the greatest Hebrew poet, and it is so admirable in language, and so full of beautiful imagery, that persons of taste who were by no means overloaded with reverence have quoted it times without number, thus confessing its singular poetical excellence. To us the whole psalm appears to be perfect as it stands, and to exhibit such unity throughout that it would be a literary Vandalism, as well as a spiritual crime, to rend away one part from the other.

Title. Its title is "Of David", and its language is of David, if ever language can belong to any man. As surely as we could say of any poem, this is of Tennyson, or of Longfellow, we may say, This is of David. Nothing but the disease which closes the eye to manifest fact and opens it to fancy, could have led learned critics to ascribe this song to anybody but David. Alexander well says, "The Davidic origin of this psalm is as marked as that of any in the Psalter."

It is to God the devout warrior sings when he extols him as his strength and stay (Ps 144:1-2). Man he holds in small account, and wonders at the Lord's regard for him (Ps 144:3-4); but he turns in his hour of conflict to the Lord, who is declared to be "a man of war", whose triumphant interposition he implores (Psalms 144:5-8). He again extols and entreats in Psalms 144:9-11 and then closes with a delightful picture of the Lord's work for his chosen people, who are congratulated upon having such a God to be their God.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. Blessed be the LORD my strength. He cannot delay the utterance of his gratitude, he bursts at once into a loud note of praise. His best word is given to his best friend -- "Blessed be Jehovah." When the heart is in a right state it must praise God, it cannot be restrained; its utterances leap forth as waters forcing their way from a living spring. With all his strength David blesses the God of his strength. We ought not to receive so great a boon as strength to resist evil, to defend truth, and to conquer error, without knowing who gave it to us, and rendering to him the glory of it. Not only does Jehovah give strength to his saints, but he is their strength. The strength is made theirs because God is theirs. God is full of power, and he becomes the power of those who trust him. In him our great strength lieth, and to him be blessings more than we are able to utter. It may be read, "My Rock"; but this hardly so well consorts with the following words:

Which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. The word rock is the Hebrew way of expressing strength: the grand old language is full of such suggestive symbols. The Psalmist in the second part of the verse sets forth the Lord as teacher in the arts of war. If we have strength we are not much the better unless we have skill also. Untrained force is often an injury to the man who possesses it, and it even becomes a danger to those who are round about him; and therefore the Psalmist blesses the Lord as much for teaching as for strength. Let us also bless Jehovah if he has in anything made us efficient. The tuition mentioned was very practical, it was not so much of the brain as of the hands and fingers; for these were the members most needful for conflict. Men with little scholastic education should be grateful for deftness and skill in their handicrafts. To a fighting man the education of the hands is of far more value than mere book learning could ever be; he who has to use a sling or a bow needs suitable training, quite as much as a scientific man or a classical professor. Men are too apt to fancy that an artisan's efficiency is to be ascribed to himself; but this is a popular fallacy. A clergyman may be supposed to be taught of God, but people do not allow this to be true of weavers or workers in brass; yet these callings are specially mentioned in the Bible as having been taught to holy women and earnest men when the tabernacle was set up at the first. All wisdom and skill are from the Lord, and for them he deserves to be gratefully extolled. This teaching extends to the smallest members of our frame; the Lord teaches fingers as well as hands; indeed, it sometimes happens that if the finger is not well trained the whole hand is incapable.

David was called to be a man of war, and he was eminently successful in his battles; he does not trace this to his good generalship or valour, but to his being taught and strengthened for the war and the fight. If the Lord deigns to have a hand in such unspiritual work as fighting, surely he will help us to proclaim the gospel and win souls; and then we will bless his name with even greater intensity of heart. We will be pupils, and he shall be our Master, and if we ever accomplish anything we will give our Instructor hearty blessing.

This verse is full of personality; it is mercy shown to David himself which is the subject of grateful song. It has also a presence about it; for Jehovah is now his strength, and is still teaching him; we ought to make a point of presenting praise while yet the blessing is on the wing. The verse is also preeminently practical, and full of the actual life of every day; for David's days were spent in camps and conflicts. Some of us who are grievously tormented with rheumatism might cry, "Blessed be the Lord, my Comforter, who teacheth my knees to bear in patience, and my feet to endure in resignation"; others who are on the look out to help young converts might say, "Blessed be God who teaches my eyes to see wounded souls, and my lips to cheer them"; but David has his own peculiar help from God, and praises him accordingly. This tends to make the harmony of heaven perfect when all the singers take their parts; if, we all followed the same score, the music would not be so full and rich.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Whole Psalm. The psalm, in its mingled tones of prayer and praise, is a fit connecting link between the supplicatory psalms which go before, and the strains of thanksgiving which follow it. --Speaker's Commentary.

Whole Psalm. After six psalms of sorrowful prayer in distress, we have now a psalm of praise and thanksgiving for God's gracious answer to supplications; and also a psalm of intercession. The present psalm bears a strong resemblance to David's last song in 2Sa 22:51 and to Psalms 18:1-50. Here we have a vision of Christ rejoicing; -- after his passion -- risen in glory, and having ascended in triumph, and pleading for us at the right hand of God. --Christopher Wordsworth.

Whole Psalm. This psalm is ruled by the numbers ten and seven. Ten verses complete the first part of the psalm, which falls into two divisions. The first portion contains, in Ps 144:1-2, ten attributes of God, -- three and seven, the seven divided into four and three. In like manner it contains ten requests to God in Psalms 144:5-7, divided precisely as the attributes. To this significance of the number ten for the first part, allusion is pointedly made in Psalms 144:9. Seven blessings are prayed for in the second part, four in Psalms 144:12-13, (valiant sons, beautiful daughters, full storehouses, numerous flocks), and three in Ps 144:14 (labouring oxen, no breach and diminution, no cry). The whole contains, apart from the closing epiphonem, which, as usual, stands outside the formal arrangement, seven strophes, each of two verses.

An objection has been brought against the Davidic authorship from the "traces of reading" it contains. But one would require to consider more exactly, what sort of reading is here to be thought of. It is only the psalms of David which form the ground work of this new psalm. But that it is one of David's peculiarities to derive from his earlier productions a foundation for new ones, is evident from a variety of facts, which, if any doubt must still be entertained on the subject, would obtain a firm ground to stand upon in this psalm, which can only have been composed by David. The way and manner of the use made of such materials is to be kept in view. This is always of a spirited and feeling nature, and no trace anywhere exists of a dead borrowing. That we cannot think here of such a borrowing; that the appropriation of the earlier language did not proceed from spiritual impotence, but rested upon deeper grounds, is manifest from the consideration of the second part, where the dependence entirely ceases, and where even the opponents of the Davidic authorship have not been able to overlook the strong poetical spirit of the time of David. They betake themselves to the miserable shift of affirming, that the Psalmist borrowed this part of the psalm from a much older poem now lost. --E.W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 1. Blessed be the LORD. A prayer for further mercy is fitly begun with a thanksgiving for former mercy; and when we are waiting upon God to bless us, we should stir up ourselves to bless him. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 1. The LORD my strength, etc. Agamemnon says to Achilles -- If thou hast strength, 'twas heaven that strength bestowed;

For know, vain man! thy valour is from God. --Homer.

Verse 1. My strength (Heb. "my rock"). The climax should be noted; the rock, or cliff, comes first as the place of refuge, then the fortress or fastness, as a place carefully fortified, then the personal deliverer, without whose intervention escape would have been impossible. --Speaker's Commentary.

Verse 1. The LORD ... teacheth: and not as man teacheth. Thus he taught Gideon to fight with the innumerable host of Midian by sending to their homes twenty-two thousand, and retaining but ten thousand of his soldiers: and then again by reducing that remnant to the little band of three hundred who lapped when brought down to the water. Thus he taught Samson by abstaining from strong drink, and by suffering no razor to pass over his head. Thus he taught the three kings in the wilderness to war against their enemies, not by any strength of their armies, but by making ditches in the desert. Thus he taught David himself by waiting for the sound of the going in the tops of the mulberry trees. And so he taught the arms of the True David to fight when stretched on the cross: nailed, to human sight, to the tree of suffering, but, in reality, winning for themselves the crown of glory: helpless in the eyes of scribes and Pharisees; in those of archangels, laying hold of the two pillars, sin and death, whereon the house of Satan rested, and heaving them up from, their foundation. --Ayguan, in Neale and Littledale.

Verse 1. The LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war. There were three qualities of a valiant soldier found in Christ, the Captain of our salvation, in his war against Satan, which his followers are bound to emulate: boldness in attack, skill in defence, steadiness in conflict, all which he teaches by his example (Matthew 4:1,4,7,10-11). He was bold in attack, for he began the combat by going up into the wilderness to defy the enemy. So we, too, should be always beforehand with Satan, ought to fast, even if not tempted to gluttony, and be humble, though not assailed by pride, and so forth. He was skilful in defence, parrying every attack with Holy Writ; where we, too, in the examples of the saints, may find lessons for the combat. He was steadfast in conflict, for he persevered to the end, till the devil left him, and angels came and ministered unto him; and we, too, should not be content with repelling the first attack, but persevere in our resistance until evil thoughts are put to flight, and heavenly resolutions take their place. --Neale and Littledale.

Verse 1. Teacheth my hands. Used to the hook and harp, and not to the sword and spear; but God hath apted and abled them to feats of arms and warlike exploits. It is God that giveth skill and success, saith Solomon (Proverbs 8:1-36); wisdom and ability, saith Daniel (Da 2:1-49). And as in the spiritual warfare, so here; our weapons are "mighty through God" (2 Corinthians 10:4), who promises that no weapon formed against his people shall prosper (Isa 54:17). --John Trapp.

Verse 1. To war, ... to fight. I want to speak of a great defect among us, which often prevents the realization of going "from strength to strength"; viz., the not using, not trading with, the strength given. We should not think of going to God for money only to keep it in the bank. But are we not doing this with regard to strength? We are constantly asking for strength for service; but if we are not putting this out in hearty effort, it is of no use to us. Nothing comes of hoarded strength.

"Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my finger to fight." David, you see, was looking for strength for a purpose. Some people seem to expect strength, but never attempt to put forth their hands to war, and their fingers to fight -- there is so little venturing upon God, so little use of grace given, partly from fear of man, partly from indolence and worldly mindedness. It is not for us to be merely luxuriating in the power which God supplies. Action strengthens, and before we have a right to ask for an increase, we must use that already given. --Catherine Pennefather, in "Service", 1881.

Verse 1. Is not the spiritual victory of every believer achieved by God? Truly it is he who teaches his hands to war and his fingers to fight; and when the final triumph shall be sung in heaven, the victor's song will be, "Not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake." --John Morison.

Verse 1. My hands for fight, my fingers for war. Fight and war are both verbs and nouns in English, but the Hebrew words are nouns with the article prefixed. -- Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 1. My fingers to fight. Probably the immediate reference here is to the use of the bow, -- placing the arrow, and drawing the string. --Albert Barnes.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1.

Verse 1. Things not to be forgotten by the Christian Soldier.

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. Now our royal poet multiplies metaphors to extol his God.

My goodness, and my fortress. The word for goodness signifies mercy. Whoever we may be, and wherever we may be, we need mercy such as can only be found in the infinite God. It is all of mercy that he is any of the other good things to us, so that this is a highly comprehensive title. O how truly has the Lord been mercy to many of us in a thousand ways! He is goodness itself, and he has been unbounded goodness to us. We have no goodness of our own, but the Lord has become goodness to us. So is he himself also our fortress and safe abode: in him we dwell as behind impregnable ramparts and immovable bastions. We cannot be driven out, or starved out; for our fortress is prepared for a siege; it is stored with abundance of food, and a well of living water is within it. Kings usually think much of their fenced cities, but King David relies upon his God, who is more to him than fortresses could have been.

My high tower, and my deliverer. As from a lofty watchtower the believer, trusting in the Lord, looks down upon his enemies. They cannot reach him in his elevated position; he is out of bow shot; he is beyond their scaling ladders; he dwells on high. Nor is this all; for Jehovah is our Deliverer as well as our Defender. These different figures set forth the varied benefits which come to us from our Lord. He is every good thing which we can need for this world or the next. He not only places us out of harm's way full often, but when we must be exposed, he comes to our rescue, he raises the siege, routs the foe, and sets us in joyous liberty.

My shield, and he in whom I trust. When the warrior rushes on his adversary, he bears his target upon his arm, and thrusts death aside; thus doth the believer oppose the Lord to the blows of the enemy, and finds himself secure from harm. For this and a thousand other reasons our trust rests in our God for everything; he never fails us, and we feel boundless confidence in him.

Who subdueth my people under me. He keeps my natural subjects subject, and my conquered subjects peaceful under my sway. Men who rule others should thank God if they succeed in the task. Such strange creatures are human beings, that if a number of them are kept in peaceful association under the leadership of any one of the Lord's servants, he is bound to bless God every day for the wonderful fact. The victories of peace are as much worthy of joyful gratitude as the victories of war. Leaders in the Christian church cannot maintain their position except as the Lord preserves to them the mighty influence which ensures obedience and evokes enthusiastic loyalty. For every particle of influence for good which we may possess let us magnify the name of the Lord.

Thus has David blessed Jehovah for blessing him. How many times he has appropriated the Lord by that little word My! Each time he grasps the Lord, he adores and blesses him; for the one word Blessed runs through all the passage like a golden thread. He began by acknowledging that his strength for fighting foreign enemies was of the Lord, and he concluded by ascribing his domestic peace to the same source. All round as a king he saw himself to be surrounded by the King of kings, to whom he bowed in lowly homage, doing suit and service on bent knee, with grateful heart admitting that he owed everything to the Rock of his salvation.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. My goodness, etc. This way of using the word in a passive sense, as in the Hebrew, sounds harshly; just as elsewhere (Psalms 18:50) he calls himself "God's king", not in the sense of his having dominion over God, but being made and appointed king by him. Having experienced God's kindness in so many ways, he calls him "his goodness", meaning that whatever good he possessed flowed from him. The accumulation of terms, one upon another, which follows, may appear unnecessary, yet it tends greatly to strengthen faith. We know how unstable men's minds are, and especially how soon faith wavers, when they are assailed by some trial of more than usual severity. --John Calvin.

Verse 2. My fortress. David calls God by names connected with the chief deliverances of his life. The psalms abound in local references and descriptive expressions, e.g. Psalms 18:2 (and in this place). The word translated "fortress" is metzuriah or masada. From 1 Samuel 23:29, I have no doubt that he is speaking of Masada, an isolated peak 1,500 feet high, on which was a stronghold. --James Wareing Bardsley, in "Glimpses through the Veil", 1883.

Verse 2. My high tower. Such towers were erected on mountains, on rocks, or on the walls of a city, and were regarded as safe places mainly because they were inaccessible. So the old castles in Europe, -- as that at Heidelberg, and generally those along the Rhine, -- were built on lofty places, and in such positions as not to be easily accessible. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 2. My shield. The Hebrew word signifies, not the huge shield which was carried by an armourbearer, but the handy target with which heroes entered into hand to hand conflicts. A warrior took it with him when he used his bow or his sword. It was often made of metal, but still was portable, and useful, and was made to serve as an ornament, being brightened or anointed with oil. David had made abundant use of the Lord, his God, from day to day, in battles many and murderous. --C.H.S.

Verse 2. Who subdueth my people under me. David, accordingly, having ascribed the victories he had gained over foreign enemies to God, thanks him at the same time for the settled state of the kingdom. Raised indeed as he was from an obscure station, and exposed to hatred from calumnious charges, it was scarcely to have been believed that he would ever obtain a peaceable reign. The people had suddenly, and beyond expectation, submitted to him; and so surprising a change was eminently God's work. --John Calvin.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 2. Double flowers.

Verse 2. A Group of Titles. Notice,

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? What a contrast between Jehovah and man! The Psalmist turns from the glorious all sufficiency of God to the insignificance and nothingness of man. He sees Jehovah to be everything, and then cries, "Lord, what is man!" What is man in the presence of the Infinite God? What can he be compared to? He is too little to be described at all; only God, who knows the most minute object, can tell what man is. Certainly he is not fit to be the rock of our confidence: he is at once too feeble and too fickle to be relied upon. The Psalmist's wonder is that God should stoop to know him, and indeed it is more remarkable than if the greatest archangel should make a study of emmets, or become the friend of mites. God knows his people with a tender intimacy, a constant, careful observation: he foreknew them in love, he knows them by care, he will know them in acceptance at last. Why and wherefore is this? What has man done? What has he been? What is he now that God should know him, and make himself known to him as his goodness, fortress, and high tower? This is an unanswerable question. Infinite condescension can alone account for the Lord stooping to be the friend of man. That he should make man the subject of election, the object of redemption, the child of eternal love, the darling of infallible providence, the next of kin to Deity, is indeed a matter requiring more than the two notes of exclamation found in this verse.

Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! The son of man is a weaker being still, -- so the original word implies. He is not so much man as God made him, but man as his mother bore him; and how can the Lord think of him, and write down such a cipher in his accounts? The Lord thinks much of man, and in connection with redeeming love makes a great figure of him: this can be believed, but it cannot be explained. Adoring wonder makes us each one cry out, Why dost thou take knowledge of me? We know by experience how little man is to be reckoned upon, and we know by observation how greatly he can vaunt himself, it is therefore meet for us to be humble and to distrust ourselves; but all this should make us the more grateful to the Lord, who knows man better than we do, and yet communes with him, and even dwells in him. Every trace of the misanthrope should be hateful to the believer; for if God makes account of man it is not for us to despise our own kind.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. LORD, what is man, etc. Now what is man when grace reveals

The virtues of a Saviour's blood?

Again a life divine he feels,

Despises earth, and walks with God.

And what in yonder realms above,

Is ransomed man ordained to be?

With honour, holiness, and love,

No seraph more adorned than he. Nearest the throne, and first in song.

Man shall his hallelujahs raise,

While wondering angels round him strong,

And swell the chorus of his praise. --John Newton, in Olney Hymns.

Verse 3. LORD, what is man? Take him in his four elements, of earth, air, fire, and water. In the earth, he is as fleeting dust; in the air, he is as a disappearing vapour; in the water, he is as a breaking bubble; and in the fire, he is as consuming smoke. --William Seeker, in "The Nonsuch Professor."

Verse 3-4. LORD, what is man, etc. There is no book so well worthy reading as this living one. Even now David spake as a king of men, of people subdued under him: now he speaks as a humble vassal to God: LORD, what is man that thou takest knowledge of him? In one breath is both sovereignty and subjugation: an absolute sovereignty over his people: My people are subdued under me; an humble subjection to the God of kings; "LORD, what is man?" Yea, in the very same word wherein, is the profession of that sovereignty, there is an acknowledgment of subjection: "Thou hast subdued my people." In that he had a people, he was a king: that they might be his people, a subjection was requisite; and that subjugation was God's, and not his own: "Thou hast subdued." Lo, David had not subdued his people, if God had not subdued them for him. He was a great king, but they were a stiff people: the God that made them swayed them to a due subjection. The great conquerors of worlds could not conquer hearts, if he, that moulded hearts, did not temper them. "By me kings reign", saith the Eternal Wisdom; and he that had courage enough to encounter a bear, a lion, Goliath, yet can say, "Thou hast subdued my people."

Contrarily, in the lowliest subjection of himself, there is an acknowledgment of greatness. Though he abused himself with, "What is man?" yet, withal he adds, "Thou takest knowledge of him, thou makest account of him": and this knowledge, this account of God, doth more exalt man than his own vanity can depress him. My text, then, ye see, is David's rapture, expressed in an ecstatical question of sudden wonder; a wonder at God, and at man: man's vileness; "What is man?" God's mercy and favour, in his knowledge, in his estimation of man. Lo, there are but two lessons that we need to take out here, in the world, God and man; man, in the notion of his wretchedness; God, in the notion of his bounty.

Let us, if you please, take a short view of both; and, in the one, see cause of our humiliation; of our joy and thankfulness in the other: and if, in the former, there be a sad Lent of mortification; there is, in the latter, a cheerful Easter of our raising and exaltation.

Many a one besides David wonders at himself: one wonders at his own honour; and, though he will not say so, yet thinks, "What a great man am I! Is not this great Babel, which I have built?" This is Nebuchadnezzar's wonder. Another wonders at his person, and finds, either a good face, or a fair eye, or an exquisite hand, or a well shaped leg, or some gay fleece, to admire in himself: this was Absalom's wonder. Another wonders at his wit and learning: "How came I by all this? Turba haec! This vulgar, that knows not the law, is accursed": this was the Pharisee's wonder. Another wonders at his wealth; "Soul, take thine ease"; as the epicure in the gospel. David's wonder is as much above, as against all these: he wonders at his vileness: like as the Chosen Vessel would boast of nothing but his infirmities: "LORD, what is man?"

How well this hangs together! No sooner had he said, "Thou hast subdued my people under me", than he adds, "LORD, what is man?" Some vain heart would have been lifted up with a conceit of his own eminence; "Who am I? I am not as other men. I have people under me; and people of my own, and people subdued to me"; this is to be more than a man. I know who hath said, "I said ye are gods." --Joseph Hall.

Verse 3. Dr. Hammond refers this psalm to the slaying of Goliath, and thus understands the appellation "son of man", -- "David was but a young stripling, the youngest and most inconsiderable of all the sons of Jesse, who also was himself an ordinary man."

Verse 3. Thou takest knowledge of him. It is a great word. Alas! what knowledge do we take of the gnats that play in the sun; or the ants, or worms, that are crawling in our grounds? Yet the disproportion betwixt us and them is but finite; infinite betwixt God and us. Thou, the Great God of Heaven, to take knowledge of such a thing as man. If a mighty prince shall vouchsafe to spy and single out a plain homely swain in a throng, as the Great Sultan did lately a tankard bearer; and take special notice of him, and call him but to a kiss of his hand and nearness to his person; he boasts of it as a great favour: for thee, then, O God, who abasest thyself to behold the things in heaven itself, to cast thine eye upon so poor a worm as man, it must needs be a wonderful mercy. --Exigua pauperibus magna; as Nazianzen to his Amphilochius. -- Joseph Hall.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 3. A note of interrogation, exclamation, and admiration.

Verse 3. The question,

Verse 3.

--George Brooks, in "The Homiletic Commentary", 1879.

Verse 3. Worthless man much regarded by the mighty God. Sermon by Ebenezer Erskine. Works 3, pp. 141-162.

Verse 3. It is a wonder above all wonders, that ever the great God should make such account of such a thing as man.

--Joseph Alleine.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. Man is like to vanity. Adam is like to Abel. He is like that which is nothing at all. He is actually vain, and he resembles that unsubstantial empty thing which is nothing but a blown up nothing, -- a puff, a bubble. Yet he is not vanity, but only like it. He is not so substantial as that unreal thing; he is only the likeness of it. Lord, what is a man? It is wonderful that God should think of such a pretentious insignificance.

His days are as a shadow that passeth away. He is so short lived that he scarcely attains to years, but exists by the day, like the ephemera, whose birth and death are both seen by the self same sun. His life is only like to a shadow, which is in itself a vague resemblance, an absence of something rather than in itself an existence. Observe that human life is not only as a shade, but as a shade which is about to depart. It is a mere mirage, the image of a thing which is not, a phantasm which melts back into nothing. How is it that the Eternal should make so much of mortal man, who begins to die as soon as he begins to live?

