Many of the old and godly fathers have highly extolled the Book of
Psalms, above all the other books of the Scripture, and have testified
their exceeding fondness and partiality for them. And indeed this
book, though small, deserves to be recommended above all others, (if a
difference may be made): though the Psalms of David do not want the
aid of borrowed encomiums, for they carry with them an abundance of
self-recommendation; and in them is the old proverb verified, which
says ‘The work proves the workman.’ Therefore, I have not put my hand
to this book for the purpose of parading before the world an encomium
upon it, since it so amply commends itself; but that I might,
according to the best of my ability, present those that fear God with
my judgment upon its all-excelling contents.
In the years that are past we have seen an infinity of books handed
about in the world, but all most insipid and worthless; which, behind
an apparently honest and plausible title, (for they were prefaced with
the sentiments and examples of the saints) contained the most nugatory
fables, and the most barefaced lies. The world, therefore, was
everywhere so filled with writings of this kind, the most foolish, and
at the same time the most impious, that the Psalms themselves were
disregarded and thrust into darkness, and we had not one Psalm rightly
interpreted or understood. And yet, as this sweet book of David
continued to be sung in all our churches, and to be chanted over so
many thousand times in these incessant rounds and forms of
prayer,—even by this frigid use of the Psalms, bad as it was, some
small savor of life was diffused abroad among many that were of an
honest and good heart; and from these words themselves only, though
not understood