The connection of the two verses before us with the rest of the psalm is not far to seek: David trusts in God and finds him everything; he looks to man and sees him to be nothing; and then he wonders how it is that the great Lord can condescend to take notice of such a piece of folly and deceit as man.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. Man is like to vanity As he that goeth to a fair, with a purse full of money, is devising and debating with himself how to lay it out -- possibly thinking that such and such commodities will be most profitable, and bring him in the greatest gain -- when on a sudden a cut purse comes and eases him both of his money and care how to dispose of it. Surely you might have taken notice how some of thy neighbours or countrymen, when they have been busy in their contrivances, and big with many plots and projects how to raise their estate and names and families, were arrested by death in a moment, returned to their earth, and in that day all their gay, their great thoughts perished, and came to nothing. The heathen historian could not but observe how Alexander the Great, when he had to carry on his great designs, summoned a parliament before him of the whole world, he was himself summoned by death to appear in the other world. The Dutch, therefore, very wittily to express the world's vanity, picture at Amsterdam a man with a full blown bladder on his shoulders, and another standing by pricking the bladder with a pin, with this motto, quam subito, How soon is all blown down! --George Swinnock.

Verse 4. Man is like to vanity. When Cain was born, there was much ado about his birth; "I have gotten a man child from God", saith his mother: she looked upon him as a great possession, and therefore called his name Cain, which signifies "a possession." But the second man that was born unto the world bare the title of the world, "vanity"; his name was Abel, that is, "vanity." A premonition was given in the name of the second man what would or should be the condition of all men. In Psalms 144:4 there is an allusion unto those two names. We translate it, "Man is like to vanity"; the Hebrew is, "Adam is as Abel"; Adam, you know, was the name of the first man, the name of Abel's father; but as Adam was the proper name of the first, so it is an appellative, or common to all men: now Adam, that is, man of all men, are Abel, vain, and walking in a vain show. --Joseph Caryl.

Verse 4. Man is like to vanity, etc. The occasion of the introduction of these sentiments here is not quite clear. It may be the humility of the warrior who ascribes all success to God instead of to human prowess, or it may be a reflection uttered over the corpses of comrades, or, perhaps a blending of the two. --A.S. Aglen.

Verse 4. Man is like to vanity, etc. With what idle dreams, what foolish plans, what vain pursuits, are men for the most part occupied! They undertake dangerous expeditions and difficult enterprises in foreign countries, and they acquire fame; but what is it? -- Vanity! They pursue deep and abstruse speculations, and give themselves to that "much study which is a weariness to the flesh", and they attain to literary renown, and survive in their writings; but what is it? -- Vanity! They rise up early, and sit up late, and eat the bread of anxiety and care, and thus they amass wealth; but what is it? -- Vanity! They frame and execute plans and schemes of ambition -- they are loaded with honours and adorned with titles -- they afford employment for the herald, and form a subject for the historian; but what is it? -- Vanity! In fact, all occupations and pursuits are worthy of no other epithet, if they are not preceded by, and connected with, a deep and paramount regard to the salvation of the soul, the honour of God, and the interests of eternity ... Oh, then, what phantoms, what airy nothings are those things that wholly absorb the powers and occupy the days of the great mass of mankind around us! Their most substantial good perishes in the using, and their most enduring realities are but "the fashion of this world that passeth away." --Thomas Raffles, 1788-1863.

Verse 4. A shadow that passeth away. The shadows of the mountains are constantly shifting their position during the day, and ultimately disappear altogether on the approach of night: so is it with man who is every day advancing to the moment of his final departure from this world. --Bellarmine.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4. He is nothing, he pretends to be something, he is soon gone, he ends in nothing as to this life; yet there is a light somewhere.

Verse 4. The Shadow World.

Verse 4. The brevity of our earthly life.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down. The heavens are the Lord's own, and he who exalted them can bow them. His servant is struggling against bitter foes, and he finds no help in men, therefore he entreats Jehovah to come down to his rescue. It is, indeed, a coming down for Jehovah to interfere in the conflicts of his tried people. Earth cries to heaven to stoop; nay, the cry is to the Lord of heaven to bow the heaven, and appear among the sons of earth. The Lord has often done this, and never more fully than when in Bethlehem the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us: now doth he know the way, and he never refuses to come down to defend his beloved ones. David would have the real presence of God to counterbalance the mocking appearance of boastful man: eternal verity could alone relieve him of human vanity.

Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. It was so when the Lord appeared on Sinai; the strongest pillars of earth cannot bear the weight of the finger of God. He is a consuming fire, and his touch kindles the peaks of the Alps, and makes them smoke. If Jehovah would appear, nothing could stand before him; if the mighty mountains smoke at his touch, then all mortal power which is opposed to the Lord must end in smoke. How long suffering he is to his adversaries, whom he could so readily consume. A touch would do it; God's finger of flame would set the hills on fire, and consume opposition of every kind.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. Bow thy heavens. This expression is derived from the appearance of the clouds during a tempest: they hang low, so as to obscure the hills and mountains, and seem to mingle earth and heaven together. Such an appearance is figuratively used to depict the coming of God, to execute vengeance upon the enemies of his people. See Psalms 18:10, and other instances. --William Walford.

Verse 5. Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down, etc. This was never so remarkably fulfilled as in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, when heaven and earth were, as it were, brought together. Heaven itself was, as it were, made to bow that it might be united to the earth. God did, as it were, come down and bring heaven with him. He not only came down to the earth, but he brought heaven down with him to men and for men. It was a most strange and wonderful thing. But this will be more remarkably fulfilled still by Christ's second coming, when he will indeed bring all heaven down with him -- viz., all the inhabitants of heaven. Heaven shall be left empty of its inhabitants to come down to the earth; and then the mountains shall smoke, and shall indeed flow down at his presence, as in Isaiah 64:1. --Jonathan Edwards.

Verse 5. Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. The meaning is, when God doth but lay his hand upon great men, upon the mightiest of the world, he makes them smoke or fume, which some understand of their anger; they are presently in a passion, if God do but touch them. Or we may understand it of their consumption. A smoking mountain will soon be a burnt mountain. In our language, to make a man smoke is a proverbial expression for destroying or subduing. --Joseph Caryl.

Verse 5-6. Bow thy heavens, Jehovah,

Come down in thy might;

Let the rays of thy glory

The mountaintops light.

With the bolts of thy thunder

Discomfit my foe,

With the flash of thine arrows

Their force overthrow. --William Digby Seymour.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5. Condescension, visitation, contact, and conflagration.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them. The Eternal can hurl his lightnings wheresoever he pleases, and effect his purpose instantaneously. The artillery of heaven soon puts the enemy to flight: a single bolt sets the armies running hither and thither in utter rout.

Shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. Jehovah never misses the mark; his arrows are fatal to his foes when he goes forth to war. It was no common faith which led the poet king to expect the Lord to use his thunderbolts on behalf of a single member of that race which he had just now described as "like to vanity." A believer in God may without presumption expect the Almighty Lord to use on his behalf all the stores of his wisdom and power: even the terrible forces of tempest shall be marshalled to the fight, for the defence of the Lord's chosen. When we have once mastered the greater difficulty of the Lord's taking any interest in us, it is but a small thing that we should expect him to exert his great power on our behalf. This is far from being the only time in which this believing warrior had thus prayed: Psalms 18:1-50 is specially like the present; the good man was not abashed at his former boldness, but here repeats himself without fear.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. Cast forth lightning. The Hebrew here is, "Lighten lightning"; that is, Send forth lightning. The word is used as a verb nowhere else. --Albert Barnes.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. Send thine hand from above. Let thy long and strong arm be stretched out till thine hand seizes my foes, and delivers me from them.

Rid me, and deliver me out of great waters. Make a Moses of me, -- one drawn out of the waters. My foes pour in upon me like torrents, they threaten to overwhelm me; save me from their force and fury; take them from me, and me from them.

From the hand of strange children. From foreigners of every race; men strange to me and thee, who therefore must work evil to me, and rebellion against thyself. Those against whom he pleaded were out of covenant with God; they were Philistines and Edomites; or else they were men of his own nation of black heart and traitorous spirit, who were real strangers, though they bore the name of Israel. Oh to be rid of those infidel, blaspheming beings who pollute society with their false teachings and hard speeches! Oh to be delivered from slanderous tongues, deceptive lips, and false hearts! No wonder these words are repeated, for they are the frequent cry of many a tried child of God; -- "Rid me, and deliver me." The devil's children are strange to us: we can never agree with them, and they will never understand us: they are aliens to us, and we are despised by them. O Lord, deliver us from the evil one, and from all who are of his race.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Send thine hand from above. Hebrew, hands, both hands, all thy whole power, for I need it. --John Trapp.

Verse 7. Rid me, and deliver me. Away, you who theorize about suffering, and can do no more than descant upon it, away! for in the time of weeping we cannot endure your reasonings. If you have no means of delivering us, if you have nothing but sententious phrases to offer, put your hands on your mouths; enwrap yourselves in silence! It is enough to suffer; but to suffer and listen to you is more than we can bear. If Job's mouth was nigh unto blasphemy, the blame is yours, ye miserable comforters, who talked instead of weeping. If I must suffer, then I pray for suffering without fine talk! --E. De Pressense.

Verse 7. Rid me, and deliver me ... from the hand of strange children. We must remember that as the Grecians (conceiting themselves the best bred people in the world) called all other nations "barbarians"; so the people of Israel, the stock of Abraham (being God's peculiar covenant people), called all other nations "aliens" or "strangers"; and because they were hated and maligned by all other nations, therefore they called all professed strangers enemies; so the word is used (Isaiah 1:7), "Your land strangers shall devour"; that is, enemies shall invade and prevail over you. "Deliver me out of the hand of strange children", or out of the hand of strangers; that is, out of the hand of mine enemies. The Latin word alienus is often put for hostis, and the Roman orator (Cicero) telleth us that "he who is now called a stranger was called an enemy by our ancestors." The reason was because strangers proved unkind to, yea, turned enemies against those that entertained them. -- Joseph Caryl.

Verse 7. Strange children. He calls them strangers, not in respect of generic origin, but character and disposition. --John Calvin.

Verse 7. The strange children, now the enemies of David, shall be either won to willing subjection, or else shall be crushed under the triumphant Messiah (Psalms 2:1-12). The Spirit by David spake things the deep significance of which reached further than even he understood (1 Peter 1:11-12). --Andrew Robert Fausset.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7-8,. 11. Repetitions, not vain. Repetitions in prayer are vain when they result from form, thoughtlessness, or superstition; but not, e.g.,

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. Whose mouth speaketh vanity. No wonder that men who are vanity speak vanity. "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own. "They cannot be depended upon, let them promise as fairly as they may: their solemn declarations are light as the foam of the sea, in no wise to be depended upon. Good men desire to be rid of such characters: of all men deceivers and liars are among the most disgusting to true hearts.

And their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. So far their hands and their tongues agree, for they are vanity and falsehood. These men act as falsely as they speak, and prove themselves to be all of a piece. Their falsehood is right handed, they lie with dexterity, they deceive with all their might. It is a dreadful thing when a man's expertness lies more in lies than in truth; when he can neither speak nor act without proving himself to be false. God save us from lying mouths, and hands of falsehood.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. Whose mouth speaketh vanity, etc. Two things go naturally together in the verse - - the lying tongue and deceitful hand. The meaning is that upon the matter in hand nothing was to be looked for from any of their promises, since it was only to deceive that they flattered with their mouth and gave the hand. --John Calvin.

Verse 8. Their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. The pledge of the right hand, which used to be a witness of good faith, was violated by treachery and wickedness. -- Cicero. Philip. xi. c. 2.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 8. What is "a right hand of falsehood"? Ask the hypocrite, the schemer, the man of false doctrine, the boaster, the slanderer, the man who forgets his promise, the apostate. EXPOSITION Verse 9 . I will sing a new song unto thee, O God. Weary of the false, I will adore the true. Fired with fresh enthusiasm, my gratitude shall make a new channel for itself. I will sing as others have done; but it shall be a new song, such as no others have sung. That song shall be all and altogether for my God: I will extol none but the Lord, from whom my deliverance has come. Upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. His hand should aid his tongue, not as in the case of the wicked, cooperating in deceit; but his hand should unite with his mouth in truthful praise. David intended to tune his best instruments as well as to use his best vocal music: the best is all too poor for so great a God, and therefore we must not fall short of our utmost. He meant to use many instruments of music, that by all means he might express his great joy in God. The Old Testament dispensation abounded in types, and figures, and outward ritual, and therefore music dropped naturally into its place in the "worldly sanctuary"; but, after all, it can do no more than represent praise, and assist our expression of it; the real praise is in the heart, the true music is that of the soul. When music drowns the voice, and artistic skill takes a higher place than hearty singing, it is time that instruments were banished from public worship; but when they are subordinate to the song, as here, it is not for us to prohibit them, or condemn those who use them, though we ourselves greatly prefer to do without them, since it seems to us that the utmost simplicity of praise is far more congruous with the spirit of the gospel than pomp of organs. The private worshipper, singing his solo unto the Lord, has often found it helpful to accompany himself on some familiar instrument, and of this David in the present psalm is an instance, for he says, "I will sing praise unto thee", -- that is, not so much in the company of others as by himself alone. He saith not "we", but "I." EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 9 . Psaltery -- an instrument of ten strings . Nebelazor. We are led to the conclusion that the nebel was the veritable harp of the Hebrews. It could not have been large, because it is so frequently mentioned in the Bible as being carried in processions ... The English translators render nebel (apparently without any special reason) by no less than four words; psaltery, psalm, lute, viol. The first of these is by far the most common in the Authorized Version, and is no doubt the most correct translation if the word be understood in its true sense as a portable harp. Nebels were made of fir wood, and afterwards of almug, or algum, which was, perhaps, the red sandalwood of India ... With nebel is often associated the word azor, which is traced to a root signifying ten, and which has therefore been rendered in the Septuagint by by en dekacordw or as yalthrion dekacordon, (psalterium decem chordarum) or in dechachordo psalterio in the Vulgate. In the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic versions also are found words implying the existence of ten strings in the nebelazor. The word azor may therefore be considered as qualifying or describing the special kind of nebel to be used, much in the same way as we now speak of a trichord pianoforte. It is in our English version always rendered by the words "ten stringed." --John Stainer, in "The Music of the Bible", 1882. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 9 . For God's Ear. The Singer. A grateful heart. The Song. Full of Praise. New. The Accompaniment: "Psaltery." Helps to devotion. Give God the best. The Auditor and Object of the eulogium: "Thee, O God." --W.B.H.

EXPOSITION

Verse 10. It is he that giveth salvation unto kings. Those whom the Lord sets up he will keep up. Kings, from their conspicuous position, are exposed to special danger, and when their lives and their thrones are preserved to them they should give the Lord the glory of it. In his many battles David would have perished had not almighty care preserved him. He had by his valour wrought salvation for Israel, but he lays his laurels at the feet of his Lord and Preserver. If any men need salvation kings do, and if they get it the fact is so astonishing that it deserves a verse to itself in the psalm of praise.

Who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. He traces his escape from death to the delivering hand of God. Note, he speaks in the present tense -- delivereth, for this was an act which covered his whole life. He puts his name to the confession of his indebtedness: it is David who owns without demur to mercy given to himself. He styles himself the Lord's servant, accepting this as the highest title he had attained or desired.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 10. It is he that giveth salvation unto kings. Ferdinand, king of Aragon, sending his son against the Florentines, thus bespake him: Believe me, son, victories are not gotten by art or subtlety, but given of God. --John Trapp.

Verse 10. It is he that giveth salvation unto kings. What a doctrine this for the kings and great men of the earth to remember! Could they be brought to feel and acknowledge it, they would not trust to the sagacity of their own councils, nor to the strength of their own arm; but would ever remember that the Most High is the ruler among the nations, and that he putteth down one and raiseth up another according to the dictates of his own all perfect will. Such remembrances as this would stain the pride of all human glory, and would lead men to feel that the Lord alone is to be exalted. --John Morison.

EXPOSITION

Verse 11. Because of what the Lord had done, David returns to his pleading. He begs deliverance from him who is ever delivering him.

Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children. This is in measure the refrain of the song, and the burden of the prayer. He desired to be delivered from his open and foreign adversaries, who had broken compacts, and treated treaties as vain things.

Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. He would not strike hands with those who carried a lie in their right hand: he would be quit of such at once, if possible. Those who are surrounded by such serpents know not how to deal with them, and the only available method seems to be prayer to God for a riddance and deliverance. David in Psalms 144:7, according to the original, had sought the help of both the Lord's hands, and well he might, for his deceitful enemies, with remarkable unanimity, were with one mouth and one hand seeking his destruction.

Riddance from the wicked and the gracious presence of the Lord are sought with a special eye to the peace and prosperity which will follow thereupon. The sparing of David's life would mean the peace and happiness of a whole nation. We can scarcely judge how much of happiness may hang upon the Lord's favour to one man.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 11. This psalm is the language of a prince who wished his people's prosperity: that their "garners might be full of all manner of stores"; that their "sheep might bring forth thousands and ten thousands in their streets"; that their "oxen" might be fat for slaughter, or "strong for labour"; that there might be neither robbery nor beggary in their streets: no oppressive magistrates, nor complaining people: and as if all these blessings were to be derived from the character of the people, and the character of the people from the education they had received, our text is a prayer for the youth of Judea. --Robert Robinson (1735-1790), in "The Nature and Necessity of Early Piety."

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 11. Persons from whom it is a mercy to escape: those alien to God, vain in conversation, false in deed.

Verse 11-12. The Nature and Necessity of early Piety. A Sermon preached to a Society of Young People, at Willingham, Cambridgeshire, on the First Day of the Year 1772. -- Robert Robinson.

EXPOSITION

Verse 12. God's blessing works wonders for a people.

That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth. Our sons are of first importance to the state, since men take a leading part in its affairs; and that the young men are the older men will be. He desires that they may be like strong, well rooted, young trees, which promise great things. If they do not grow in their youth, when will they grow? If in their opening manhood they are dwarfed, they will never get over it. O the joys which we may have through our sons! And, on the other hand, what misery they may cause us! Plants may grow crooked, or in some other way disappoint the planter, and so may our sons. But when we see them developed in holiness, what joy we have of them!

That our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace. We desire a blessing for our whole family, daughters as well as sons. For the girls to be left out of the circle of blessing would be unhappy indeed. Daughters unite families as corner stones join walls together, and at the same time they adorn them as polished stones garnish the structure into which they are builded. Home becomes a palace when the daughters are maids of honour, and the sons are nobles in spirit; then the father is a king, and the mother a queen, and royal residences are more than outdone. A city built up of such dwellings is a city of palaces, and a state composed of such cities is a republic of princes.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 12. The reminiscences or imitations of Psalms 18:1-50, suddenly cease here, and are followed by a series of original, peculiar, and for the most part or no doubt antique expressions. Oil the supposition that the title is correct in making David the author, this is natural enough. On any other supposition it is unaccountable, unless by the gratuitous assumption, that this is a fragment of an older composition, a mode of reasoning by which anything may be either proved or disproved. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 12. That our sons may be as plants, etc. They who have ever been employed in the cultivation of plants of any kind, are continually tempted to wish that the human objects of their care and culture would grow up as rapidly, as straight, as flourishing, would as uniformly fulfil their specific idea and purpose, as abundantly reward the labour bestowed on them ... If our sons are indeed to grow up as young plants, like our English oaks, which according to the analogies of Nature, furnish no inappropriate type of our national character, they must not be stunted or dwarfed or pollarded, for the sake of being kept under the shade of a stranger. They should grow up straight toward heaven, as God had ordained them to grow ... There is something so palpable and striking in this type, that twenty-five years ago, in speaking of the gentlemanly character, I was led to say, "If a gentleman is to grow up he must grow like a tree: there must be nothing between him and heaven." --Julius Charles Hare, in a Sermon entitled "Education the Necessity of Mankind", 1851.

Verse 12. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, etc. Thus David prays for the rising generation. Metaphors seem generally unsuitable to prayer, but they do not wear this aspect in the prayers recorded in the Scriptures. The language of the text is tropical, but the metaphors are suitable and seasonable. Roots of vegetables are necessarily invisible. Tender plants are insignificant. A plant grown up, having height in its stem, width in its branches, abundance in its foliage, and fulness in its bloom, is conspicuous. David prays that the sons of that generation might be in their youth "as plants grown up", that is, that their piety might not only live, but that their godliness might be fully expressed. The stones of a foundation are concealed. The stones in the mid wall of a building are also necessarily hid. The stones on the surface of a wall are visible, but they are not distinguished. The cornerstone of buildings in that day was prominent and eminent. Placed at the angle of the structure, where two walls met, on the top of the walls, and being richly ornamented and polished, it attracted attention. David prays that the daughters of that day might make an open and lovely profession of religion -- that both sons and daughters might not only have piety but show it. - -Samuel Martin, in "Cares of Youth."

Verse 12. "Plants grown up" "Corner stones polished." These processes of growth and polish can be carried on in one place only, the church of Christ. --Neale and Littledale.

Verse 12. That our daughters may be as corner stones, etc. "The polished corners of the temple", rather "the sculptured angles, the ornament, of a palace." Great care and much ornament were bestowed by the ancients upon the angles of their splendid palaces. It is remarkable that the Greeks made use of pilasters, called Caryatides (carved after the figure of a woman dressed in long robes), to support the entablatures of their buildings. --Daniel Cresswell.

Verse 12. That our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace or temple. By daughters families are united and connected to their mutual strength, as the parts of a building are by the cornerstones; and when they are graceful and beautiful both in body and mind, they are then polished after the similitude of a nice and curious structure. When we see our daughters well established, and stayed with wisdom and discretion, as cornerstones are fastened in the building; when we see them by faith united to Christ, as the chief cornerstone, adorned with the graces of God's Spirit, which are the polishing of that which is naturally rough, and "become women professing godliness"; when we see them purified and consecrated to God as living temples, we think ourselves happy in them. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 12. That our daughters may be as corner stones, etc. One might perhaps at the first glance have expected that the daughters of a household would be as the graceful ornament of the clustering foliage or the fruit bearing tree, and the sons as the cornerstones upholding the weight and burden of the building, and yet it is the reverse here. And I think one may read the love and tenderness of the Lord in this apparently casual but intended expression, and that he meant the nations of the earth to know and understand how much of their happiness, their strength, and their security was dependent on the female children of a family. It has not been so considered in many a nation that knew not God: in polished Greece in times of old, and in some heathen nations even to this day, the female children of a family have been cruelly destroyed, as adding to the burdens and diminishing the resources of a household; and alas! too, even in Christian countries, if not destroyed, they are with equal pitiless and remorseless cruelty cut off from all the solace and ties and endearments of life, and immured in that living mockery of a grave, the cloister, that they may not prove incumbrances and hindrances to others! How contrary all this to the loving purpose of our loving God! whose Holy Spirit has written for our learning that sons and daughters are alike intended to be the ornament and grace, the happiness and blessing of every household. --Barton Bouchier.

Verse 12. After the similitude of a palace. Most interpreters give the last word the vague sense of "a palace." There is something, however, far more striking in the translation temple, found in the Prayer Book and the ancient versions. The omission of the article is a poetic license of perpetual occurrence. The temple was the great architectural model and standard of comparison, and particularly remarkable for the great size and skilful elaboration of its foundation stones, some of which, there is reason to believe, have remained undisturbed since the time of Solomon. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 12-15. In the former part of the psalm he speaks of such things as concern his own happiness: "Blessed be the Lord my strength" (Psalms 144:1); "Send thine hand from above; and deliver me out of great waters" (Psalms 144:7); "Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children" (Psalms 144:11). And he might as easily have continued the same strain in the clauses following: "That my sons may grow up as plants, my daughters may be as the polished corners of the temple, my sheep fruitful, my oxen strong, my garners full and plenteous"; and accordingly he might have concluded it also -- "Happy shall I be, if I be in such a case." This, I say, he might have done; nay, this he would have done, if his desires had reflected only upon himself. But being of a diffusive heart, and knowing what belonged to the neighbourhoods of piety, as loath to enjoy this happiness alone, he alters his style, and (being in the height of well wishes to himself) he turns the singular into a plural -- our sheep, our oxen, our garners, our sons and daughters, that he might compendiate all in this, -- Happy are the people. Here is a true testimony both of a religious and generous mind, who knew in his most retired thoughts to look out of himself, and to be mindful of the public welfare in his most private meditations. S. Ambrose observes it as a clear character of a noble spirit, to do what tends to the public good, though to his own disadvantage. --Richard Holdsworth (1590-1649), in "The Valley of Vision."

Verse 12-15. These words contain a striking picture of a prosperous and happy nation. We are presented with a view of the masculine youth of the nation by the oaks of the forest, become great in the early period of the vigour and excellency of the soil. They are represented in the distinguishing character of their sex, standing abroad the strength of the nation, whence its resources for action must be derived. On the other hand, the young females of a nation are exhibited under an equally just and proper representation of their position and distinguishing character. They are not exhibited by a metaphor derived from the hardier tenants of the forest, but they are shown to us by a representation taken from the perpetual accompaniments of the dwelling; they are the supports and the ornaments of domestic life. Plenty of every kind is represented to us in possession and in reasonable expectation. No breaking in, no invasion by a furious foe, oppresses the inhabitants of this happy country with terror; neither is there any going out. The barbarous practice employed by Sennacherib, and other ancient conquerors, of transporting the inhabitants of a vanquished country to some distant, unfriendly, and hated land, -- the practice at this moment employed, to the scandal of the name and the sorrow of Europe -- they dread not: they fear no "going out." Under circumstances of such a nature causes of distress or complaint exist not; or, if they do, they are capable of being so modified, and alleviated, and remedied, that there is no complaining in the streets. "Happy, then, is that people, that is in such a case." --John Pye Smith, 1775-1851.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 12. Youth attended with development, stability, usefulness, and spiritual health.

Verse 12. (first clause). To Young Men. Consider,

Verse 12. (second clause). To Young Women. Consider,

EXPOSITION

Verse 13. That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store. A household must exercise thrift and forethought: it must have its granary as well as its nursery. Husbands should husband their resources; and should not only furnish their tables but fill their garners. Where there are happy households, there must needs be plentiful provision for them, for famine brings misery even where love abounds. It is well when there is plenty, and that plenty consists of "all manner of store." We have occasionally heard murmurs concerning the abundance of grain, and the cheapness of the poor man's loaf. A novel calamity! We dare not pray against it. David would have prayed for it, and blessed the Lord when he saw his heart's desire. When all the fruits of the earth are plentiful, the fruits of our lips should be joyful worship and thanksgiving. Plenteous and varied may cur products be, that every form of want may be readily supplied.

That our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets, or rather in the open places, the fields, and sheep walks where lambs should be born. A teeming increase is here described. Adam tilled the ground to fill the garner, but Abel kept sheep, and watched the lambs. Each occupation needs the divine blessing. The second man who was born into this world was a shepherd, and that trade has ever held an important part in the economy of nations. Food and clothing come from the flock, and both are of first consideration.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 13. That our sheep may bring forth thousands, etc. The surprising fecundity of the sheep has been celebrated by writers of every class. It has not escaped the notice of the royal Psalmist, who, in a beautiful ascription of praise to the living and the true God, entreats that the sheep of his chosen people might "bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets." In another song of Zion, he represents, by a very elegant metaphor, the numerous flocks covering like a garment the face of the field: -- "The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing": Psalms 65:13. The bold figure is fully warranted by the prodigious numbers of sheep which whitened the extensive pastures of Syria and Canaan. In that part of Arabia which borders on Judea, the patriarch Job possessed at first seven thousand, and after the return of his prosperity, fourteen thousand sheep; and Mesha, the king of Moab, paid the king of Israel "a yearly tribute of a hundred thousand lambs, and an equal number of rams with the wool": 2 Kings 3:4. In the war which the tribe of Reuben waged with the Hagarites, the former drove away "two hundred and fifty thousand sheep": 1 Chronicles 5:21. At the dedication of the temple, Solomon offered in sacrifice "an hundred and twenty thousand sheep." At the feast of the passover, Josiah, the king of Judah, "gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance": 2 Chronicles 35:7. The ewe brings forth her young commonly once a year, and in more ungenial climes, seldom more than one lamb at a time. But twin lambs are as frequent in the oriental regions, as they are rare in other places; which accounts in a satisfactory manner for the prodigious numbers which the Syrian shepherd led to the mountains. This uncommon fruitfulness seems to be intimated by Solomon in his address to the spouse: -- "Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them": So 4:2. --George Paxton (1762-1837), in "Illustrations of Scripture."

Verse 13-14. Streets, though not incorrect, is an inadequate translation of the Hebrew word, which means external spaces, streets as opposed to the inside of houses, fields or country as opposed to a whole town. Here it includes not only roads but fields. -- Joseph Addison Alexander.

EXPOSITION

Verse 14. That our oxen may be strong to labour; so that the ploughing and cartage of the farm may be duly performed, and the husbandman's work may be accomplished without unduly taxing the cattle, or working them cruelly.

That there be no breaking in, nor going out; no irruption of marauders, and no forced emigration; no burglaries and no evictions.

That there be no complaining in our streets; no secret dissatisfaction, no public riot; no fainting of poverty, no clamour for rights denied, nor concerning wrongs unredressed. The state of things here pictured is very delightful: all is peaceful and prosperous; the throne is occupied efficiently, and even the beasts in their stalls are the better for it. This has been the condition of our own country, and if it should now be changed, who can wonder? For our ingratitude well deserves to be deprived of blessings which it has despised.

These verses may with a little accommodation be applied to a prosperous church, where the converts are growing and beautiful, the gospel stores abundant, and the spiritual increase most cheering. There ministers and workers are in full vigour, and the people are happy and united. The Lord make it so in all our churches evermore.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 14. That our oxen may be strong to labour. (Margin: "able to bear burdens", or, loaded with flesh.) As in the verse before he had ascribed the fruitfulness of the herds and flocks to God's goodness, so now the fattening of their oxen, to show that there is nothing relating to us here which he overlooks. -- John Calvin.

Verse 14. That our oxen may be strong to labour. Oxen were not only used for ploughing, thrashing, and drawing, but also for bearing burdens; compare 1 Chronicles 12:40, which passage is peculiarly fitted to throw light on the verse before us. Laden oxen presuppose a rich abundance of produce. --E.W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 14. That there be no complaining in our streets, etc. Rather, "and no cry of sorrow" (comp. Isaiah 24:11 Jeremiah 14:2 46:12) "in our open places", i.e., the places where the people commonly assembled near the gate of the city (comp. 2 Chronicles 32:6 Nehemiah 8:1). The word rendered "complaining" does not occur elsewhere in the psalter. -- Speaker's Commentary.

Verse 14. No complaining. No outcries but "Harvest homes." --John Trapp.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 14. A prayer for our ministers, and for the security, unity, and happiness of the church.

Verse 14. The prosperous Church. There --

EXPOSITION

Verse 15. Happy is that people that is in such a case. Such things are not to be overlooked. Temporal blessings are not trifles, for the miss of them would be a dire calamity. It is a great happiness to belong to a people so highly favoured.

Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD. This comes in as an explanation of their prosperity. Under the Old Testament Israel had present earthly rewards for obedience: when Jehovah was their God they were a nation enriched and flourishing. This sentence is also a sort of correction of all that had gone before; as if the poet would say -- all these temporal gifts are a part of happiness, but still the heart and soul of happiness lies in the people being right with God, and having a full possession of him. Those who worship the happy God become a happy people. Then if we have not temporal mercies literally we have something better: if we have not the silver of earth we have the gold of heaven, which is better still.

In this psalm David ascribes his own power over the people, and the prosperity which attended his reign, to the Lord himself. Happy was the nation which he ruled; happy in its king, in its families, in its prosperity, and in the possession of peace; but yet more in enjoying true religion and worshipping Jehovah, the only living and true God.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 15. Happy is that people, etc. We have in the text happiness with an echo, or ingemination; "happy" and "happy." From this ingemination arise the parts of the text; the same which are the parts both of the greater world and the less. As the heaven and earth in the one, and the body and soul in the other; so are the passages of this Scripture in the two veins of happiness. We may range them as Isaac does the two parts of his blessing (Genesis 27:28); the vein of civil happiness, in "the fatness of the earth"; and the vein of Divine happiness, in "the fatness of heaven." Or (if you will have it out of the gospel), here's Martha's portion in the "many things" of the body; and Mary's better part in the unum necessarium of the soul. To give it yet more concisely, here's the path of prosperity in outward comforts, "Happy is that people that is in such a case"; and the path of piety in comforts spiritual: Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

In the handling of the first, without any further subdivision, I will only show what it is the Psalmist treats of; and that shall be by way of gradation, in these three particulars. It is De Felicitate; De Felicitate Populi; De Hac Felicitate Populi: of happiness; of the people's happiness; of the people's happiness, as in such a case.

Happiness is the general, and the first: a noble argument, and worthy of an inspired pen, especially the Psalmist's. Of all other there can be none better to speak of popular happiness than such a king; nor of celestial, than such a prophet. Yet I mean not to discourse of it in the full latitude, but only as it hath a peculiar posture in this psalm, very various and different from the order of other psalms. In this psalm it is reserved to the end, as the close of the foregoing meditations. In other psalms it is set in the front, or first place of all; as in Psalms 32:1- 11, in Psalms 112:1-10, in Psalms 119:1-176, and in the Psalms 128:1-6. Again, in this the Psalmist ends with our happiness and begins with God's. "Blessed be the LORD my strength." In Ps 41:1-13, contrary, he makes his exordium from man's; "Blessed is he that considereth the poor"; his conclusion with God's; "Blessed be the Lend God of Israel." I therefore observe these variations, because they are helpful to the understanding both of the essence and splendour of true happiness. To the knowledge of the essence they help, because they demonstrate how our own happiness is enfolded in the glory of God, and subordinate unto it. As we cannot begin with beatus unless we end with benedictus: so we must begin with benedictus that we may end with beatus. The reason is this, -- because the glory of God is as well the consummation as the introduction to a Christian's happiness. Therefore as in the other psalm he begins below and ends upwards; so in this, having begun from above with that which is principal, "Blessed be the LORD"; he fixes his second thoughts upon the subordinate, "Blessed, or happy, are the people." He could not proceed in a better order: he first looks up to God's kingdom, then reflects upon his own, as not meaning to take blessedness before he had given it. -- Richard Holdsworth.

Verse 15. Happy is that people, that is in such a case, etc. The first part of this text hath relation to temporal blessings, "Blessed is the people that be so": the second to spiritual, "Yea, blessed is the people while God is the LORD." "His left hand is under my head", saith the spouse (Song of Solomon 2:6); that sustains me from falling into murmuring, or diffidence of his providence, because out of his left hand he hath given me a competency of his temporal blessings; "But his right hand doth embrace me", saith the spouse there; his spiritual blessings fill me, possess me so that no rebellious fire breaks out within me, no outward temptation breaks in upon me. So also Solomon says again, "In her left hand is riches and glory" (temporal blessings) "and in her right hand length of days" (Proverbs 3:16), all that accomplishes and fulfils the eternal joys of the saints of heaven. The person to whom Solomon attributes this right and left hand is Wisdom; and a wise man may reach out his right and left hand, to receive the blessings of both sorts. And the person whom Solomon represents by Wisdom there, is Christ himself. So that not only a worldly wise man, but a Christian wise man may reach out both hands, to both kinds of blessings, right and left, spiritual and temporal.

Now, for this first blessedness, as no philosophers could ever tell us amongst the Gentiles what true blessedness was, so no grammarian amongst the Jews, amongst the Hebrews, could ever tell us what the right signification of this word is, in which David expresses blessedness here; whether asherei, which is the word, be a plural noun, and signify beatitudines, blessednesses in the plural, and intimate thus much, that blessedness consists not in any one thing, but in a harmony and consent of many; or whether this asherei be an adverb, and signify beate, and so be an acclamation, O how happily, how blessedly are such men provided for that are so; they cannot tell. Whatsoever it be, it is the very first word with which David begins his Book of Psalms; beatus vir; as the last word of that book is, laudate Dominum; to show that all that passes between God and man, from first to last, is blessings from God to man, and praises from man to God; and that the first degree of blessedness is to find the print of the hand of God even in his temporal blessednesses, and to praise and glorify him for them in the right use of them. A man that hath no land to hold by it, nor title to recover by it, is never the better for finding, or buying, or having a fair piece of evidence, a fair instrument, fairly written, duly sealed, authentically testified; a man that hath not the grace of God, and spiritual blessings too, is never the nearer happiness, for all his abundances of temporal blessedness. Evidences are evidences to them who have title. Temporal blessings are evidences to them who have a testimony of God's spiritual blessings in the temporal. Otherwise, as in his hands who hath no title, it is a suspicious thing to find evidences, and he will be thought to have embezzled and purloined them, he will be thought to have forged and counterfeited them, and he will be called to an account for them, how he came by them, and what he meant to do with them: so to them who have temporal blessings without spiritual, they are but useless blessings, they are but counterfeit blessings, they shall not purchase a minute's peace here, nor a minute's refreshing to the soul hereafter; and there must be a heavy account made for them, both how they were got, and how they were employed. -- John Donne.

Verse 15. Happy is that people, etc. It is only a narrow and one sided religion that can see anything out of place in this beatitude of plenty and peace. If we could rejoice with the psalms fully and without misgiving, in the temporal blessings bestowed by heaven, we should the more readily and sincerely enter into the depths of their spiritual experience. And the secret of this lies in the full comprehension and contemplation of the beautiful and pleasant as the gift of God. --A.S. Aglen.

Verse 15. Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD. "Yea, happy." This is the best wine, kept to the last, though all men be not of this opinion. You shall hardly bring a worldly man to think so. The world is willing enough to misconstrue the order of the words, and to give the priority to civil happiness, as if it were first in dignity, because 'tis first named: they like better to hear of the cui sic than the cui Dominus. To prevent this folly, the Psalmist interposes a caution in this corrective particle, "yea, happy." It hath the force of a revocation, whereby he seems to retract what went before, not simply and absolutely, but in a certain degree, lest worldly men should wrest it to a misinterpretation. It is not an absolute revocation, but a comparative; it doth not simply deny that there is some part of popular happiness in these outward things, but it prefers the spirituals before them: "Yea", that is, Yea more, or, Yea rather; like that of Christ in the Gospel, when one in the company blessed the womb that bare him, he presently replies, "Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it": Luke 11:28. In like manner, the prophet David, having first premised the inferior part and outside of a happy condition; fearing lest any should of purpose mistake his meaning, and, hearing the first proposition, should either there set up their rest, and not at all take up the second; or if they take it in, do it preposterously, and give it the precedence before the second, according to the world's order, Virtus post nummos. In this respect he puts in the clause of revocation, whereby he shows that these outward things, though named first, yet they are not to be reputed first. The particle "Yea" removes them to the second place; it tacitly transposes the order; and the path of piety, which was locally after, it places virtually before. 'Tis as if he had said, Did I call them happy who are in such a case? Nay, miserable are they if they be only in such a case: the temporal part cannot make them so without the spiritual. Admit the windows of the visible heaven were opened, and all outward blessings poured down upon us; admit we did perfectly enjoy whatsoever the vastness of the earth contains in it; tell me, What will it profit to gain all and lose God? If the earth be bestowed upon us, and not heaven; or the material heaven be opened, and not the beatifical; or the whole world made ours, and God not ours; we do not arrive at happiness. All that is in the first proposition is nothing unless this be added, "Yea, happy are the people which have the Lord for their God." -- Richard Holdsworth.

Verse 15. Thrice happy nations, where with look benign

Thine aspect bends; beneath thy smile divine

The fields are with increasing harvests crown'd,

The flocks grow fast, and plenty reigns around,

Nor sire, nor infant son, black death shall crave,

Till ripe with age they drop into the grave;

Nor fell suspicion, nor relentless care,

Nor peace destroying discord enter there,

But friends and brothers, wives and sisters, join

The feast in concord and in love divine. --Callimachus.

Verse 15. David having prayed for many temporal blessings in the behalf of the people from Psalms 144:12-15, at last concludes, Blessed are the people that are in such a case; but presently he checks and corrects himself, and eats, as it were, his own words, but rather, happy is that people whose God is the Lord. The Syriac rendereth it question wise, "Is not the people (happy) that is in such a case?" The answer is, "No", except they have God to boot: Psalms 146:5. Nothing can make that man truly miserable that hath God for his portion, and nothing can make that man truly happy that wants God for his portion. God is the author of all true happiness; he is the donor of all true happiness; he is the maintainer of all true happiness, and he is the centre of all true happiness; and, therefore, he that hath him for his God, and for his portion, is the only happy man in the world. --Thomas Brooks.

Verse 15. Whose God is JEHOVAH. A word or name well known to us English, by our translators now often retaining that name in the mention of God in our English Bible, and therefore we shall do well to retain it. Lord was a lower word, in common acceptation, than God. But JEHOVAH is a higher name than either, and more peculiar, incommunicable, and comprehensive. Exodus 6:3: "I appeared" (saith the Lord) "unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them."

To have God to be our Jehovah is the insurance of happiness to us. For of many, observe but these two things in the name Jehovah: First, God's absolute independency -- that he is of himself omnipotent, Exodus 3:14: "And God said, I AM THAT I AM." Secondly, God's faithfulness, that he cannot but be as good as his word, Exodus 6:2-4, 6: "And I have also established my covenant with them; wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am JEHOVAH (so in the Hebrew), and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians." So that this name is our security of God's performance. Examine we therefore our bonds, and bills, that is, his promises to us; behold, they are all the promises of Jehovah; they must stand good, for they bear his name; they must reflect his name, and promote both our good and God's grand design. --Nathanael Homes, 1678.

With this prayer of Jehovah's anointed One end the prayers of the Book of Psalms. The remaining six psalms consist exclusively of praise and high Hallelujahs. --Lord Congleton, in "The Psalms: a new Version, with Notes", 1875.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 15. The peculiar happiness of those whose God is the Lord.

Psalms 145

PSALM 145 OVERVIEW.

This is one of the alphabetical psalms, composed with much art, and, doubtless, so arranged that the memory might be aided. The Holy Spirit condescends to use even the more artificial methods of the poet, to secure attention, and impress the heart.

Title. David's Psalm Of Praise. It is David's, David's very own, David's favourite. It is David's Praise just as another (Psalms 86:1-17) is David's Prayer. It is altogether praise, and praise pitched in a high key. David had blessed God many a time in other psalms, but this he regarded as his peculiar, his crown jewel of praise. Certainly David's praise is the best of praise, for it is that of a man of experience, of sincerity, of calm deliberation, and of intense warmth of the heart. It is not for any one of us to render David's praise, for David only could do that, but we may take David's psalm as a model, and aim at making our own personal adoration as much, like it as possible: we shall be long before we equal our model. Let each Christian reader present his own praise unto the Lord, and call it by his own name. What a wealth of varied praise will thus be presented through Christ Jesus!

Division. The psalm does not fall into any marked divisions, but is one and indivisible. Our other translators have mapped out this song with considerable discernment. It is or a perfect arrangement, but it will suit our convenience in exposition. David praiseth God for his fame or glory (Psalms 145:1-7), for his goodness (Psalms 145:8-10), for his kingdom (Ps 145:11-13), for his providence (Psalms 145:14-16), for his saving mercy (Psalms 145:17-21).

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. I will extol thee, my God, O king. David as God's king adores God as his king. It is well when the Lord's royalty arouses our loyalty, and our spirit is moved to magnify his majesty. The Psalmist has extolled his Lord many a time before, he is doing so still, and he will do so in the future: praise is for all tenses. When we cannot express all our praise just now, it is wise to register our resolution to continue in the blessed work, and write it down as a bond, "I will extol thee." See how David testifies his devotion and adherence to his God by the pronoun "my", how he owns his allegiance by the title "king", and how he goes on to declare his determination to make much of him in his song.

And I will bless thy name for ever and ever. David determined that his praise should rise to blessing, should intelligently spend itself upon the name or character of God, and should be continued world without end. He uses the word "bless" not merely for variation of sound, but also for the deepening and sweetening of the sense. To bless God is to praise him with a personal affection for him, and a wishing well to him: this is a growingly easy exercise as we advance in experience and grow in grace. David declares that he will offer every form of praise, through every form of existence. His notion of duration is a full one -- "for ever" has no end, but when he adds another" ever" to it he forbids all idea of a close. Our praise of God shall be as eternal as the God we praise.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

This has been happily characterized as the "new song" promised in Psalms 144:9. In other words, it is the song of praise, corresponding to the didactic, penitential, and supplicatory psalms of this series. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

The ancient Hebrews declare him happy whoever, in after times, utters this psalm thrice each day with the mouth, heart, and tongue. --Victorinus Bythner, 1670.

The last six or seven psalms are the Beulah of the book, where the sun shineth night and day, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land. Coming at the close after all the mournful, plaintive, penitential, prayerful, varying notes, they Unconsciously typify the joy and rest of glory. --George Gilfillan.

Title. The praise of David. Psalms are the praises of God accompanied with Song; psalms are songs containing the praise of God. If there be praise, but not of God, it is not a psalm. If there be praise, and praise of God, if it is not sung, it is not a psalm. To make a psalm there go these three -- praise, God's praise, and song. -- Augustine.

Title. It is observable concerning David's entitling the psalm "The Praise of David", that in the original no psalm else beareth such a title. It is appropriated to it, because this wholly consists of praise; he was elevated therein to a frame of spirit made up of the pure praise of God, without any touch of what was particular to himself. It was not thanks, but altogether praise, and wholly praise. --Thomas Goodwin.

Title. This psalm, which is designated a Tehillah, or a psalm of praise, -- a name which has passed from this psalm to the whole Psalter, which is commonly called Sepher Tehillim, or "Book of Praises," -- is the last of the psalms ascribed to David.

It is remarkable, that although that is the name given to the Psalter (which is entitled in Hebrew Sepher Tehillim, or Book of Praises), this is the only psalm in the whole number which is designated in the title as a Tehillah -- a word derived from the same root as Hallelujah. It seems as if this name Tehillah had been studiously reserved for the last of David's psalms, in order to mark more emphatically that all his utterances are consummated in praise. And this view is more clearly manifested by the circumstance that the word Tehillah is introduced into the last verse of this psalm, "My soul shall speak the praise" (tehillah) "of the Lord" (observe this preparation for Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord); "and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever." As much as to say that though David's voice was now about to be hushed in this life, yet it would never be silent in the world to come, and would ever "praise the Lord"; and as much, also, as to say that his last exhortation should be to all nations to praise him, "Let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever." --Christopher Wordsworth.

Title. This psalm is entitled "David's praise." For howsoever the prayers and the praises (all) in this book, are (for the most part) of David's penning: yet two there are he hath singled out from the rest, and set his own mark on them as proper to himself: the 86. Psalm, his Tephilla, David's own Prayer; and there is here his Tehilla, his own Praise or thanksgiving. As if he had made the rest for all in common, but reserved these peculiarly for himself. --Lancelot Andrews.

Whole Psalm. In regard to its alphabetic structure, it has one peculiarity, viz., the nun is omitted; the reason of which may be, that (as we have seen in some other psalms of this structure) by means of that or some other such omission, we might be kept from putting stress on the mere form of the composition. --Andrew A. Bonar.

Whole Psalm. Cassiodorus quaintly remarks that the psalms in which the alphabetical order is complete, are especially fitted for the righteous in the Church Triumphant, but those in which one letter is missing, are for the Church Militant here on earth, as still imperfect, and needing to be purified from defect. --Neale and Littledale.

Verse 1. I will extol thee, my God, O King. To extol is to set preeminently on high; to exalt above all others; it is the expression of the greatest possible admiration; it is letting others know our high opinion of a person, and endeavouring to win them over to it. The man who has such a high opinion of another as to induce him to extol him, will not be likely to rest without bringing forth into prominent observation the object of his praise. -- Philip Bennett Power.

Verse 1. O King; or the King, by way of eminency; the King of kings, the God by whom kings reign, and to whom I and all other kings owe subjection and obedience. -- Matthew Pool.

Verse 1. O king. The Psalmist in rapt ecstasy seems as though he saw God incarnate in Christ present to inspire his praise. Christ is our God and King, to be extolled in the heart, with the mouth, and by the life. --Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 1. King. God is King in verity; others are called kings in vanity. --Martin Geier.

Verse 1. I will bless thy name for ever and ever. The name of God in Scripture is taken, first, for God himself. The name of a thing is put for the thing named, Psalms 44:5: "Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us." "Through thy name", that is, through thee. Secondly, the name of God is often in Scripture put for the attributes of God. Thirdly, the name of God is put for his ordinances of worship. "Go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first" (Jeremiah 12:12), that is, where I first set up my public worship; because, as a man is known by his proper name, so is God by his proper worship. Fourthly, the name of God is that reverence, esteem and honour which angels and men give unto God. As we know amongst us, the report and reputation that a man hath among men is a man's name; what men speak of him, that is his name; such an one hath a good name, we say; such an one hath an ill name, that is, men speak or think well or ill of such persons. So Genesis 6:4. When Moses describes the giants, he saith, "They were men of renown"; the Hebrew is, "They were men of name", because the name of a man is the character he hath amongst men; as a man is esteemed, so his name is carried, and himself is accepted in the world. So the name of God is that high esteem, those honourable apprehensions, which angels and men have of God; such as the thoughts and speeches of men are for the celebration of God's glory and praise, such is his name in the world. --Joseph Caryl.

Verse 1. For ever and ever. d[z ~lw[l, leolam vaed, for ever onward, in this and the coming world. Expressions of this sort are very difficult to be translated, but they are, on the whole, well interpreted by those words of Mr. Addison: -- "Through all eternity to thee,

A joyful song I'll raise;

But oh, eternity's too short

To utter all thy praise!" --Adam Clarke.

Verse 1. For ever and ever. Praise is the only part of duty in which we at present engage, which is lasting. We pray, but there shall be a time when prayer shall offer its last litany; we believe, but there shall be a time when faith shall be lost in sight; we hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, but there shall be a time when hope lies down and dies, lost in the splendour of the fruition that God shall reveal. But praise goes singing into heaven, and is ready without a teacher to strike the harp, that is waiting for it, to transmit along the echoes of eternity the song of the Lamb. In the party coloured world in which we live, there are days of various sorts and experiences, making up the aggregate of the Christian's life. There are waiting days, in which, because Providence fences us round, and it seems as if we cannot march, we cannot move, as though we must just wait to see what the Lord is about to do in us and for us; and there are watching days, when it behooves us never to slumber, but to be always ready for the attacks of our spiritual enemy; and there are warring days, when with nodding plume, and with ample armour, we must go forth to do battle for the truth; and there are weeping days, when it seems as if the fountains of the great deep within us were broken up; and as though, through much tribulation, we had to pass to heaven in tears. But these days shall all pass away by and by -- waiting days all be passed, warring days all be passed, watching days all be passed; but "Our days of praise shall ne'er be past

While life, and thought, and being last,

And immortality endures." --William Morley Punshon, 1824-1881.

Verse 1. For ever and ever. To praise God now does not satisfy devout aspiration, for in this age the worshipper's devotion is interrupted by sin, fear, sickness, etc.; but in eternity praise will proceed in unbroken procession. --John Lorinus.

Verse 1-2. I will bless thee for ever and ever, and again, Psalms 145:2. This intimates,

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1-2. Praise.

Or:

Verse 1-2. The four "I wills" of praise. Praise to the King; praise to the divine character; praise for all time; praise for all eternity.

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. Every day will I bless thee. Whatever the character of the day, or of my circumstances and conditions during that day, I will continue to glorify God. Were we well to consider the matter we should see abundant cause in each day for rendering special blessing unto the Lord. All before the day, all in the day, all following the day should constrain us to magnify our God every day, all the year round. Our love to God is not a matter of holy days: every day is alike holy to holy men. David here comes closer to God than when he said, "I will bless thy name": it is now, "I will bless thee." This is the centre and kernel of true devotion: we do not only admire the Lord's words and works, but himself. Without realizing the personality of God, praise is well nigh impossible; you cannot extol an abstraction. And I will praise thy name for ever and ever. He said he would bless that name, and now he vows to praise it; he will extol the Lord in every sense and way. Eternal worship shall not be without its variations; it will never become monotonous. Heavenly music is not harping upon one string, but all strings shall be tuned to one praise. Observe the personal pronouns here: four times he says "I will": praise is not to be discharged by proxy: there must be your very self in it, or there is nothing in it.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. Every day. Then God is to be blessed and praised in dark as well as bright days -- Johannes Paulus Palanterius, 1600.

Verse 2. Every day (in the week) will I bless thee, the Psalmist seems to signify. As there are "seven spirits" peculiarly existing in nearness to God, David holds the seven days of the week like seven stars in his hand, or like a seven branched candlestick of gold, burning every day with his devotion. He calls the seven days to be as seven angels with trumpets. --Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 2. I will bless thee: I will praise thy name. The repetition intimates the fervency of his affection to this work, the fixedness of his purpose to abound in it, and the frequency of his performances therein. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 2. Praise. If we are to define it in words, we may say that praise is thankful, lowly, loving worship of the goodness and majesty of God. And therefore we often find the word "praise" joined with "blessing" and "thanksgiving": but though all three are akin to each other, they are not all alike. They are steps in a gradual scale -- a song of degrees. Thanksgiving runs up into blessing, and blessing ascends into praise; for praise comprehends both, and is the highest and most perfect work of all living spirits. -- Henry Edward Manning, 1850.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 2. Every day; for ever.

EXPOSITION Verse 3 . Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised. Worship should be somewhat like its object -- great praise for a great God. There is no part of Jehovah's greatness which is not worthy of great praise. In some beings greatness is but vastness of evil: in him it is magnificence of goodness. Praise may be said to be great when the song contains great matter, when the hearts producing it are intensely fervent, and when large numbers unite in the grand acclaim. No chorus is too loud, no orchestra too large, no psalm too lofty for the lauding of the Lord of Hosts. "And his greatness is unsearchable." "Still his worth your praise exceeds, Excellent are all his deeds." Song should be founded upon search; hymns composed without thought are of no worth, and tunes upon which no pains have been spent are beneath the dignity of divine adoration. Yet when we meditate most, and search most studiously we shall still find ourselves surrounded with unknowable wonders, which will baffle all attempts to sing them worthily. The best adoration of the Unsearchable is to own him to be so, and close the eyes in reverence before the excessive light of his glory. Not all the minds of all the centuries shall suffice to search out the unsearchable riches of God; he is past finding out; and, therefore, his deserved praise is still above and beyond all that we can render to him. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 3 . Great is the Lord . If "great" here be referred to God as a king, then a great king he is in respect of the breadth of his empire, for all creatures, from the highest angel to the poorest worm, are under him. "Great" for length; for "his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom." "Great" for depth; for he rules even in the hearts of kings, of all men, over rules their thoughts, affections, nothing is hid from him. And "great" again for height; being "a great King above all gods", ruling by his own absolute power and authority; whereas all other kings have their sword from him, and rule by a delegated and vicarious power. --William Nicholson. Verse 3 . His greatness is unsearchable . God is so great, that till Christ revealed the Father, Deity was lost in its own infinity to the perception of men. He who attempts to navigate an infinite ocean must come back to his starting point, never being able to cross. So the ancient philosophers, disputing as to the Divine Nature, were baffled by their own ingenuity, they had to confess that they comprehended nothing of God except that he was incomprehensible. Without Christ, men can only find out about God that they can never find him. --Thomas Le Blanc. Verse 3 . (last clause .) The Vulgate renders thus, "Of his greatness no end." The Hebrew is, "Of his greatness no investigation." As the classic Greeks would say, ajexicniastos, not to be traced out. -- Simon de Muis, 1587-1644. Verse 3 . God had searched David through and through ( Psalms 139:1 ) , but David proved he could not search God's greatness. --Martin Geier. Verse 3-6 . ps 145:3 ,4"> 145:3 ,4 contain the material of praise, and Psalms 145:5,6 the praise itself. Ps 145:3 states a proposition, and Psalms 145:4 gives the amplification. --Hermann Venema. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 3 . The dignity of man is here implied in his capacity for praising God greatly. His immortality in his capacity for praising his unsearchable greatness. --G. R. Verse 3 . (last clause.) The unsearchable greatness of God. Consider it, As a fact amply demonstrated. As a rebuke to despondency: see Isaiah 40:28 . As the stay of a soul oppressed by mysteries. As indicating a subject for our everlasting study. --J. F. Verse 4 . Our obligation to past generations. Our duty to generations to come. --G. R.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. One generation shall praise thy works to another. There shall be a tradition of praise: melt shall hand on the service, they shall make it a point to instruct their descendants in this hallowed exercise. We look back upon the experience of our fathers, and sing of it; even thus shall our sons learn praise from the Lord's works among ourselves. Let us see to it that we praise God before our children, and never make them think that his service is an unhappy one. And shall declare thy mighty acts. The generations shall herein unite: together they shall make up an extraordinary history. Each generation shall contribute its chapter, and all the generations together shall compose a volume of matchless character. David began with "I", but he has in this verse soon reached to an inconceivable multitude, comprehending all the myriads of our race of every age. The praise of the Lord enlarges the heart, and as it grows upon us our minds grow with it. God's works of goodness and acts of power make up a subject which all the eras of human story can never exhaust. A heart full of praise seems to live in all the centuries in delightful companionship with all the good. We are not afraid that the incense will ever cease to burn upon the altars of Jehovah: the priests die, but the adoration lives on. All glory be unto him who remains the same Lord throughout all generations.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, etc. Deuteronomy 4:9 6:7. Fathers teaching their sons the goodness and glory of God. This was a legal ordinance. The church and its worshippers are collecting praises of successive generations for the final Hallelujah celebration. --Martin Geier.

Verse 4. One generation shall praise thy works to another. Singular is exchanged for plural in the Hebrew, "One generation shall praise (sing) thy works to another, and shall declare (plural) thy mighty acts." Here is melody first, the antiphony of the choirs responding to each other; then harmony; all generations will burst into chorus together. -- Hermann Venema.

Verse 4. One generation to another. The tradition of praise! Each generation catches the strains from the last, echoes it, and passes it along to the next. One generation declares what it has seen, and passes on the praise to the generation which has not seen as yet the wonders celebrated. --Simon De Muis.

Verse 4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, etc. Thus God provides for his Church. When Elijah is carried into heaven, Elisha must follow in the power and spirit of Elias. When one stream is slid and shed into the ocean, another circulates from the same ocean through the bowels of the earth into the springs under the mountains, and refreshes the scorched plains. When one star sets, another rises to guide the wandering traveller, and at length the bright morning lamp glitters in the east, and then the glorious Sun of Righteousness. While the Church sits fainting under a juniper tree in the wilderness, there shall fly prophets to feed her till the blessed resurrection of the witnesses. It's our high duty to study present work, and prize present help, and greatly rejoice when the Lord sends forth, as once he did, both Boanerges and Barnabas together. Pray for the mantle, girdle, and blessing of Elijah, for the love of John, and the zeal of Paul, to twine hands together to draw souls to heaven; till the Beloved comes like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of spices; till the shadows flee away; till the day dawn, and the Day star arise in your hearts. --Samuel Lee, in his Preface to Row's "Emmanuel", 1679.

Verse 4. One generation shall praise thy works to another. There is no phenomenon of human life more solemn than its succession of generations. "One generation passeth away, another generation cometh." And, as if to put this in a light as affecting and indelible as possible, the psalmist immediately adds, "but the earth abideth for ever." A thought that gleams like a lightning flash across this panorama of life, burning it into the beholder's brain for ever. Even the rude, gross, material earth, which we were created to subdue, and upon which we so proudly tread, is represented as having to the palpable sense this advantage over us. The abiding earth constitutes a little eternity, compared with the duration of its changing inhabitants. We come into it, and pass over it, obliterating, perhaps, some footprints in its dust by the impress of our own, to be in their turn effaced, and then leave it with amazing rapidity, as a hireling man accomplishes his days. -- Henry Allon, 1852. EXPOSITION Verse 5 . I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty. 'Tis fit a king should speak of the majesty of the King of kings. David cannot give over the worship of God into the hands of others, even though all generations should undertake to perpetuate it: he must have his own individual share in it, and so he saith, "I will speak." What a speaker! for he no sooner begins than he heaps up words of honour -- "the glorious honour of thy majesty", or "the beauty of the honour of thy majesty." His language labours to express his meaning; he multiplies the terms by which he would extol Jehovah, his King. Everything which has to do with the Great King is majestic, honourable, glorious. His least is greater than man's greatest, his lowest is higher than man's highest. There is nothing about the infinite Lord which is unworthy of his royalty; and, on the other hand, nothing is wanting to the splendour of his reign: his majesty is honourable, and his honour is glorious: he is altogether wonderful. And of thy wondrous works. All the works of God among men are Godlike, but certain of them are specially calculated to create surprise. Many works of power, of justice, of wisdom, are wonderful; and his work of grace is wondrous above all. This specially, and all the rest proportionately, should be spoken of by holy men, by experienced men, and by men who have the ability to speak with power. These things must not be permitted to pass away in silence; if others do not remember them, representative men like David must make a point of conversing upon them in private, and speaking of them in public. Let it be the delight of each one of us according to our position to speak lovingly of our Lord. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 5 . I will speak of the glorious honour , etc. The word which we here translate "speak", is considered by Hebrew critics to include also the idea of "expatiating", "speaking at large"; not merely "alluding to incidentally", but "entering into particulars"; as though one took delight in speaking upon the matter in hand. Now there is something very satisfactory in entering into particulars; we can often gather light upon a great truth by having had set before us some of the particulars connected with it; we can often understand what is too high for us, in itself and by itself, by some examples which bring it within reach of our dull understandings. We are like men who want to attain a height, who have not wings to fly up to it, but who can reach it by going up a ladder step by step. Particulars are often like the rounds of a ladder, little, it may be, in themselves, but very helpful to us; and to dwell upon particulars is often of use to ourselves; it certainly is to many with whom we converse. Let us remember, that circumstanced as we are in our present state, we have no faculties for grasping in its simple grandeur the glorious honour of the majesty of God. We know most of God from what we know of his doings amongst the children of men. Hereafter, the Lord's people shall, no doubt, have much revealed to them of the glorious honour of the majesty of God, which they could now neither bear nor understand; meanwhile they have to know him chiefly by what he has said and done; and if only our eyes be open, we shall be at no loss to recognise in these the glorious honour of his majesty. --Philip Bennett Power. Verse 5 . I will speak , etc. I will "muse" is better than "speak", as being the primary and more usual sense of the Hebrew word. It suggests that these glorious qualities of God's character and deeds should be not merely talked about and extolled in song, but be deeply pondered, laid close upon our very heart, so that the legitimate impression may be wrought into our very soul, and may mould our whole spirit and character into God's own moral image. --Henry Cowles. Verse 5 . With what a cumulus of glowing terms does Holy Writ seek to display the excellence of Deity! By these descriptions , those attributes which are feebly imitated or reflected in what we call good among created things are declared to exist in God, infinitely, immutably, ineffably. --Martin Geier. Verse 5 . Thy wonderful works . Heb.: "the words of thy wonderful works." Thus the Psalmist declares that the records left of God's olden doings in the history of Israel are very precious. He has heard them. Moses and Aaron and others spoke them. He delights in them; he will sing them again on his own harp. --Hermann Venema. Verse 5-6 . ps 145:5"> 145:5 speaks of God's opera mirabilia; Psalms 145:6 of his opera terribilia . The former delight his saints; the latter terrify the wicked. --John Lorinus. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 5-7 . The Antiphon. To praise God is a personal duty: "I will." Its right performance will excite others to engage in it: "And men shall." The accompaniment of others in praise will react upon ourselves. "And I will"; "And they shall abundantly", etc. Such praise widens and expands a it rolls along. Beginning with God's majesty and works, it extends to his acts, greatness, goodness, and righteousness. --C. A. D. Verse 5-7 . Subjects for praise. Divine majesty. Divine works. Divine judgments. Divine greatness. Divine goodness. Divine righteousness. Of whom is it required. Personal; "I will speak." Universal; "men shall speak." --G. R.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts. If unobservant of other matters these acts of judgment shall seize their attention and impress their minds so that they must talk about them. Did not men in our Saviour's day speak of the falling tower of Siloam and the slaughtered Galileans? Are there not rumours of wars, when there are not even whispers of other things? Horrible news is sure to spread: under mercies men may be dumb, but concerning miseries they raise a great outcry. The force of dread is a power which loosens the tongue of the multitude: they are sure to talk of that which makes the ear to tingle and the hair to stand upright.

While they are thus occupied with "fearsome facts", such as the drowning of a world, the destruction of the cities of the plain, the plagues of Egypt, the destruction at the Red Sea, and so forth, David would look at these affairs in another light, and sing another tune. And I will declare thy greatness. Those acts which were terrible deeds to most men were mighty deeds, or greatnesses to our holy poet: these he would publish like a herald, who mentions the titles and honours of his royal master. It is the occupation of every true believer to rehearse the great doings of his great God. We are not to leave this to the common converse of the crowd, but we are personally to make a declaration of what we have seen and known. We are even bound in deep solemnity of manner to warn men of the Lord's greatness in his terrible acts of justice: thus will they be admonished to abstain from provoking him. To fulfil this duty we are already bound by solemn obligations, and we shall do well to bind ourselves further by resolutions, "I will -- God helping me, I will."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts. When men do not mark his works of mercy and bounty the Lord will show unto them works of justice, that is, terrible works, and give them matter of talking upon this account. --David Dickson.

Verse 6. (last clause.) To "declare" here means either in speech or song; not merely to predicate as a fact, but to proclaim in praise. The Hebrew word has this width of meaning; not merely to declare in cold utterance, concerning mere history. --Hermann Venema.

Verse 6. Thy greatness. All men are enamoured of greatness. Then they must seek it in God, and get it from God. David did both. All history shows the creature aspiring after this glory. Ahasuerus, Astyages, Cyrus, Cambyses, Nebuchadnezzar, were all called the great. Alexander the Great, when he came to the Ganges, ordered his statue to be made of more than life size, that posterity might believe him to have been of nobler stature. In Christ alone does man attain the greatness his heart yearns for -- the glory of perfect goodness. --Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 6. Thy greatness. Or, according to the written text, greatnesses. So Aquila and Jerome. The parallelism is decidedly in favour of the plural. --A. S. Aglen.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 6-7.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness. They shall pour forth grateful memories even as springs gush with water, plenteously, spontaneously, constantly, joyously. The Lord's redeemed people having been filled with his great goodness, shall retain the happy recollection of it, and shall be moved often and often to utter those recollections. Not content with a scanty mention of such amazing love, they shall go on to an abundant utterance of such abundant favour. It shall be their delight to speak with one another of God's dealings with them, and to compare notes of their experiences. God has done nothing stintedly; all his goodness is great goodness, all worthy to be remembered, all suggestive of holy discourse. Upon this subject there is no scarcity of matter, and when the heart is right there is no need to stop from want of facts to tell. Oh, that there were more of these memories and utterances, for it is not meet that the goodness of the living God should be buried in the cemetery of silence, in the grave of ingratitude.

And shall sing of thy righteousness. They shall say and then sing. And what is the theme which impels them to leave the pulpit for the orchestra? What do they sing of? They sing of that righteousness which is the sinner's terror, which even good men mention with deep solemnity. Righteousness received by gospel light is in reality the secret foundation of the believer's hope. God's covenant of grace is our strong consolation, because he who made it is righteous, and will not run back from it. Since Jesus died as our substitute, righteousness requires and secures the salvation of all the redeemed. This attribute is our best friend, and therefore we sing of it.

Modern thinkers would fain expunge the idea of righteousness from their notion of God; but converted men would not. It is a sign of growth in cation when we rejoice in the justice, rectitude, and holiness of our God. Even a rebel may rejoice in mercy, which he looks upon as laxity; but a loyal rejoices when he learns that God is so just that not even to save his own would he consent to violate the righteousness of his moral government. Few men will shout for joy at the righteousness of Jehovah, but those who do so his chosen, in whom his soul delighteth.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. There is an extensive and an intensive greatness, and both must be found in our praises of God. First, an extensive greatness in regard of their number; we must be frequent and plentiful in the duty: we must "Abundantly utter the memory of God's great goodness." Secondly, there must be an intensive greatness in our praises, in regard of the degree, fervour and heat of them. They must be high, and vehement, fervent, flaming, zealous and affectionate, full of life and rigour; our spirits must be raised, our hearts and tongues enlarged in the performance of this duty. God's glorious name, as it is in Nehemiah 9:5, "is exalted above all blessing and praise", above our most devout and most zealous praises; and therefore surely faint, heartless, and lifeless praises are so far from reaching him, as that they may seem to be meant of another, and a lower object. God then is not praised at all if he be not greatly praised. Weak and dull praises are dispraises; for a person or thing is not honoured or praised, unless there be some proportion between the honour and praise and the worthiness of the person or thing honoured and praised. --Henry Jeanes, in "The Works of Heaven upon Earth", 1649.

Verse 7. Abundantly utter. The word contains the idea of boiling or bubbling up like a fountain. It signifies, a holy fluency about the mercy of God. We have quite enough fluent people about, but they are many of them idlers for whom Satan finds abundant work to do. The Lord deliver us from the noise of fluent women; but it matters not how fluent men and women are if they will be fluent on the topic now before us. Open your mouths; let the praise pour forth; let it come, rivers of it. Stream away! Gush away, all that you possibly can. "They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness." Do not stop the joyful speakers, let them go on for ever. They do not exaggerate, they cannot. You say they are enthusiastic, but they are not half up to the pitch yet; bid them become more excited and speak yet more fervently. Go on, brother, go on; pile it up; say something greater, grander, and more fiery still I You cannot exceed the truth. You have come to a theme where your most fluent powers will fail in utterance. The text calls for a sacred fluency, and I would exhort you liberally to exercise it when you are speaking on the goodness of God. --C. H. S.

Verse 7. Too many witnesses of God's goodness are silent witnesses. Men do not enough speak out the testimonies that they might bear in this matter. The reason that I love the Methodists -- good ones -- is, that they have a tongue to their piety. They fulfil the command of God, -- to be fervent in spirit. --Henry Ward Beecher.

Verse 7. -- The thought of our past years in me doth breed

Perpetual benedictions.

--William Wordsworth, 1770-1805.

Verse 7. They shall sing of thy righteousness, or justice. To sing of goodness, mercy, forgiveness, is natural; but a song of justice is singular. Here is the beauty of David's praise, that he sees subject of delight as much in the righteousness of God as in his mercy. --John Lorinus.

Verse 7. They shall sing of thy righteousness. The righteousness of God, whereby he justifieth sinners, and sanctifieth the justified, and executeth judgment for his reconciled people, is the sweetest object of the church's joy. --David Dickson.

Verse 7. Thy righteousness (read in connection with next verse). It is an easy thing to conceive the glory of the Creator, manifested in the good of an innocent creature; but the glory of the righteous Judge, manifested in the good of the guilty criminal, is the peculiar, mysterious wisdom of the Cross. It is easy to perceive God's righteousness declared in the punishment of sins; the Cross alone declares "His righteousness for the remission of sins." It magnifies justice in the way of pardoning sin, and mercy in the way of punishing it. -- John M'Laurin 1693-1754.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1468: "The Philosophy and Propriety of Abundant Praise."

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. The Lord is gracious. Was it not in some such terms that the Lord revealed himself to Moses? Is not this Jehovah's glory? To all living men his aspect: he is gracious, or full of goodness and generosity. He treats creatures with kindness, his subjects with consideration, and his saints favour. His words and ways, his promises and his gifts, his plans and his poses all manifest his grace, or free favour. There is nothing suspicious, diced, morose, tyrannical, or unapproachable in Jehovah, -- he is condescending and kind. And full of compassion. To the suffering, the weak, the despondent, he is very pitiful: he feels for them, he feels with them: he this heartily, and in a practical manner. Of this pitifulness he is full, so the compassionates freely, constantly, deeply, divinely, and effectually. In fulness in a sense not known among men, and this fulness is all fragrant sympathy for human misery. If the Lord be full of compassion there is no in him for forgetfulness or harshness, and none should suspect him What an ocean of compassion there must be since the Infinite God is full of Slow to anger. Even those who refuse his grace yet share in long suffering. When men do not repent, but, on the contrary, go from bad to worse, averse to let his wrath flame forth against them. Greatly patient and anxious that the sinner may live, he "lets the lifted thunder drop", and still bears. "Love suffereth long and is kind", and God is love. And of great mercy. This is his attitude towards the guilty. When men at last repent, find pardon awaiting them. Great is their sin, and great is God's mercy, need great help, and they have it though they deserve it not; for he is good to the greatly guilty.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. The Lord is gracious, etc. The proclamation of the Lord to Moses (Exodus 34:6) is the fountain head of these epithets. --James G. Murphy.

Verse 8. In God there is no passion, only compassion. --Richard Rothe, 1799-1867.

Verse 8. Of great mercy. Mercy hath misery for its object, and is that attribute towards which the eyes of a fallen world must necessarily be turned. The Psalmist hath, accordingly, introduced her last with great pomp and splendour, seated in her triumphal chariot, and invested with a supremacy over all the works of God. She is above the heavens, and over all the earth, so that the whole creation findeth that refuge under the shadow of her wings of which, by reason of man's transgression, it standeth in need. -- Samuel Burder.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 8.

EXPOSITION

Verse 9. The LORD is good to all. No one, not even his fiercest enemy, can this; for the falsehood would be too barefaced, since the very existence lips which slander him is a proof that it is slander. He allows his live, he even supplies them with food, and smooths their way with many forts; for them the sun shines as brightly as if they were saints, and the rain waters their fields as plentifully as if they were perfect men. Is not this goodness to all? In our own land the gospel sounds in the ears of all who care to listen; and the Scriptures are within reach of the poorest child. It would be a wanton wresting of Scripture to limit this expression to the elect, as some have tried to do; we rejoice in electing love, but none the less we welcome the glorious truth, "Jehovah is good to all."

And his tender mercies are over all his works. Not "his new covenant works", as one read it the other day who was wise above that which is written, yea, contrary to that which is written. Kindness is a law of God's universe: the world was planned for happiness; even now that sin has so sadly marred God's handiwork, and introduced elements which were not from the beginning, the Lord has so arranged matters that the fall is broken, the curse is met by an antidote, and the inevitable pain is softened with mitigations. Even in this sin stricken world, under its disordered economy, there are abundant traces of a hand skilful to soothe distress and heal disease. That which makes life bearable is the tenderness of the great Father. This is seen in the creation of an insect as well as in the ruling of nations. The Creator is never rough, the Provider is never forgetful, the Ruler is never cruel. Nothing is done to create disease, no organs are arranged to promote misery; the incoming of sickness and pain is not according to the original design, but a result of our disordered state. Man's body as it left the Maker's hand was neither framed for disease, decay, nor death, neither was the purpose of it discomfort and anguish; far otherwise, it was framed for a joyful activity, and a peaceful enjoyment of God. Jehovah has in great consideration laid up in the world cures for our ailments, and helps for our feebleness; and if many of these have been long in their discovery, it is because it was more for man's benefit to find them out himself, than to have them labelled and placed in order before his eyes. We may be sure of this, that Jehovah has never taken delight in the ills of his creatures, but has sought their good, and laid himself out to alleviate the distresses into which they have guiltily plunged themselves.

The duty of kindness to animals may logically be argued from this verse. Should not the children of God be like their Father in kindness?

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 9. The Lord is good to all, etc. According to the doctrine of Christianity, we are not the creatures of a God who takes no care of his beings, and leaves them to themselves; not the offspring of a father who disowns his children, who does not concern himself about them, and is indifferent to their happiness and their misery. No; never has God, according to that comfortable doctrine, left himself unwitnessed to man; never withdrawn from him his fatherly providence and love; never abandoned the fortunes of his feeble, helpless, untutored children, to blind chance or to their own ignorance. No; from their first progenitor, to his latest posterity, he has himself provided for their support, their instruction, their guidance, their progress to higher attainments. He has constantly revealed himself to them m various ways; constantly shed innumerable benefits on them; sometimes lovingly correcting, and sometimes bountifully blessing them; has constantly been nigh to them, and has left them in want of no means for becoming wiser and better. - -George Joachim Zollikofer, 1730-1788.

Verse 9. The Lord is good to all, etc. God's pity is not as some sweet cordial, poured in dainty drops from a golden phial. It is not like the musical water drops of some slender rill, murmuring down the dark side of Mount Sinai. It is wide as the whole scope of heaven. It is abundant as all the air. If one had art to gather up all the golden sunlight that today falls wide over all the continent, falling through every silent hour; and all that is dispersed over the whole ocean, floating from every wave; and all that is poured refulgent over the northern wastes of ice, and along the whole continent of Europe, and the vast outlying Asia and torrid Africa -- if we could in any wise gather up this immense and incalculable outflow and treasure that falls down through the bright hours, and runs in liquid ether about the mountains, and fills all the plains, and sends innumerable rays through every secret place, pouring over and filling every flower, shining down the sides of every blade of grass, resting in glorious humility upon the humblest things -- on sticks, and stones, and pebbles -- on the spider's web, the sparrow's nest, the threshold of the young foxes' hole, where they play and warm themselves -- that rests on the prisoner's window, that strikes radiant beams through the slave's tear, and puts gold upon the widow's weeds, that plates and roofs the city with burnished gold, and goes on in its wild abundance up and down the earth, shining everywhere and always, since the day of primal creation, without faltering, without stint, without waste or diminution; as full, as fresh, as overflowing today as if it were the very first day of its outlay -- if one might gather up this boundless, endless, infinite treasure, to measure it, then might he tell the height, and depth, and unending glory of the pity of God! That light, and the sun, its source, are God's own figure of the immensity and copiousness of his mercy and compassion. --Henry Ward Beecher, 1875.

Verse 9. Even the worst taste of God's mercy; such as fight against God's mercy taste of it; the wicked have some crumbs from mercy's table. "The Lord is good to all." Sweet dewdrops are on the thistle as well as on the rose. The diocese where mercy visits is very large. Pharaoh's head was crowned though his heart was hardened. --Thomas Watson.

Verse 9. His tender mercies are over all his works. When the sensible sinner is seeking faith of God, he may plead the largeness of mercy. God's mercy is like the firmament spread over all this lower world; and every infirm creature partakes more or less of its influence, according to its exigence and capacity. True, may he say, I have made myself by sin, the vilest of all creatures; I am become worse than the beasts that perish; as vile as a worm, as loathsome as a toad, by reason of the venomous corruption that is in my heart, and my woeful contrariety to the nature of a holy God. But there is "mercy over all", even over such vile and loathsome creatures as these; there may be some over me, though wrath do now abide on me. Oh, let that mercy, whose glory it is to stretch itself over all, e reach my soul also! Oh, that the blessed and powerful influence thereof would p beget faith in my heart! --David Clarkson.

Verse 9. His tender mercies. The nature and force of the word ~ymxr, is properly the bowels; that is, there are tender mercies in God (so we term it in the Benedictus). Not of the ordinary sort, slight, and such as pierce not deep, come not far; but such as come de profundis, from the very bowels themselves, that affect that part, make the bowels relent. And what bowels? Not the bowels of the common man (for then ~w[m had been the right word), but ~mxr are the bsw[lv of a par[nt (so, we said, the word signifies), and this adds much; adds to m[rcy stosgh, natural love; to one strong affection another as strong or stronger than it.

And what parent? the more pitiful of the twain, the mother. For ~xr (the singular of this word) is Hebrew for the womb. So as this, to the two former addeth the sex; the sex holden to be the more compassionate. Of all mercies, those of the bowels; and of all bowels, the bowels of a parent; and of the two parents, those of the mother: such pity as the mother takes of the children of her womb. Mercies are in God; such mercies are in God.

"Over all." It is good news for us that these mercies are in God; but, better yet, that they are in him with a super -- "over." But, best of all, that that super is a super omnia -- "over all." Much is said in few words to mercy's praise when 'tis said, super omnia. Nihil supra were much, none above it: but it is written super omnia, above all. He that saith this leaves no more to say; there is no higher degree; super omnia is the superlative.

All that are above are not over. It is not above only, as an obelisk or Maypole, higher than all about them, but have neither shadow nor shelter; no good they do! Mercy hath a broad top, spreading itself over all. It is so above all, as it is over them, too. As the vault of this chapel is over us, and the great vault of the firmament over that; the super of latitude and expansion, no less than of altitude and elevation. And this to the end that all may retire to it, and take covert; it over them, and they under it. Under it, under the shadow of it, as of Esay's "great rock in the wilderness", from the heat: under it, under the shelter of it as of Daniel's "great tree", from the tempest. (Isaiah 32:2 Daniel 4:11-12). - -Lancelot Andrewes.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 9. The universal goodness of God in no degree a contradiction to the special election of grace.

EXPOSITION

Verse 10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD. There is a something about every creature which redounds to the honour of God. The skill, kindness, and power manifested in the formation of each living thing is in itself to the praise of God, and when observed by an intelligent mind the Lord is honoured thereby. Some works praise him by their being, and others by their well being; some by their mere existence, and others by their hearty volition. And thy saints shall bless thee. These holy ones come nearer, and render sweeter adoration. Men have been known to praise those whom they hated, as we may admire the prowess of a warrior who is our foe; but saints lovingly praise, and therefore are said to "bless." They wish well to God; they would make him more blessed, if such a thing were possible; they desire blessings upon his cause and his children, and invoke success upon his work and warfare. None but blessed men will bless the Lord. Only saints or holy ones will bless the thrice holy God. If we praise Jehovah because of his works around us, we must go on to bless him for his works within us. Let the two "shalls" of this verse be fulfilled, especially the latter one.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD. It is a poor philosophy and a narrow religion which does not recognise God as all in all. Every moment of our lives, we breathe, stand, or move in the temple of the Most High; for the whole universe is that temple. Wherever we go, the testimony to his power, the impress of his hand, are there. Ask of the bright worlds around us, as they roll in the everlasting harmony of their circles, and they shall tell you of him whose power launched them on their courses; ask of the mountains, that lift their heads among and above the clouds, and the bleak summit of one shall seem to call aloud to the snow clad top of another, in proclaiming their testimony to the Agency which has laid their deep foundations. Ask of ocean's waters; and the roar of their boundless waves shall chant from shore to shore a hymn of ascription to that Being, who hath said, "Hitherto shall ye come and no further." Ask of the rivers; and, as they roll onward to the sea, do they not bear along their ceaseless tribute to the ever working Energy, which struck open their fountains and poured them down through the valleys? Ask of every region of the earth, from the burning equator to the icy pole, from the rock bound coast to the plain covered with its luxuriant vegetation; and will you not find on them all the record of the Creator's presence? Ask of the countless tribes of plants and animals; and shall they not testify to the action of the great Source of Life? Yes, from every portion, from every department of nature, comes the same voice; everywhere we hear thy name, O God! everywhere we see thy love! Creation, in all its length and breadth, in all its depth and height, is the manifestation of thy Spirit, and without thee the world were dark and dead. The universe is to us as the burning bush which the Hebrew leader saw: God is ever present in it, for it burns with his glory, and the ground on which we stand is always holy. --"Francis" (Viscount Dillon).

Verse 10. Marvellous is it that man is not always praising, since everything amidst which he dwells is continually inviting praise. --Gregory the Great.

Verse 10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD, etc. "All" God's "works" do "praise" him, as the beautiful building praiseth the builder, or the well drawn picture praiseth the painter: but his "saints bless" him, as the children of prudent and tender parents rise up and call them blessed. Of all God's works, his saints, the workmanship of his grace, the first fruits of his creatures, have most reason to bless him. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD, etc. There are two words by which our thankfulness to God is expressed, praising and blessing. What is the difference? Praise respecteth God's excellences, and blessing respecteth God's benefits. We may praise a man that never hath done us good, if he be excellent and praiseworthy; but blessing respecteth God's bounty and benefits; yet they are often used promiscuously. -- Thomas Manton.

Verse 10. And thy saints shall bless thee. The lily lifts itself upon its slender stem, and displays its golden petals and its glittering ivory leaves; and by its very existence it praises God. Yonder deep and booming sea rolls up in storm and tempest sweeping everything before it; and every dash of its waves praises God. The birds in the morning, and some of them all through the night, can never cease from praising; uniting with the ten thousand other voices which make ceaseless concert before the throne. But observe, neither the flower, nor the sea, nor the bird, praises with intent to praise. To them it is no exercise of intellect, for they do not know God, and cannot understand his worthiness; nor do they even know that they are praising him. They exhibit his skill, and his goodness, and so forth, and in so doing they do much; but we must learn to do more. When you and I praise God, there is the element of will, of intelligence, of desire, of intent; and in the saints of God there is another element, namely, that of love to him, of reverent gratitude towards him, and this turns the praise into blessing. A man is an eminent painter, and you exclaim, "His pencil is instinct with life." Still, the man is no friend of yours, you pronounce no blessings on his name. It may be that your feeling towards him is that of deep regret that such abilities should be united with so ill a character. A certain person is exceedingly skilful in his profession, but he treats you unjustly, and, therefore, though you often praise him for his extraordinary performances, you cannot bless him, for you have no cause to do so. I am afraid that there might be such a feeling as that of admiration of God for his great skill, his wonderful power, his extraordinary justness, and yet no warmth of love in the heart towards him; but in the saints the praise is sweetened with love, and is full of blessing. --C. H. S.

Verse 10-11. If not only irrational, but inanimate creatures praise God by giving occasion for his praise; then how much more should men set forth his praise, who are not only living, but reasonable creatures! And if creatures without life and reason should provoke mankind in general, as having life and reason, to praise God; how much more should godly men be provoked by them to sing his praise, they having not only life, which stars have not; and reason, which birds and beasts have not; but grace, which the most of men have not! Among visible creatures, men have most reason (because they have reason) to praise God; and among men gracious men have most reason to praise God, because they have grace. And therefore as soon as ever David had said, "All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD", he adds in the next words, "and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power." As if he had said, As all thy works, O Lord, praise thee, so saints (who are the choicest pieces of thy workmanship) have cause to do it above all: they cannot but be speaking and talking of thy kingdom and power, which are very glorious. --Joseph Caryl.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 10. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1796: "Concerning Saints." EXPOSITION Verse 11 . They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom. Excellent themes for saintly minds. Those who bless God from their hearts rejoice to see him enthroned, glorified, and magnified in power. No subject is more profitable for humility, obedience, hope, and joy than that of the reigning power of the Lord our God. His works praise him, but they cannot crown him: this remains for holy hands and hearts. It is their high pleasure to tell of the glory of his kingdom in its justice, kindness, eternity, and so forth. Kingdoms of earth are glorious for riches, for extent of territory, for victories, for liberty, for commerce, and other matters; but in all true glories the kingdom of Jehovah excels them. We have seen a palace dedicated "to all the glories of France"; but time, eternity, and all space are filled with the glories of God: on these we love to speak. And talk of thy power. This power supports the kingdom and displays the glory, and we are sure to talk of it when the glory of the divine kingdom is under discussion. God's power to create or to destroy, to bless or to punish, to strengthen or to crush, is matter for frequent rehearsal. All power comes from God. Apart from him the laws of nature would be inoperative. His power is the one source of force -- mechanical, vital, mental, spiritual. Beyond the power of God which has been put forth, infinite force lies latent in himself. Who can calculate the reserve forces of the Infinite? How, then, can his kingdom fail? We hear talk of the five great powers, but what are they to the One Great Power? The Lord is "the blessed and only Potentate." Let us accustom ourselves to think more deeply and speak more largely of this power which ever makes for righteousness and works for mercy. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 11 . They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom , etc. The glory of a kingdom is synonymous with its power. The power of a kingdom consists in the number of its subjects, and the sufficiency of its revenues to maintain them. Now, the glory, or the power of God's kingdom, may be inferred from the difference between it and that of man. There are four points of difference. First, the kings of this world have but few subjects, with but little wealth, -- not more than the population and riches of one kingdom, or one province, while God reigns over all angels, all men, all demons; and all wealth on land, in the sea, or in the air, belongs to him. There is another difference, that while the kings of this world rule their subjects, they are still ruled by them, they are dependent on them, could do nothing without them; and, however abundant their revenues may be, they are generally in want, nay, even in debt, and, consequently, always calling for fresh tributes and taxes; but God, while he governs all, is subject to none, because he needs nobody's help or assistance. Instead of being in want, he abounds in everything, because he could, in one moment, bring from nothing much more than he now beholds or enjoys. The third difference is a consequence of the second, while the kings of this world seem so to enjoy their honours and dignities, they are, at the same time, suffering acutely from interior fears, doubts, and cares, which have sometimes been so burdensome, as to cause them to abdicate altogether. God never suffers such pressure, is subject to no fear, no misgivings, but reigns absolutely in perfect tranquillity. The fourth difference, an essential one, is, that the kings of the world reign but for a time; but God reigneth for ever. --Robert Bellarmine. Verse 11 . They shall speak ... and talk. Joy and sorrow are hard to conceal; as from the countenance, so from the tongue. There is so much correspondence betwixt the heart and tongue that they will move at once: every man therefore speaks of his own pleasure and care; the hunter and falconer of his game; the ploughman of his team; the soldier of his march and colours. If the heart were as full of God, the tongue could not refrain from talking of him: the rareness of Christian communication argues the common poverty of grace. If Christ be not in our hearts, we are godless; if he be there without our joy, we are senseless; if we rejoice in him and speak not of him, we are shamefully unthankful. Every man taketh, yea, raiseth occasion, to bring in speech of what he liketh. As I will think of thee always, O Lord, so it shall be my joy to speak of thee often; and if I find not opportunity, I will make it. --Joseph Hall. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 11 . The glory of Christ's kingdom. The glory of this kingdom is manifested, In its origin. In the manner and spirit of its administration. In the character of its subjects. In the privileges that are attached to it. --Robert Hall. Verse 11-12 . Talk transfigured. The faculty of talk is extensively possessed. Is commonly misused. May be nobly employed. Will then be gloriously useful. --C. A. D. Verse 11-13 . To show the greatness of God's kingdom, David observes, The pomp of it. Would we by faith look within the veil, we should "speak of the glory of his kingdom" ( Psalms 145:11 ); "and the glorious majesty of it" (Ps 145:12). The power of it. When "they speak of the glory of God's kingdom", they must "talk of his power", the extent of it, the efficacy of it. The perpetuity of it ( Psalms 145:13 ). The thrones of earthly princes totter, and the flowers of their crowns wither, monarchs come to an end; but, Lord, "thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom." --Matthew Henry.

EXPOSITION

Verse 12. To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts. These glorious deeds ought to be known to all mankind; but yet few reckon such knowledge to be an essential part of education. As the State cannot teach these holy histories the people of God must take care to do it themselves. The work must be done for every age, for men have short memories in reference to their God, and the doings of his power. They inscribe the deeds of their heroes upon brass, but the glorious acts of Jehovah are written upon the sand, and the tide of time washes them from present memory; therefore we must repeat the lesson, and yet again repeat it. The saints are the religious instructors of the race; they ought to be not only the historians of the past, but the bards of the present, whose duty it is to keep the sons of men in memory of the great deeds which the Lord did in the days of their fathers and in the old time before them. Note the contrast between the great deeds of God and the puny sons of Adam, who have even degenerated from their father, though he was as nothing compared with his Maker.

And the glorious majesty of his kingdom. What a grand subject! Yet this we are to make known; the publication of it is left to us who bless the Lord. "The glory of the majesty of his reign." What a theme! Jehovah's reign as sovereign Lord of all, his majesty in that dominion, and the glory of that majesty! The threefold subject baffles the most willing mind. How shall we make this known to the sons of men? Let us first labour to know it ourselves, and then let us make it a frequent subject of discourse, so shall men know it from us, the Holy Spirit attending our word.

EXPOSITION

Verse 13. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His meditation has brought him near to God, and God near to him: he speaks to him in adoration, changing the pronoun from "his" to "thy." He sees the great King, and prostrates himself before him. It is well when our devotion opens the gate of heaven, and enters within the portal, to speak with God face to face, as a man speaketh with his friend. The point upon which the Psalmist's mind rests is the eternity of the divine throne, -- "thy reign is a reign of all eternities." The Lord's kingdom is without beginning, without break, without bound, and without end. He never abdicates his throne, neither does he call in a second to share his empire. None can overthrow his power, or break away from his rule. Neither this age, nor the age to come, nor ages of ages shall cause his sovereignty to fail. Herein is rest for faith. "The Lord sitteth King for ever." And thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. Men come and go like shadows on the wall, but God reigneth eternally. We distinguish kings as they succeed each other by calling them first and second; but this King is Jehovah, the First and the Last. Adam in his generation knew his Creator to be King, and the last of his race shall know the same. All hail, Great God I Thou art ever Lord of lords!

These three verses are a reverent hymn concerning "the kingdom of God": they will be best appreciated by those who are in that kingdom in the fullest sense, and are most truly loyal to the Lord. It is, according to these verses, a kingdom of glory and power; a kingdom of light which men are to know, and of might which men are to feel; it is full of majesty and eternity; it is the benediction of every generation. We are to speak of it, talk of it, and make it known, and then we are to acknowledge it in the homage directed distinctly to the Lord himself -- as in Psalms 145:13.

In these three verses Jehovah is adored for his gracious providence towards men and all other creatures; this fitly follows the proclamation of his royalty, for we here see how he rules his kingdom, and provides for his subjects.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 13. The Kingdom of God is his government of the world. The glory of it becomes especially conspicuous in this, that he raises the dominion of his anointed over all the kingdoms of the world: comp. Psalms 89:27. "Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all eternities" (Psalms 145:13), and so must also the kingdom of thine anointed be an eternal one, and will survive all the transitory kingdoms of this world, however highly they may puff themselves up. --D. W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 13. On the door of the old mosque in Damascus, which was once a Christian church, but for twelve centuries has ranked among the holiest of the Mahomedan sanctuaries, are inscribed these memorable words: "Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." Though the name of Christ has been regularly blasphemed, and the disciples of Christ regularly cursed for twelve hundred years within it, the inscription has, nevertheless, remained unimpaired by time, and undisturbed by man. It was unknown during the long reign of Mahomedan intolerance and oppression; but when religious liberty was partially restored, and the missionaries were enabled to establish a Christian church in that city, it was again brought to light, encouraging them in their work of faith and labour of love. --From John Bate's "Cyclopoedia of Illustrations", 1865.

Verse 13-14. What we admire in these verses, is their combining the magnificence of unlimited power with the assiduity of unlimited tenderness. It is this combination which men are apt to regard as well nigh incredible, supposing that a Being so great as God can never concern himself with beings so inconsiderable as themselves. Tell them that God lifteth up those that be bowed down, and they cannot imagine that his kingdom and dominion are unbounded; or tell them, on the other hand, of the greatness of his empire, and they think it impossible that he should uphold all that fall. --Henry Melvill.

EXPOSITION

Verse 14. The Lead upholdeth all that fall. Read this verse in connection with the preceding, and admire the unexpected contrast: he who reigns in glorious majesty, yet condescends to lift up and hold up those who are apt to fall. The form of the verb shows that he is always doing this; he is Jehovah upholding. His choice of the fallen, and the falling, as the subjects of his gracious help is specially to be noted. The fallen of our race, especially fallen women, are shunned by us, and it is peculiar tenderness on the Lord's part that such he looks upon, even those who are at once the chief of sinners and the least regarded of mankind. The falling ones among us are too apt to be pushed down by the strong: their timidity and dependence make them the victims of the proud and domineering. To them also the Lord gives his upholding help. The Lord loves to reverse things, -- he puts down the lofty, and lifts up the lowly.

And raiseth up all those that be bowed down. Another deed of condescension. Many are despondent, and cannot lift up their heads in courage, or their hearts with comfort; but these he cheers. Some are bent with their daily lead, and these he strengthens. Jesus loosed a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had so bound that she was bowed down, and could by no means lift up herself. In this he proved himself to be the true Son of the Highest. Think of the Infinite bowing to lift up the bowed, and stooping to be leaned upon by those who are ready to fall. The two "alls" should not be overlooked: the Lord has a kindly heart towards the whole company of the afflicted.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 14. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, etc. It is noteworthy how the Psalmist proceeds to exhibit the mightiness of God's kingdom, not by its power "to break in pieces and bruise", like the iron legs of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's vision (Daniel 2:40), but by the King's readiness to aid the weak. Even a heathen could see that this was the noblest use of power. Regia (crede mihi) res est succurrere lapsis.

Ovid., Ep. de Panto, ii. 9, II.

It is a kingly thing to help the fallen. --Neale and Littledale.

Verse 14. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, etc. sy[kn nophelim the falling, or those who are not able to keep their feet; the weak. He shores them up; he is their prop. No man falls through his own weakness merely; if he rely on God, the strongest foe cannot shake him. --Adam Clarke.

Verse 14. And raiseth up all those that be bowed down, incurvatos. Many who do not actually fall are reduced to distress that may be even more painful; for the struggling are greater sufferers than the actually passive. Men are bowed down physically by infirmity; mentally, by care; spiritually, by remorse; some are even crushed by all three burdens. For all such there is help in a Mighty One. But none can help themselves alone: none are raised but by supernatural interposition -- non nisi opitulante Domino. --Martin Geier.

Verse 14. The LORD upholdeth all that fall. The word here used is a participle, literally, "The Lord sustaining" that is, the Lord is a Sustainer or Upholder of all that fall. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 14. And raiseth up all those that be bowed down. Alphonsus, King of Arragon, is famous for helping with his own hand one of his subjects out of a ditch. Of Queen Elizabeth it is recorded, to her eternal praise, that she hated (no less than did Mithridates) such as sought to crush virtue forsaken of fortune. Christ bruises not the broken reed, but upholdeth it, he quenches not the smoking wick, but cherisheth it. --John Trapp.

Verse 14-19. The Psalmist sets up a splendid argument. Having praised the kingdom, he goes on to display seven glories peculiar to kings, and shows that in Jehovah these shine supremely. Psalms 145:14-19 contain each a royal virtue. --John Lorinus.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 14. The grace of God in his kindness to the undeserving and the miserable, who look to him for help.

b) Oppressed with perplexities and cares.

c) Weighted with a sense of weakness in the presence of onerous duties.

d) Depressed because of prevailing error and sin around them. --J. F.

Verse 14. Help for the fallible.

EXPOSITION Verse 15 . The eyes of all wait upon thee. They have learned to look to thee: it has become their nature to turn to thee for all they want. As children look to a father for all they need, so do the creatures look to God, the all sufficient Provider. It were well if all men had the eye of faith, and if all waited therewith upon the Lord. And thou givest them their meat in due season. They wait, and God gives. The thought of this brings God so near to our poet prophet that he is again speaking with God after the style of thee and thou. Is it to be wondered at when the Lord is feeding the hungry all around us, -- giving food to all creatures, and to ourselves among them? Like a flock of sheep the creatures stand around the Lord as their great Shepherd; all eyes are to his hand expecting to receive their food; nor are they disappointed, for when the hour comes suitable provender is ready for each creature. Observe the punctuality of the Lord in giving food at meal time, -- in the season when it is due. This he does for all, and each living thing has its own season, so that the Lord of heaven is feeding his great flock both by day and by night, during every moment of time. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 15 . The eyes of all wait upon thee . God cannot be overmastered by what is great and enormous, so neither can he overlook what is small and insignificant. God is that being to whom the only great thing is himself; and, therefore, when, "the eyes of all wait upon him", the seraph gains not attention by his gaze of fire, and the insect loses it not through the feebleness of vision. Arch angels, and angels, and men, and beasts of the field, and fowls of the air, and fish of the sea, draw equally the regard of him, who, counting nothing great but himself, the Creator, can pass over as small no fraction of the creature. --Henry Melvill. Verse 15 . Doth not nature teach you to pray? Ask the brutes , the ravens, lions, etc. (Job 38:41 Psalms 147:9 104:27 145:15); not as if these unreasonable creatures could know and worship God, but because nature hath taught them so much of this duty as they are capable of and can bear; they have some sense of their burdens and wants, they groan and cry, and desire to be eased; and the Lord hearkeneth to this voice and saith, "Now the poor creature is crying to me, and I will pity it." Ah! shall the beasts in their own way cry to God, and wilt thou be silent? Hath the Lord elevated thee so far above these inferior creatures, and fitted thee for the immediate acts of his worship, and for a higher communion with himself, and wilt thou not serve him accordingly? Hath he given thee a heart and a spiritual soul, as he hath given the brutes a sensitive appetite and natural desires, and shall they cry to God with the one, and not thou with the other? -- Alexander Pitcairne, 1664. Verse 15 . Eyes ... wait upon thee. Many dumb beggars have been relieved at Christ's gate by making signs. --William Seeker. Verse 15 . In agony nature is no atheist , the mind which knows not where to fly, flies to God. --Hannah More, 1745-1833. Verse 15 . The creatures are his , and therefore to be received with thanksgiving; this our Saviour performed with great rigour and zeal; thus teaching us, when "looking up to heaven", that "the eyes of all" ought, in the most literal sense, "to wait" upon that Lord "who gives them their meat in due season." ... A secret sense of God's goodness is by no means enough. Men should make solemn and outward expressions of it, when they receive his creatures for their support; a service and homage not only due to him, but profitable to themselves. --George Stanhope, 1660-1728. Verse 15 . While atheism , in its strict signification, namely, that of total denial of God's existence, is scarcely, if at all, to be found on earth; atheism, as regards the denial of God's providence, is the espoused creed of hundreds amongst us. ... Providence, which is confessed in great things, is rejected in small things; and even if you can work up men to an easy confession that God presides over national concerns, you will find them withdrawing individuals from his scrutiny. We bring against this paring down of God's providence a distinct charge of atheism. If we confess the existence of a God at all, we read it in the workmanship of the tiniest leaf, as well as in the magnificent pinnacles of Andes and Alps: if we believe in the providence of God at all, we must confess that he numbers the hairs of our heads, as well as marshals the stars of the firmament; and that providence is not universal, and therefore cannot be godlike, if a sparrow, any more than a seraph, flit away unregarded. Now, the words before us set themselves most strenuously against this popular atheism. The whole creation is represented as fastening its gaze on the universal Parent, and as drawing from his fulness the supply of every necessity. "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou give, them their meat in due season." There is made, you observe, no exception whatever; the exhibition is simply that of every rank and order of beings looking to the Almighty, confessing dependence upon him, and standing environed by his guardianship. So that, in place of anything which approximates to the abandonment of our creation, the Psalmist asserts a ceaseless attention to its wants, the suspension of which for an instant would cause chill and darkness throughout the whole universe. --Henry Melvill. Verse 15 . Thou givest them their meat in due season . The meat which endures to everlasting life; the flesh of Christ, which is meat indeed; the doctrines of the gospel, which, as some of them are milk for babes, others are meat for strong men, or strong meat for experienced believers; and these are given forth under Christ's direction, by his ministering servants, who are his wise and faithful stewards, that give to every one of the family their portion of meat in due season, which is the word fitly spoken; and, when it is so, how good it is! Luke 12:42 Proverbs 15:23 . This is food convenient for them, given out in his time, as in the original; either in the Lord's time, when he sees best, or in their time, as the Syriac version, when they most need it, and it will do them most good. --John Gill. Verse 15 . (second clause .) It is said that God gives them "their food", and, "in its season", for the very variety of it serves more to illustrate the providence of God. Each has its own way of feeding, and the different kinds of aliment are designed and adapted for different uses. David therefore speaks of the food which is particular to them. The pronoun is not in the plural, and we are not to read in their season, as if it applied to the animals. The food he notices as given in its season; for here also we are to notice the admirable arrangements of divine providence, that there is a certain time appointed for harvest, vintage, and hay crop, and that the year is so divided into intervals, that the cattle are fed at one time on grass, at another on hay, or straw, or acorns, or other products of the earth. Were the whole supply poured forth at one and the same moment, it could not be gathered together so conveniently; and we have no small reason to admire the seasonableness with which the different kinds of fruit and aliment are yearly produced. --John Calvin. Verse 15 . Mr . Robertson told of a poor child who was accustomed to see unexpected provision for his mother's wants arrive in answer to prayer. The meal barrel in Scotland is everything to a hungry boy: so he said, "Mother, I think God aye hears when we're scraping the bottom o' the barrel." --"The Christian." Verse 15-17 . Who can fear that , because God's ways are unsearchable, they may not be all tending to the final good of his creatures, when he knows that with the tenderness of a most affectionate parent this Creator and Governor ministers to the meanest living thing? Who can be disquieted by the mysteriousness of the Divine dealings when he remembers that they are those of one who never ceases for a solitary moment to consult the happiness of whatsoever he hath formed? Who, in short, can distrust God because clouds and darkness are round about him, when there is light enough to show that he is the vigilant guardian of every tenant of this earth, that his hand upholds, and his breath animates, and his bounty nourishes, the teeming hordes of the city, and the desert, and the ocean? It seems that there is thus a beautiful, though tacit process of reasoning in our text, and that the seventeenth verse is set in its proper connection. It is as though David had said, "Come, let us muse on the righteousness of God. He would not be God if he were not righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works; and therefore we may be sure that whatsoever he does is the best that could be done, whether or not we can discover its excellence." Yes, this may be true, but when we look on the divine dealings what an abyss of dark waters there is! How unsearchable, how unfathomable are God's judgments! We admit it; but being previously convinced of God's righteousness, we ought not to be staggered by what is dark in his dispensations. "True", you reply, "but the mind does not seem satisfied by this reasoning; it may be convincing to the intellect, but it does not address itself to the feelings." Well, then, pass from what is dark in God's dealing to what is clear. He is about your path and about your bed; he "preserveth man and beast"; "his tender mercies are over all his works." Is this a God of whom to be suspicious? Is this a God to mistrust? Oh! surely if you will fortify yourselves by such facts as these -- "Thou, O Lord, satisfiest the desire of every living thing", "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season" -- if, I say, you will fortify your minds by such facts as these, you will be able at all times and in all circumstances to join heartily in the acknowledgment of the Psalmist -- "The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works." --Henry Melvill. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 15-16 . Universal dependence and divine support. The Psalmist here teaches -- The Universality of Dependence amongst creatures: "The eyes of all wait upon thee." We depend upon God for "life, and breath, and all things." Entire dependence should beget deep humility. The Infinitude of the Divine Resources: "And thou givest them their meat." His resources must be, Infinitely vast. Infinitely various. Both sufficient and adapted for all. The Timeliness of the Divine Communications: "In due season. "A reason for patience if his gifts seem delayed. The Sublime Ease of the Divine Communications: "Thou openest thine hand", and the countless needs of the universe are satisfied. An encouragement to believing prayer. The Sufficiency of the Divine Communications: "And satisfiest the desire of every living thing." "God giveth to all liberally." Our subject urges all men to, Gratitude. Constant provision should lead to constant thankfulness and consecration. b) Trust. For temporal supplies. For spiritual supplies. "Grace to help in time of need" will surely be given to all who look to him. -- William Jones, in "The Homiletic Quarterly", 1878.

EXPOSITION

Verse 16. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. You alone provide, O Jehovah! Thou doest it liberally, with open hand; thou doest it easily, as if it were only to open thine hand; thou doest this at once as promptly as if all supplies were ready to hand. Living things have needs, and these create desires; the living God has suitable supplies at hand, and these he gives till inward satisfaction is produced, and the creature sighs no longer. In spiritual things, when God has raised a desire, he always gratifies it; hence the longing is prophetic of the blessing. In no case is the desire of the living thing excited to produce distress, but in order that it may seek and find satisfaction.

These verses refer to natural providence; but they may equally well apply to the stores of grace, since the same God is king in both spheres. If we will but wait upon the Lord for pardon, renewing, or whatever else we need, we shall not wait in vain. The hand of grace is never closed while the sinner lives. In these verses we behold our God in the realm of his free grace dealing well with his believing people.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 16. -- Thou openest thy hand of grace

And thou dost satisfy

The wants of all ill every place

Who for thy presence cry. --Thomas MacKellar, 1883.

Verse 16. Thou openest thy hand. This seems as if depicted from a housekeeper's habit of feeding a brood of chickens and other creatures. She flings abroad with full and open hand a large supply, not measuring to a grain just what might be enough. --Martin Geier.

Verse 16. Thou openest thy hand. What an idea does this convey of the paternal goodness of the great Father of his creation! How opposite to the conduct of many of his creatures one to another, whose hands and hearts are slant! What an idea also does it convey of the ease with which the wants of the whole creation are supplied! Let me pause a moment and think of their wants. What a quantity of vegetable and animal food is daily consumed in one town: what a quantity in a large city like London: what a quantity in a nation: in the whole world! But men do not compose a hundredth part of "every living thing" I What innumerable wants throughout all animate nature; in the earth, in the air, in the waters! Whence comes their supply? "Thou openest thy hand", and all are satisfied. And can all these wants be supplied by only the opening of his hand? What then must sin be, and salvation from it? That is a work of wonderful expense. God openeth his hand and satisfieth all creation, but he must purchase the Church with his blood ... In what a variety of ways are our wants supplied. The earth is fruitful, the air is full of life, the clouds empty themselves upon the earth, the sun pours forth its genial rays; but the operation of all these second causes is only the opening of his hand! Nay further: look we to instruments as well as means? Parents feed us in our childhood, and supply our youthful wants; ways are opened for our future subsistence; connexions are formed, which prove sources of comfort; friends are kind in seasons of extremity; supplies are presented from quarters that we never expected. What are all these but the opening of his hand? If his hand were shut, what a world would this be! The heavens brass, the earth iron; famine, pestilence, and death must follow. See Psalms 104:27-29.

Consider next the term "hand." There is a difference between the hand and the heart. God opens his hand, in the way of providence, towards his worst enemies. He gave Nebuchadnezzar all the kingdoms of the earth. But he opens his heart in the gospel of his Son. This is the better portion of the two. While we are thankful for the one, let us not rest satisfied in it: it is merely a hand portion. Rather let us pray with Jabez to be blessed indeed; and that we might have a Joseph's portion; not only the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, but "the good will of him that dwelt in the bush!"

Thou satisfiest the desire, etc. God does not give grudgingly. It seems to be a characteristic of the divine nature, both in the natural and moral world, to raise desires, not with a view to disappoint, but to satisfy them. O what a consoling thought is this! If there be any desires in us which are not satisfied, it is through their being self created ones, which is our own fault; or through artificial scarcity from men's luxury, which is the fault of our species. God raises no desires as our Creator, but he gives enough to satisfy them; and none as our Redeemer and Sanctifier but what shall be actually satisfied. O the wonderful munificence of God! "How great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!" --Andrew Fuller.

Verse 16. (second clause). The word nwcr, ratson, some render "desire", as though he meant that God supplies each kind of animal with food according to its wish. And a little afterwards we do indeed find it used in that sense. Others, however, refer it rather to God's feeding them of his mere good pleasure and kindness; it is not enough to say that our food is given us by God, unless we add, as in the second clause of the verse, that his kindness is gratuitous, and that there is no extrinsic cause whatever moving him to provide so liberally for every living creature. In that case the cause is put for the effect; the various kinds of provision being effects of his good pleasure -- carismata ths caritos, --John Calvin.

EXPOSITION

Verse 17. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. His ways and works are both worthy to be praised. Jehovah cannot be unjust or impure. Let his doings be what they may, they are in every case righteous and holy. This is the confession of the godly who follow his ways, and of the gracious who study his works. Whatever God is or does must be right. In the salvation of his people he is as righteous and holy as in any other of his ways and works: he has not manifested mercy at the expense of justice, but the rather he has magnified his righteousness by the death of his Son.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 17. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, etc. The ground upon which praise is here ascribed to God may seem a common one, being in every one's mouth; but in nothing is wisdom shown more than in holding fast the truth, that God is just in all his ways, so as to retain in our hearts an unabated sense of it amidst all troubles and confusions. Though all acknowledge God to be just, most men are no sooner overtaken by affliction than they quarrel with his severity: unless their wishes are immediately complied with, they are impatient, and nothing is more common than to hear his justice impeached. As it is everywhere abused by the wicked imputations men cast upon it, here it is very properly vindicated from such ungrateful treatment, and asserted to be constant and unfailing, however loudly the world may disparage it. It is expressly added, "in all his ways and works"; for we fail to give God due honour unless we recognise a constant tenor of righteousness in the whole progress of his operation. Nothing is more difficult in the time of trouble, when God has apparently forsaken us, or afflicts us without cause, than to restrain our corrupt feelings from breaking out against his judgments; as we are told of the Emperor Mauricius in a memorable passage of history, that seeing his sons murdered by the wicked and perfidious traitor Phocas, and being about to be carried out himself to death, he cried out -- "Thou art righteous, O God, and just are thy judgments." --John Calvin.

Verse 17. Holy in all his works. God is good, the absolute and perfect; and from good nothing can come but good: and therefore all which God has made is good, as he is; and therefore if anything in the world seems to be bad, one of two things must be true of it.

Either it is not bad, though it seems so to us; and God will bring good out of it in his good time, and justify himself to men, and show us that he is holy in all his works, and righteous in all his ways. Or else --

If the thing be really bad, then God did not make it. It must be a disease, a mistake, a failure, of man's making, or some person's making, but not of God's making. For all that he has made he sees eternally; and behold, it is very good. --Charles Kingsky, in "The Good News of God", 1878.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 17.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 18. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him. Not only near by his omnipresence, but to sympathize and favour. He does not leave praying men, and men who confess his name, to battle with the world alone, but he is ever at their side. This favour is not for a few of those who invoke him; but for each one of the pious company. "All" who place themselves beneath the shield of his glorious name by calling themselves by it, and by calling upon it in supplication, shall find him to be a very present help in trouble. "To all that call upon him in truth": for there are many whose formal prayers and false professions will never bring them into communion with the Lord. To pray in truth, we must have a true heart, and the truth in our heart; and then we must be humble, for pride is a falsehood; and be earnest, or else prayer is a lie. A God of truth cannot be nigh to the spirit of hypocrisy; this he knows and hates; neither can he be far removed from a sincere spirit, since it is his work, and he forsakes not the work of his own hands.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 18. The Lord is nigh. The nearness or remoteness of a friend is very material and considerable in our troubles, distresses, wants, dangers etc. I have such a friend and he would help me, but he lives so far off; and I have another friend that has a great love for me, that is able to counsel me, and to speak a word in season to me, and that in my distress would stand close to me, but he is so remote. I have a special friend, that did he know how things stand with me would make my burdens his, and my wants his, and my sorrows his; but he is in a far country, he is at the Indies, and I may be undone before I can hear from him. But it is not thus with you, O Christians! who have a God so nigh unto you, who have the signal presence of God in the midst of you, yea, who have a God always standing by you, "The Lord stood by me", etc. 2 Timothy 4:17. --Thomas Brooks.

Verse 18. Them that call upon him. To call upon the name of the Lord implies right faith, to call upon him as he is; right trust in him, leaning upon him, right devotion, calling upon him as he has appointed; right life, ourselves who call upon him being, or becoming by his grace, what he wills. They "call" not "upon the Lord", but upon some idol of their own imagining, who call upon him as other than he has revealed himself, or remaining themselves other than those whom he has declared that he will hear. For such deny the very primary attribute of God, his truth. Their God is not a God of truth. --Edward Bouverie Pusey, 1800-1882.

Verse 18. To all that call upon him in truth. Because there is a counterfeit and false sort of worshipping, and calling upon God, which is debarred from the benefit of this promise, to wit, when the party suppliant is not reconciled, nor seeking reconciliation through Christ the Mediator, or is seeking something not promised, or something for a carnal end, that he may bestow it on his lusts; therefore he who hath right unto this promise must be a worshipper of God in faith, and sincere intention; and to such the Lord will show himself "nigh". --David Dickson.

Verse 18. To call upon God in truth is, first, to repose an implicit confidence in the faithfulness of his promise, and to look for unlimited answers to prayer from the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus. But it is also, in the next place, to feel our own urgent need of the things for which we supplicate, and to realize an earnest and unfeigned concern to obtain them. "What things ye desire when ye pray", said the Lord, "believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them"; and hence we gather, that the hearty desire, arising out of the consciousness of need, is an integral and inseparable part of genuine and effectual prayer. --Thomas Dale, 1853.

Verse 18-19. God's people are a praying people, a generation of seekers, and such commonly are speeders. God never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye my face in vain. They seek his face, righteousness and strength, and he is found of them ... The saints alone betake themselves to God and his help, run to him as their sanctuary; others fly from God's presence, run to the rocks, and the tops of the ragged rocks, call to the hills and the mountains; but a child of God goes only and tells his Father, and before him lays open his cause; as good Hezekiah did, when Rabshakeh came out against him; "O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me"; or the Church (Isaiah 33:2), "Be thou our arm every morning, and our salvation in time of trouble." They only sensibly need, and so alone crave and implore divine succour; and God will not suffer his people to lose the precious treasure of their prayers. "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him; he will fulfil their desire, he will hear their cry", etc. That God who prepares his people's heart to pray, prepares also his own ear to hear; and he that promises to hear before we call, will never deny to hearken when we cry unto him. As Calvin saith: "Oppressions and afflictions make man cry, and cries and supplications make God hear." --F. E., in "The Saint's Ebenezer", 1667.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 18-20. Gather from these verses the character of God's people.

Verse 18. (last clause.) True prayer, in what it differs essentially from mere formalism.

Verse 18. At the palace gates.

b) Call "in truth"; sincerely, with promises, in appointed way.

Verse 18-19. The blessedness of prayer.

EXPOSITION

Verse 19. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: that is, those who reverence his name and his law. Inasmuch as they have respect unto his will, he will have respect unto their will. They shall have their way for they have his way in their hearts. A holy heart only desires what a holy God can give, and so its desire is filled full out of the fullness of the Lord. He also will hear their cry, and will save them. Divinely practical shall his nearness be, for he will work their deliverance. He will listen to their piteous cry, and then will send salvation from every ill. This he will do himself personally; he will not trust them to angels or saints.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 19. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him. This is for comfort for all poor broken hearts in whom God hath engendered the true desire of grace. Let such know that the first step to grace is to see they have no grace; and the first degree of grace is the desire of grace. It is not with the body as with the soul, if you will be healed you shall be healed. A man may desire to be healed corporally, and yet his disease continue upon him; but it is not so with the soul: if thou wilt say, "Christ heal me", thou shalt be made whole. If a man have but the true desire of grace it shall be given him: "Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble" (Psalms 10:17): when the poor soul is humbled before God in the sense of the want of grace, and breathes and desires after it, the Lord will grant such desires: "He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them." One said, "the greatest part of Christianity is to desire to be a Christian." And another said, "The total sum of a man's religion in this life consists in the true desires of saving grace." This was the perfection Saint Paul attained unto (Romans 7:18): "To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." Saint Paul we know was the child of God, and one dearly beloved of God; yet that was the pitch of his godliness; it consisted more in desire than accomplishment. Canst thou approve by evident and sound arguments that thou hast the true desires of grace? Then know for thy comfort that the Lord's spirit of grace hath been moving and stirring in thee: "It is God that worketh in you both the will and the deed" (Philippians 2:13), and that of his good pleasure, not only of his bounty, from whence he hath bestowed many graces, even upon such as he will damn afterwards for their accursed abuse of them, with the neglect of the power thereof. But if God hath set thy will, and the stream of thy affections and desires, to himself and to grace, it is an evidence of God's good pleasure from which he did at first elect thee, and gave his Son to redeem thee. -- William Fenner (1560-1640), in "The Riches of Grace."

Verse 19. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him. God will not grant us every desire, that is our mercy; for,

Verse 19. (first clause.) God will fulfil the will of those who fear to disobey his will. --Simon de Muis.

Verse 19. Desire is the largest and most comprehensive word that can be used; it contains all things in it ... Nothing good, nothing necessary: nothing profitable, but comes under this word "desire." When God promises to "fulfil the desires of them that fear him", he doth promise all good things; desire comprehends all that can be desired. --Ralph Robinson.

Verse 19. He will hear their cry, etc. A mark of a great king -- he gives willing audience to suppliants. --Johannes Paulus Palanterius.

Verse 19. He will hear and save. How true a description of Christ in his constant office. He heard Mary Magdalene and saved her. He heard the Canaanitish woman, and saved her daughter. He heard the cry of the two blind men and enlightened them. He heard the lepers and cleansed them. He heard the cry of the dying thief and promised him Paradise. Never has one yet cried to King Jesus who has not been heard and delivered. -- Thomas Le Blanc.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 20. The LORD preserveth all them that love him. They keep him in their love, and he keeps them by his love. See how these favoured ones have advanced from fearing the Lord and crying to him, even to loving him, and in that love they are secure from all danger. Mark the number of "alls" in these later verses of the Psalm. In each of these God is all in all. But all the wicked will he destroy. Wickedness is an offence to all holy beings, and therefore those who are determined to continue in it must be weeded out. As good sanitary laws remove all creators of pest and plague, so does the moral government of God mark every evil thing for destruction; it cannot be tolerated in the presence of a perfectly holy God. What ruins wicked men frequently become in this life! What monuments of wrath will they be in the world to come! Like Nineveh and Babylon, and other destroyed places, they shall only exist to declare how thoroughly God fulfils his threatenings.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 20. The Lord preserveth, etc. God's mercy and God's justice; he preserves and he destroys. Philip IV of France, surnamed the Beautiful, on his escutcheon emblazoned a sword and an olive branch, with the motto, Utrumque, i.e. "one or the other." A truly great king is master of either art -- war and peace. --Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 20. Those who were called "them that fear him" are now denominated "them that love him." --Simon de Muis.

Verse 20. All the wicked will he destroy. God has so many different, unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world, and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man at any moment. -- Jonathan Edwards.

Verse 20. All the wicked will he destroy. It must not be overlooked that this declaration occurs in a song of praise. The whole of the context is utterly inconsistent with the expression of emotions of anger or revenge. --Speaker's Commentary.

Verse 20. All the wicked will he destroy. Prayer Book Version, "scattereth abroad."] Like the ruins of a demolished building; or rather, like an army, which the enemy has completely routed. -- William Keatinge Clay.

Verse 20. Preserveth ... destroy. Notice this recurrent the guardianship of the good implies the destruction of the wicked. --A. S. Aglen.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 20. Those who love God are preserved from excessive temptation, falling into sin, despair, apostasy, remorse, famishing; preserved in trial, persecution, depression, death; preserved to activity, holiness, victory, glory.

Verse 20. Solemn Contrasts.

Verse 20. How the love of God is the opposite of wickedness, and wickedness inconsistent with the love of God.

EXPOSITION

Verse 21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD. Whatever others may do, I will not be silent in the praise of the Lord: whatever others may speak upon, my topic is fixed once for all: I will speak the praise of Jehovah. I am doing it, and I will do it as long as I breathe. And let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. Praise is no monopoly for one, even though he be a David; others are debtors, let them also be songsters. All men of every race, condition, or generation should unite to glorify God. No man need think that he will be rejected when he comes with his personal note of praise; all are permitted, invited, and exhorted to magnify the Lord. Specially should his holiness be adored: this is the crown, and in a certain sense the sum, of all his attributes. Only holy hearts will praise the holy name, or character of the Lord; oh, that all flesh were sanctified, then would the sanctity of God be the delight of all. Once let the song begin and there will be no end to it. It shall go on for ever and a clay, as the old folks used to say. If there were two forevers, or twenty forevers, they ought all to be spent in the praises of the ever living, ever blessing, ever blessed JEHOVAH. Blessed be the Lord for ever for having revealed to us his name, and blessed be that name as he has revealed it; yea, blessed be he above all that we can know, or think, or say. Our hearts revel in the delight of praising him. Our mouth, our mind, our lip, our life shall be our Lord's throughout this mortal existence, and when time shall be no more.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 21. Individual praise suggests the desire for universal praise. We like company in a good deed; we perceive the inadequacy of our own song; we desire others to be happy; we long to see that done which is right and good.

Psalms 146

PSALM 146 OVERVIEW.

DIVISION, & etc. We are now among the Hallelujahs. The rest of our journey lies through the Delectable Mountains. All is praise to the close of the book. The key is high pitched: the music is upon the high sounding cymbals. O for a heart full of joyful gratitude, that we may run, and leap, and glorify God, even as these Psalms do.

Alexander thinks that this song may be regarded as composed of two equal parts; in the first we see the happiness of those who trust in God, and not in man (Psalms 146:1-5), while the second gives the reason drawn from the Divine perfections (Psalms 146:5-10). This might suffice for our purpose; but as there is really no break at all, we will keep it entire. It is "one pearl", a sacred censer of holy incense, pouring forth one sweet perfume.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. Praise ye the LORD, or, Hallelujah. It is saddening to remember how this majestic word has been trailed in the mire of late. Its irreverent use is an aggravated instance of taking the name of Jehovah our God in vain. Let us hope that it has been done in ignorance by the ruder sort; but great responsibility lies with leaders who countenance and even copy this blasphemy. With holy awe let us pronounce the word HALLELUJAH, and by it summon ourselves and all others to adore the God of the whole earth. Men need to be called to praise; it is important that they should praise; and there are many reasons why they should do it at once. Let all who hear the word Hallelujah unite immediately in holy praise.

Praise the LORD, O my soul. He would practise what he had preached. He would be the leader of the choir which he had summoned. It is a poor business if we solely exhort others, and do not stir up our own soul. It is an evil thing to say, "Praise ye", and never to add, "Praise, O my soul." When we praise God let us arouse our innermost self, our central life: we have but one soul, and if it be saved from eternal wrath, it is bound to praise its Saviour. Come heart, mind, thought! Come my whole being, my soul, my all, be all on flame with joyful adoration! Up, my brethren! Lift up the song! "Praise ye the Lord." But what am I at? How dare I call upon others, and be negligent myself? If ever man was under bonds to bless the Lord I am that man, wherefore let me put my soul into the centre of the choir, and then let my better nature excite my whole manhood to the utmost height of loving praise. "O for a well tuned harp!" Nay, rather, O for a sanctified heart. Then if my voice should be of the poorer sort, and somewhat lacking in melody, yet my soul without my voice shall accomplish my resolve to magnify the Lord.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Psalms 146:1-148:14. At the dedication of the second Temple, in the beginning of the seventh year of Darius, Psalms 146:1-10 Psalms 147:1-20 and Psalms 148:1-14, seem to have been sung; for in the Septuagint Version they are styled the Psalms of Haggai and Zechariah, as if they had been composed by them for this occasion. This, no doubt, was from some ancient tradition; but in the original Hebrew these Psalms have no such title prefixed to them, neither have they any other to contradict it. --Humphrey Prideaux.

Psalms 146:1-150:6. We do not know who put together these different sacred compositions, or whether they were arranged on any particular principle. This, however, is obvious, -- that the last series, those that close the whole, are full of praise. Though we meet frequently with grief and shame and tears in the former part, a great deal that presses upon the spirit, and in the centre a great many references to the various vicissitudes and fortunes through which the church or the individual has passed, -- yet, as we get towards the end, and as the book closes, it is Hallelujah -- praise. As the ancient church ceases to speak to us, as she lays down her lyre, and ceases to touch it, the last tones are tones of heaven; as if the warfare were done, the conflict accomplished, and she were anticipating either the revelations which are to make her glorious here, the "new thing" which God is about to "create" when he places her under another dispensation, or as you and I (I trust) shall do when we come to die, anticipating the praise and occupation of that eternity and rest for which we hope in the bosom of God. -- Thomas Binney, 1798-1874.

Whole Psalm. This Psalm gives in brief the Gospel of Confidence. It inculcates the elements of Faith, Hope, and Thanksgiving. --Martin Geier.

Verse 1. Praise ye the LORD. The word here used is Alleluia, and this is very proper to be constantly used by us who are dependent creatures, and under such great obligations to the Father of mercies. We have often heard of prayer doing great wonders; but instances also are not wanting of praise being accompanied with signal events. The ancient Britons, in the year 420, obtained a victory over the army of the Picts and Saxons, near Mold, in Flintshire. The Britons, unarmed, having Germanicus and Lupus at their head, when the Picts and Saxons came to the attack, the two commanders, Gideon like ordered their little army to shout Alleluia three times over, at the sound of which the enemy, being suddenly struck with terror, ran away in the greatest confusion, and left the Britons masters of the field. A stone monument to perpetuate the remembrance of this Alleluia victory, I believe, remains to this day, in a field near Mold. - -Charles Buck, 1771-1815.

Verse 1. Praise the LORD, O My soul. The Psalmist calls upon the noblest element of his being to exercise its noblest function. --Hermann Venema.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1.

Verse 1. Whom should I praise? And why? And when? And how?

Verse 1. Public worship.

EXPOSITION

Verse 2. While I live will I praise the LORD. I shall not live here for ever. This mortal life will find a finis in death; but while it lasts I will laud the Lord my God. I cannot tell how long or short my life may be; but every hour of it shall be given to the praises of my God. While I live I'll love; and while I breathe I'll bless. It is but for a while, and I will not while that time away in idleness, but consecrate it to that same service which shall occupy eternity. As our life is the gift of God's mercy, it should be used for his glory.

I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. When I am no longer in being on earth, I hope to have a higher being in heaven, and there I will not only praise, but sing praises. Here I have to sigh and praise, but there I shall only sing and praise. This "while I have any being" will be a great while, but the whole of it shall be filled up with adoration; for the glorious Jehovah is my God, my own God by covenant, and by blood relationship in Christ Jesus. I have no being apart from my God, therefore, I will not attempt to enjoy my being otherwise than by singing to his honour. Twice the Psalmist says "I will"; here first thoughts and second thoughts are alike good. We cannot be too firm in the holy resolve to praise God, for it is the chief end of our living and being that we should glorify God and enjoy him for ever.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 2. While I live will I praise the LORD. Mr. John Janeway on his deathbed cried out thus, -- "Come, help me with praises, yet all is too little. Come, help me, all ye mighty and glorious angels, who are so well skilled in the heavenly work of praise! Praise him, all ye creatures upon earth; let every thing that hath being help me to praise God. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise is now my work, and I shall be engaged in this sweet work now and for ever. Bring the Bible; turn to David's Psalms, and let us sing a Psalm of praise. Come, let us lift up our voices in the praises of the Most High. I will sing with you as long as my breath doth last, and when I have none, I shall do it better."

Verse 2. While live will I praise the LORD. George Carpenter, the Bavarian martyr, being desired by some godly brethren, that when he was burning in the fire he would give them same sign of his constancy, answered, "Let this be a sure sign unto you of my faith and perseverance in the truth, that so long as I am able to hold open my mouth, or to whisper, I will never cease to praise God, and to profess his truth"; the which also he did, saith mine author; and so did many other martyrs besides. --John Trapp.

Verse 2. I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. He had consecrated his entire earthly existence to the exercise of praise. And not only so, but he adds, I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. In which expression we may fairly conclude that the Psalmist stretches his thoughts beyond the limits of time, and contemplates that scene of eternal praise which shall succeed the less perfect songs of the church below. -- John Morison.

Verse 2. Unto my God. Then praise is most pleasant, when in praising God we have an eye to him as ours, whom we have an interest in, and stand in relation to. -- Matthew Henry.

Verse 2. While I have any being. Praise God for deliverances constantly. Some will be thankful while the memory of a deliverance is fresh, and then leave off. The Carthaginians used, at first, to send the tenth of their yearly revenue to Hercules; and then by degrees they grew weary, and left off sending; but we must be constant in our eucharistic sacrifice, or thank offering. The motion of our praise must be like the motion of our pulse, which beats as long as life lasts. --Thomas Watson.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 2. Work for here and hereafter.

EXPOSITION

Verse 3. Put not your trust in princes. If David be the author this warning comes from a prince. In any case it comes from the Spirit of the living God. Men are always far too apt to depend upon the great ones of earth, and forget the Great One above; and this habit is the fruitful source of disappointment. Princes are only men, and men with greater needs than others; why, then, should we look to them for aid? They are in greater danger, are burdened with greater cares, and are more likely to be misled than other men; therefore, it is folly to select them for our confidence. Probably no order of men have been so false to their promises and treaties as men of royal blood. So live as to deserve their trust, but do not burden them with your trust.

Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. Though you should select one son of man out of the many, and should imagine that he differs from the rest and may be safely depended on, you will be mistaken. There is none to be trusted, no, not one. Adam fell; therefore lean not on his sons. Man is a helpless creature without God; therefore, look not for help in that direction. All men are like the few men who are made into princes, they are more in appearance than in reality, more in promising than in performing, more apt to help themselves than to help others. How many have turned away heartsick from men on whom they once relied! Never was this the case with a believer in the Lord. He is a very present help in time of trouble. In man there is no help in times of mental depression, in the day of sore bereavement, in the night of conviction of sin, or in the hour of death. What a horror when most in need of help to read those black words, NO HELP!

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 3. Put not your trust in princes, etc. Through some kind of weakness, the soul of man, whensoever it is in tribulation here, despairs of God, and chooseth to rely on man. Let it be said to one when set in some affliction, "There is a great man by whom thou mayest be set free"; he smiles, he rejoiceth, he is lifted up. But if it is said to him, "God frees you", he is chilled, so to speak, by despair. The aid of a mortal is promised, and thou rejoicest; the aid of the Immortal is promised, and art thou sad? It is promised thee that thou shalt be freed by one who needeth to be freed with thee, and you exult as at some great aid: thou art promised that great Liberator, who needeth none to free him, and you despair, as though it were but a fable. Woe to such thoughts: they wander far; truly there is sad and great death in them. --Augustine.

Verse 3. Put your trust in princes. The word rendered "princes" signifieth liberal, bountiful ones, [crg[tai, so princes would be accounted; but there's no trusting to them without God, or against him. --John Trapp.

Verse 3. Put not your trust in princes. King Charles had given the Earl of Strafford a solemn pledge, on the word of a king, that he should not suffer in "life, honour, or fortune", yet with singular baseness and ingratitude, as well as short sighted policy, gave his assent to the bill of attainder. On learning that this had been done, Strafford, laying his hand on his heart, and raising his eyes to heaven, uttered the memorable words, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, for in them there is no salvation." -- James Taylor, in the "Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography", 1868.

Verse 3. Put not your trust in princes. Shakespeare puts this sentiment into Wolsey's mouth: --

"O how wretched

Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favour!

There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to,

That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,

More pangs and fears than wars and women have:

And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,

Never to hope again."

Verse 3. Put not your trust in princes, etc. True, may some say, it were a folly to trust in weak princes, to trust in them for help who have no power to help; but we will apply to mighty princes; we hope there is help in them. No; those words, "in whom there is no help", are not a distinction of weak princes, from strong, but a conclusion that there is no help in the strongest. That's strange. What? No help in strong princes! If he had said, no help in mean men, carnal reason would have consented; but when he saith, "Trust not in princes, nor in any son of man", one or other, who can believe this? Yet this is divine truth; we may write insufficiency, insufficiency, and a third time, insufficiency, upon them all; the close of this verse may be their motto, There is no help, in them. -- Joseph Caryl.

Verse 3. Princes. Earthly princes offer baubles to allure the soul from the pursuit of an eternal prize. Princes themselves have pronounced their principality to be their own greatest peril. Pope Pius the Fifth said, "When I was a monk I had hope of my salvation; when I became Cardinal I began to fear; when I was made Pope I all but despaired of eternity." --Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 3. Nor in the son of man. All sons of man are like the man they are sprung of, who, being in honour, did not abide. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 3. For one man to put confidence in another, is as if one beggar should ask an alms of another, or one cripple should carry another, or the blind lead the blind. -- Anthony Farindon.

Verse 3-4. You see the first and the last, highest and lowest, of all the sons of Adam, they may be made honourable princes, but they are born sinful, the sons of men; born weak, there is no help in them; born mortal, their breath departeth; born corruptible, they return to their earth; and lastly, the mortality and corruption is not only in their flesh, but in some part or remnant of their spirits, for their thoughts perish. The prophet (if you mark it) climbeth up by degrees to the disabling of the best men amongst us, and in them of all the rest. For if princes deserve not confidence, the argument must needs hold by comparison, much less do meaner men deserve it. The order of the words is so set that the members following are evermore either the reason or some confirmation to that which went before. "Trust not in princes." Why? Because they are "the sons of men." Why not in "the sons of men"? Because there is no help in them. Why is there no help in them? Because when "their breath goeth forth, they turn again to their earth." What if their flesh be corrupted? Nay, "their thoughts" also "come to nothing."

For, first, this first order and rank which the prophet hath here placed, the princes and gods of the earth, are by birth men; secondly, weak men, and such in whom no help is; thirdly, not only weak, but dying, their breath goeth out; fourthly, not only dying, but subject to dissolution, they turn to the earth; fifthly, if their bodies only were dissolved, and their intentions and actions might stand, there were less cause to distrust them; but their thoughts are as transitory as their bodies. --John King (1559?- 1621), in a Funeral Sermon.

Verse 3-4. The Psalmist inscribes an antithesis. Princes, though masters of armies, possessors of riches, loaded with honours, revelling in pleasures, are at the mercy of a ruthless Black Prince. Death is tyrant over prince and peasant alike. The very pleasures which are envied are often ministers of death to voluptuous princes. --Thomas Le Blanc.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 3.

EXPOSITION

Verse 4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth. His breath goes from his body, and his body goes to the grave. His spirit goes one way, and his body another. High as he stood, the want of a little air brings him down to the ground, and lays him under it. Man who comes from the earth returns to the earth: it is the mother and sister of his body, and he must needs lie among Ins kindred as soon as the spirit which was his life has made its exit. There is a spirit in man, and when that goes the man goes. The spirit returns to God who gave it, and the flesh to the dust out of which it was fashioned. This is a poor creature to trust in: a dying creature, a corrupting creature. Those hopes will surely fall to the ground which are built upon men who so soon lie under ground.

In that very day his thoughts perish. Whatever he may have proposed to do, the proposal ends in smoke. He cannot think, and what he had thought of cannot effect itself, and therefore it dies. Now that he is gone, men are ready enough to let his thoughts go with him into oblivion; another thinker comes, and turns the thoughts of his predecessor to ridicule. It is a pitiful thing to be waiting upon princes or upon any other men, in the hope that they will think of us. In an hour they are gone, and where are their schemes for our promotion? A day has ended their thoughts by ending them; and our trusts have perished, for their thoughts have perished. Men's ambitions, expectations, declarations, and boastings all vanish into thin air when the breath of life vanishes from their bodies. This is the narrow estate of man: his breath, his earth, and his thoughts; and this is his threefold climax therein, -- his breath goeth forth, to his earth he returns, and his thoughts perish. Is this a being to be relied upon? Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. To trust it would be a still greater vanity.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 4. He returneth to his earth. The earth -- the dust -- is "his."

Verse 4. His breath goeth forth. There is the death's head, the mortality of man indeed, that a breath is as much as his being is worth. Our soul, that spiraculum vitarum (breath of lives), the Lord inspired it, not into Adam's eye, or ear, or mouth, but into his nostrils, which may show to man his imbecility, cujus anima in naribus, whose soul is in his nostrils, and depends upon a breath, as it were; for the very soul must away if but breath expires; soul and breath go forth together.

Now hear this, all ye people, ponder it high and low; your castle is built upon the very air, the subsistence is in your nostrils, in a breath that is gone in the twinkling of an eye. Wherefore David maketh a question, saying, "Lord, what is man?" He answereth himself also: "Man is a vanishing shadow" (Psalms 144:3-4), a shadow of smoke, or the dream of a shadow rather, as the poet speaketh. Blessed therefore are the poor in spirit; this advantage have all afflicted ones, that they have checks enough to call them home, and make them see they be but men. The curtain of honour, profit, or pleasure, hard it is and rare to draw aside when it is spread over us: "man in honour understandeth not" (Ps 49:20). To great ones therefore be it spoken; the Psalm intends it of very princes: "His breath goeth forth."

See we now the continuity, exit, "it goeth" as if it were now presently in its passage: showing this, that Homo vivens continue moritur, that life is a continued death; our candle lightens, consumes, and dies: as in the passing of an hourglass, every minute some sand faileth, and the glass once turned, no creature can intreat the sands to stay, but they continue to fall till all are gone: so is our life, it shortens and dies every minute, and we cannot beg a minute of time back, and that which we call death is but the termination, or consummation of it. --Thomas Williamson; in a Sermon, entitled, "A Comfortable Meditation of Humane Frailtie and Divine Mercie", 1630.

Verse 4. The primary idea of breath and the secondary one of spirit run into each other in the usage of the Hebrew word xwr, so that either may be expressed in the translation without entirely excluding the other. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 4. His breath (or spirit) goeth forth. Now I come to the liberty of the spirit, that it recedes inviolate;

Verse 4. His breath goeth forth, etc. The Hebrew gives the idea not that the spirit, but the mortal part of man will return to the dust. "His soul (fem. xwr) goeth forth", i.e., returneth to God; "returneth he (masc. bf) to his earth." As in Ecclesiastes 12:7: "He" is the mortal man of clay, but "his breath" (soul) is the real immortal man. --Simon de Muis.

Verse 4. He returneth to his earth. Returning, in its proper notion, is a going back to that place from whence we came, so that in this clause here is a threefold truth, implied, expressed, inferred.

Cedit item retro de terra quod fuit ante.

Verse 4. In that very day his thoughts perish. The thoughts which the Psalmist here, no doubt, especially intends are those purposes which are in the minds of great men of doing good to those who are under, and depend upon them. The Hebrew word here used is derived from a verb that signifieth to be bright: cogitationes serenae, those candid, serene, benign, benevolent thoughts which they have of advancing their allies, friends and followers. These thoughts are said to "perish" in "that day" wherein they are conceived; so Tremellius glosses. In which sense the instability of great men's favour is asserted, whose smiles are quickly changed into frowns, love into hatred, and so in a moment their mind being changed, their well wishing thoughts vanish. But more rationally, "their thoughts perish in that day" wherein their persons die, because there is no opportunity of putting their purposes into execution. They perish like the child which comes to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth; or like the fruit which is plucked off before it be ripe. Whilst they live we may be deceived in our expectations by the alteration of their minds; but, however, their condition is mortal, and when that great change by death comes, their designs (how well so ever meant) must want success.

From hence it followeth, which is by some looked upon as a part of the meaning of the words, that the thoughts or hopes of them who trust in them perish. It is a true apothegm, Major pars hominum expectundo moritur; the greatest part of men perish by expectation. And good reason, inasmuch as their expectation, being misplaced, perisheth. How strongly this argument serveth to press the Psalmist's caution against confidence in man, though never so great, is obvious. It is true, princes and nobles being invested with honour, wealth and authority, have power in their hands, and perhaps they may have thoughts in their hearts to do thee good; but, alas, how uncertain is the execution of those intentions, and therefore how foolish is it to depend upon them. "Trust in the Lord Jehovah" (saith the prophet), "for with him is everlasting strength." Aye, and with him is unchangeable goodness. It is safe building upon the rock, trusting upon God, whose thoughts of mercy are (like himself) from everlasting to everlasting; but nothing is more foolish than to build on the sand, trust to men, whose persons, together with their thoughts, perish in a moment. Therefore let our resolution be that of David: "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man; it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes", Psalms 118:8-9. --Nathanael Hardy.

Verse 4. In that very day his thoughts perish. At death a man sees all those thoughts which were not spent upon God to be fruitless. All worldly, vain thoughts, in the day of death perish and come to nothing. What good will the whole globe of the world do at such a time? Those who have revelled out their thoughts in impertinences will but be the more disquieted; it will cut them to the heart to think how they have spun a fool's thread. A Scythian captain having, for a draught of water, yielded up a city, cried out: "What have I lost? What have I betrayed?" So will it be with that man when he comes to die, who hath spent all his meditations upon the world; he will say, What have I lost? What have I betrayed? I have lost heaven, I have betrayed my soul. Should not the consideration of this fix our minds upon the thoughts of God and glory? All other meditations are fruitless; like a piece of ground which hath much cost laid out upon it, but it yields no crop. -- Thomas Watson.

Verse 4. I would have you take this passage and illustrate it as applying to purposes, projects, and intentions. That, I think now, is precisely the idea intended to be conveyed. "In that very day his thoughts perish"; his purposes, his projects -- what he intended to do. These cherished thoughts are gone. My dear brethren, there is something here for us. You find many beautiful passages and instances in Scripture in which this idea is embodied and realised, sometimes with great beauty and poetic effect, in relation to the enemies of the church. "The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my hand shall destroy them; thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the mighty waters." In that very day their thoughts perished "Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey? to every man a damsel or two? to Sisera a prey of divers colours of needlework? So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord." The sacred poet does not even suggest that they had perished; but feeling that it was a fact, only lifts up her heart to God. "So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord." And so you will find in many parts of Scripture beautiful ideas like this concerning the purposes and intentions that were in men's hearts utterly "perishing" by God's just laying his hand upon them -- the purposes that were in their hearts against the church. --Thomas Binney.

Verse 4. In that very day his thoughts perish. In the case of the rich fool (Luke 12:16,20) his "thoughts" of building larger barns, and of many years of ease and prosperity, -- all his selfish and worldly schemes, -- "perished" in that self same night. --John W. Haley, in "An Examination of the Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible", 1875.

Verse 4. His thoughts perish. The science, the philosophy, the statesmanship of one age is exploded in the next. The men who are the masters of the world's intellect today are discrowned tomorrow. In this age of restless and rapid change they may survive their own thoughts; their thoughts do not survive them. --J.J. Stewart Perowne.

Verse 4. His thoughts perish. As the purposes of all about worldly things perish in the approaches of death, so do the purposes of some about spiritual and heavenly things. How many have had purposes to repent, to amend their lives and turn to God, which have been prevented and totally broken off by the extremity of pain and sickness, but chiefly by the stroke of death when they have (as they thought) "been about to repent", and (as we say) "turn over a new leaf" in their lives; they have been turned into the grave by death, and into hell by the just wrath of God. --Joseph Caryl.

Verse 4. His thoughts. Rather, "his false deceitful show"; literally, "his glitterings." -- Samuel Horsley, 1733-1806.

Verse 4. To trust man is to lean not on a pillar but on a little heap of dust. The proudest element in man is his thought. In the thoughts of his heart he is lifted up if nowhere else; but, behold, even his proudest thoughts, says the Psalmist, will be degraded and perish in that dust to which he will return. Poor, perishing pride! Who should trust it? -- Johannes Paulus Palanterius.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 4. Decease, Decay, Defeat.

Verse 4. (second clause). The failure of man's projects, the disappearance of his philosophies, the disproving of his boastings.

EXPOSITION

Verse 5. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. Heaped up is his happiness. He has happiness indeed: the true and the real delight is with him. The God of Jacob is the God of the covenant, the God of wrestling prayer, the God of the tried believer; he is the only living and true God. The God of Jacob is Jehovah, who appeared unto Moses, and led the tribes of Jacob out of Egypt, and through the wilderness. Those are happy who trust him, for they shall never be ashamed or confounded. The Lord never dies, neither do his thoughts perish: his purpose of mercy, like himself, endures throughout all generations. Hallelujah!

Whose hope is in the LORD his God. He is happy in help for the present and in hope for the future, who has placed all his confidence in Jehovah, who is his God by a covenant of salt. Happy is he when others are despairing! Happiest shall he be in that very hour when others are discovering the depths of agony. We have here a statement which we have personally tried and proved: resting in the Lord, we know a happiness which is beyond description, beyond comparison, beyond conception. O how blessed a thing it is to know that God is our present help, and our eternal hope. Full assurance is more than heaven in the bud, the flower has begun to open. We would not exchange with Caesar; his sceptre is a bauble, but our bliss is true treasure.

In each of the two titles here given, namely, "the God of Jacob", and "Jehovah his God", there is a peculiar sweetness. Either one of them has a fountain of joy in it; but the first will not cheer us without the second. Unless Jehovah be his God no man can find confidence in the fact that he was Jacob's God. But when by faith we know the Lord to be ours, then we are "rich to all the intents of bliss."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 5. Happy is he. This is the last of the twenty-five places (or twenty-six, if Psalms 128:2 be included) in which the word ashre, with which the psalter begins, is found. -- Speaker's Commentary.

Verse 5. Alas, how often do we trust when we should be afraid, and become afraid when we should trust! --Lange's Commentary.

Verse 5. The God of Jacob. A famous and significant description of God; and that, First, in respect of his nature, or the verity and reality of his being and excellence. He is styled here by way of elegancy or emphasis, "The God of Jacob", saith Mollerus, to discern and distinguish the true God of Israel from all Heathenish deities, and to explode all fictitious gods and all worships thereof. As the true God is the God of Jacob, so the God of Jacob is the true God. He is God alone, and there is no other besides him ... Secondly. This title or appellation serves also to describe him in his special relation to his people. We find him called by our Psalmist, "The mighty God of Jacob": Ps 132:5. He is indeed the God of the whole earth, but in a peculiar manner "the God of Israel": Matthew 15:31 ... It is observable in Scripture that he styles not himself so frequently, in his revelations of himself to them, "the God of heaven and earth" (though that also is a title full of encouragement), but "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"; as if he had borne such choice goodwill, and had such a peculiar care for these three men, as to overlook all the world besides them. So near and intimate relation have God's people to him, that their interests are mutually involved, and twisted in a reciprocal and covenant bond. They are his, he is their portion; their Beloved is theirs and they are his: they are called by his name, the saints are styled his "holy ones", and the Church is termed expressly "Christ." Yea, he condescends to be called by their name; he assumes the name of Jacob, Psalms 24:6: "This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob:" --From "The Saints' Ebenezer", by F.E., 1667.

Verse 5. The God of Jacob. This verse aptly warrants us to apply to all believers all the illustrations of help and hope furnished by Jacob in his exile when none but God could help him. --Simon de Muis.

Verse 5-6. The God of Jacob ... which wade heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is. It is a characteristic of these Psalms, to proclaim to all nations which worshipped idols, that "the God of Jacob", "the God of Zion", is the Creator and Governor of all things; and to make an appeal to all nations to turn to him. All these Psalms have a missionary character and an evangelical function. We may compare here the apostolic prayer at Jerusalem, after the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost: "They lifted up their voices to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is" (where the words are the same as in the Septuagint in this place): "Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said. Why do the heathen rage?" Acts 4:24-25 The office of these Psalms is to declare to the universe, that Jehovah, and he alone, is Elohim; and to invite all to worship him as such, by their oft repeated Hallelujah. --Christopher Wordsworth.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 5. The secret of true happiness.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is. Wisely may we trust our Creator: justly may we expect to be happy in so doing. He who made heaven can make a heaven for us, and make us fit for heaven. He who made the earth can preserve us while we are on earth, and help us to make good use of it while we sojourn upon it. He who made the sea and all its mysteries can steer us across the pathless deeps of a troubled life, and make it a way for his redeemed to pass over. This God who still makes the world by keeping it in existence is assuredly able to keep us to his eternal kingdom and glory. The making of the worlds is the standing proof of the power and wisdom of that great God in whom we trust. It is our joy that he not only made heaven, but the sea; not only things which are bright and blessed, but things which are deep and dark. Concerning all our circumstances, we may say the Lord is there. In storms and hurricanes the Lord reigneth as truly as in that great calm which rules the firmament above.

Which keepeth truth for ever. This is a second and most forcible justification of our trust: the Lord will never permit his promise to fail. He is true to his own nature, true to the relationships which he has assumed, true to his covenant, true to his Word, true to his Son. He keeps true, and is the keeper of all that is true. Immutable fidelity is the character of Jehovah's procedure. None can charge him with falsehood or vacillation.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. Which keepeth truth for ever. Stored in his inexhaustible treasury as the most costly jewel ever there. And that because the truth which he so keeps, and which is the sustaining power which preserves the fabric of creation, is the Eternal Word, his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. --Dionysius the Carthusian, and Ayguan, in Neale and Littledale.

Verse 6. Which keepeth truth for ever. God does indeed keep the truth from age to age -- how else would the Book of God have lived? --John Lorinus.

Verse 6-9. The LORD, is an Almighty God, as the Creator of the universe; next, he is a faithful God "who keepeth truth forever"; further, he is a righteous God (Psalms 146:7) a bountiful God (ib.) a gracious God (Psalms 146:7-9). --J.J. Stewart Perowne.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 6-7. The God of our hope is,

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. Which executeth judgment for the oppressed. He is a swift and impartial administrator of justice. Our King surpasses all earthly princes because he pays no deference to rank or wealth, and is never the respecter of persons. He is the friend of the down trodden, the avenger of the persecuted, the champion of the helpless. Safely may we trust our cause with such a Judge if it be a just one: happy are we to be under such a Ruler. Are we "evil entreated"? Are our rights denied us? Are we slandered? Let this console us, that he who occupies the throne will not only think upon our case, but bestir himself to execute judgment on our behalf.

Which giveth food to the hungry. Glorious King art thou; O Jehovah! Thou dost not only mete out justice but thou dost dispense bounty! All food comes from God; but when we are reduced to hunger, and providence supplies our necessity, we are peculiarly struck with the fact. Let every hungry man lay hold on this statement, and plead it before the mercy seat, whether he suffer bodily hunger, or heart hunger. See how our God finds his special clients among the lowest of mankind: the oppressed and the starving find help in the God of Jacob.

The LORD looseth the prisoners. Thus he completes the triple blessing: justice, bread, and liberty. Jehovah loves not to see men pining in dungeons, or fretting in fetters: he brought up Joseph from the round house, and Israel from the house of bondage. Jesus is the Emancipator, spiritually, providentially, and nationally. Thy chains, O Africa! were broken by his hand. As faith in Jehovah shall become common among men freedom will advance in every form, especially will mental, moral, and spiritual bonds be loosed, and the slaves of error, sin, and death shall be set free. Well might the Psalmist praise Jehovah, who is so kind to men in bonds! Well may the loosened ones be loudest in the song!

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. Giveth food to the hungry. We learn from this that he is not always so indulgent to his own as to load them with abundance, but occasionally withdraws his blessing, that he may succour them when reduced to hunger. Had the Psalmist said that God fed his people with abundance and pampered them, would not any of those under want, or in famine have immediately desponded? The goodness of God is therefore properly extended farther to the feeding of the hungry. --John Calvin.

Verse 7. Giveth food to the hungry. Now, that Jesus was that Lord of whom the Psalmist in this place, and in Psalms 145:16, speaketh, was fully testified by the miracles which he wrought, in feeding many thousands with some few loaves and two small fishes, and in filling so many baskets with the fragments or relics of that small provision wherewith he bad filled thousands. From these miracles, the people which had seen him do them and tasted of his bounty, did rightly infer that he was the prophet which was to come into the world, as you may read, John 6:14; and being supposed to be the prophet, they consequently presumed that he was likewise to be the King of Israel; and out of this concert or presumption they would have enforced him to be their king, John 6:15. -- Thomas Jackson, 1579-1640.

Verse 7. The Lord looseth the prisoners. As in that place of Isaiah 61:1 the phrase of "opening the prison to them that are bound", is by the learned thought to be a prophetic elegance, to signify the cure of those that are deaf and dumb, whose souls consequently were shut up from being able to express themselves, as language enables others to do; so here also it may be used poetically, and then it will be directly parallel to that part of Christ's answer, "the deaf hear" (Matthew 11:5). At the curing of such, Christ's form of speech was, Ephphatha, "be opened", as to the door of a prison, when those which were under restraint therein were to be let loose out of it, their fetters being shaken off from them. But then, 'tis further manifest, that those that were under any sore disease or lameness, etc., are said to be "bound by Satan" (Luke 13:16), and be "loosed" by Christ, when they were cured by him. So saith Christ (Luke 13:12), "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity: and immediately she was made straight." Her being "made straight" was her being loosed out of her restraint, or bonds, or prison. And in this latitude of the poetic or prophetic expression, the Lord's loosing the prisoners here will comprehend the walking of the lame, the lepers being cleansed, the hearing of the deaf, yea, and the raising up of the dead; for those of all others are fastest bound, and so when they were raised, the style is as proper as to Lazarus in respect of the graveclothes, "loose them, and let him go." --Henry Hammond.

Verse 7-8. It ought not to pass without remark that the name Jehovah is repeated here five times in five lines, to intimate that it is an almighty power, that of Jehovah, that is engaged and exerted for the relief of the oppressed; and that it is as much to the glory of God to succour them that are in misery, as it is to ride on the heavens by his name JAH, Psalms 68:4. - -Matthew Henry.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7. (last clause). -- See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 484: "The Lord -- the Liberator."

Verse 7. The People's Rights.

EXPOSITION

Verse 8. The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind. Jesus did this very frequently, and hereby proved himself to be Jehovah. He who made the eye can open it, and when he does so it is to his glory. How often is the mental eye closed in moral night! And who can remove this dreary effect of the fall but the Almighty God This miracle of grace he has performed in myriads of cases, and it is in each case a theme for loftiest praise.

The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down. This also Jesus did literally, thus doing the work peculiar to God. Jehovah consoles the bereaved, cheers the defeated, solaces the despondent, comforts the despairing. Let those who are bowed to the ground appeal to him, and he will speedily upraise them.

The LORD loveth the righteous. He gives to them the love of complacency, communion, and reward. Bad kings affect the licentious, but Jehovah makes the upright to be his favoured ones. This is greatly to his glory. Let those who enjoy the inestimable privilege of his love magnify his name with enthusiastic delight. Loved ones, you must never be absent from the choir! You must never pause from his praise whose infinite love has made you what you are.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 8. Openeth the eyes of the blind. Literally, "openeth the blind" -- i.e., maketh them to see. The expression may be used figuratively, as a remedy applied either to physical helplessness, as Deuteronomy 28:29 Isaiah 59:9-10 Job 12:25 or to spiritual want of discernment, as Isaiah 29:18 42:7,18 43:8. Here the context favours the former. --J.J. Stewart Perowne.

Verse 8. The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind. The Hebrew does not mention the eyes of the blind. Hilary renders it sapientificat. The Arabic version follows the same. Jehovah by his wisdom illumines dark minds. It is mental blindness which is the common affliction of men. --John Lorinus.

Verse 8. The blind. The large number of blind persons to be seen feeling their way along the streets in Cairo and Alexandria has been noticed by Volney. "Walking in the streets of Cairo", he says, "out of a hundred persons whom I met, there were often twenty blind, eighteen one eyed, and twenty others with eyes red, purulent, or spotted. Almost every one wears bandages, indicating that they either have or are recovering from ophthalmia." Ophthalmia is, in fact, one of the scourges of Egypt, as all physicians know. Its prevalence must be attributed in a great degree to the sand which the wind blows into the eyes; but one can understand how in Oriental countries in general the excessive heat of the sun must make blindness much commoner than it is with us.

It is not therefore surprising to any one who knows the East to find the blind so often mentioned in the gospel history, and to meet in Scripture with so many allusions to this infirmity. Of the twelve maledictions of the Levites there is one against him "who maketh the blind to go out of the way": Deuteronomy 27:18. "The spirit of God hath anointed me", said Jesus, quoting from Isaiah, "to preach the gospel to the poor, and recovery of sight to the blind": Luke 4:19. "The Lord", says David, "setteth at liberty them that are bound; the Lord giveth sight to the blind." --Felix Bovet (1824--), in "Egypt, Palestine, and Phoenicia", 1882.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 8. (first clause). Spiritual blindness, its curse, cause, and cure.

Verse 8. (second clause). -- Who are the people? Who raises them? How he does it. And what then?

Verse 8. (third clause). -- God's love to the righteous.

EXPOSITION

Verse 9. The Lord preserveth the strangers. Many monarchs hunted aliens down, or transported them from place to place, or left them as outlaws unworthy of the rights of man; but Jehovah made special laws for their shelter within his domain. In this country the stranger was, a little while ago, looked upon as a vagabond, -- a kind of wild beast to be avoided if not to be assaulted; and even to this day there are prejudices against foreigners which are contrary to our holy religion. Our God and King is never strange to any of his creatures, and if any are left in a solitary and forlorn condition he has a special eye to their preservation.

He relieveth the fatherless and widow. These excite his compassion, and he shows it in a practical way by upraising them from their forlorn condition. The Mosaic law made provision for these destitute persons. When the secondary fatherhood is gone the child falls back upon the primary fatherhood of the Creator; when the husband of earth is removed the godly widow casts herself upon the care of her Maker.

But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. He fills it with crooked places; he reverses it, sets it down, or upsets it. That which the man aimed at he misses, and he secures that for himself which he would gladly have avoided. The wicked man's way is in itself a turning of things upside down morally, and the Lord makes it so to him providentially: everything goes wrong with him who goes wrong.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 9. The LORD preserveth the strangers. God has peculiar love for wanderers and pilgrims (Deuteronomy 10:18), and Jacob was a stranger in a strange land when God showed himself to be the God of Jacob as his elect servant. --Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 9. The Lord preserveth the strangers. They who do not belong to Babylon, nor to this world, but the true pilgrims in a strange land. --Robert Bellarmine.

Verse 9. He relieveth the fatherless and the widow. The olive tree is not to be twice shaken, the vineyard is not to be twice gathered, nor are the sheaves of corn left in the fields to be gleaned; all that belongs to the poor, to the widow and the orphan. It was allowable to pluck with the hand the ears of corn while passing through a neighbour's field (Deuteronomy 23:25), though a sickle might not be used. The law cares most anxiously for widows and orphans, for "God is a father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows" (Ps 68:5). A widow's raiment might not be taken in pledge, and both widows and orphans were to be invited to their feasts. An institution specially designed for the protection and relief of the poor was the second tithe, the so called poor's tithe. The first tithe belonged to the Levites. What remained over was again tithed, and the produce of this second tithe, devoted in the first two years to a feast in the sanctuary at the offering of firstfruits, was devoted in the third year to a feast in the dwelling house, to which the Levites and the strangers, the widows and the orphans, were invited (Deuteronomy 14:28-29 Deuteronomy 26:12-13). --G. Uhlhorn, in "Christian Charity in the Ancient Church", 1883.

Verse 9. The way of the wicked he turneth upside down. He overturns their plans, defeats their schemes; makes their purposes accomplish what they did not intend they should accomplish: The Hebrew word here means to bend, to curve, to make crooked, to distort; then, to overturn, to turn upside down. The same word is applied to the conduct of the wicked, in Psalms 119:78: "They dealt perversely with me." The idea here is that the path is not a straight path; that God makes it a crooked way; that they are diverted from their design; that through them he accomplishes purposes which they did not intend; that he prevents their accomplishing their own designs; and that he will make their plans subservient to a higher and better purpose than their own. This is the eleventh reason why those who put their trust in God are happy. It is that God is worthy of confidence and love, because he has all the plans of wicked men entirely under his control. -- Albert Barnes.

Verse 9. The way of the wicked he turneth upside down. As the potter's clay, when the potter hath spent some time and pains in tempering and forming it upon the wheel, and now the vessel is even almost brought to its shape, a man that stands by may, with the least push, put it clean out of shape, and mar all on a sudden that he hath been so long a making: so is it that all the plots and contrivances of wicked men, all their turning of things upside down shall be but as the potter's clay; for when they think they have brought all to maturity, ripeness, and perfection, when they look upon their business as good as done, all on a sudden all their labour is lost; for God, who stands by all the while and looks on, will, with one small touch, with the least breath of his wrath, blast and break all in pieces. --Edlin, 1656.

Verse 9. The way of the wicked he turneth upside down. All the ten clauses preceding lift up the poor saint step by step, higher and higher. At one word suddenly, like Satan falling as lightning from heaven, the wicked are shown dashed down the whole way from the summit of pride to the depths of hell. --Johannes Paulus Palanterius.

Verse 9. The way of the wicked he turneth upside down. A striking illustration of the folly of counting God out of one's plans for life is given in the course of William M. Tweed, whose death is recently announced. Here was a man who sought wealth and power, and who for a time seemed successful in their pursuit. Apparently he did not propose to obey God or to live for a life to come. What he wanted was worldly prosperity. He thought he had it. He went to Congress. He gathered his millions. He controlled the material interests of the metropolis of his country. He openly defied public sentiment and courts of justice in the prosecution of his plans. He was a brilliant and therefore a dangerous example of successful villainy. But the promise of prosperity for the life which now is, is only to the godly. As William M. Tweed lay dying in a prison house in the city he once ruled, his confession of bitter disappointment was, "My life has been a failure in everything. There is nothing I am proud of." If any young man wants to come to an end like this, the way to it is simple and plain. "The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors." "The way of the wicked he turneth upside down." --American Sunday School Times, 1878.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 9. Observe the provision made in the Jewish law for the stranger. The way in which strangers were received by God. The truth that his chosen are strangers in the world. His design to gather in strangers in the latter days.

Verse 9. (centre clause). The claims of orphans and widows upon the people of God.

Verse 9. (last clause). Illustrated by Joseph's brethren, Haman, and others.

EXPOSITION

Verse 10. The LORD shall reign for ever. Jehovah is King, and his kingdom can never come to an end. Neither does he die, nor abdicate, nor lose his crown by force. Glory be to his name, his throne is never in jeopardy. As the Lord ever liveth, so he ever reigneth.

Even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Zion's God, the God of his worshipping people, is he who in every age shall reign. There will always be a Zion; Zion will always have Jehovah for her King; for her he will always prove himself to be reigning in great power. What should we do in the presence of so great a King, but enter into his courts with praise, and pay to him our joyful homage?

Praise ye the LORD. Again they said Hallelujah. Again the sweet perfume arose from the golden vials full of sweet odours. Are we not prepared for an outburst of holy song? Do not we also say -- Hallelujah? Here endeth this happy Psalm. Here endeth not the praise of the Lord, which shall ascend for ever and ever. Amen.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 10.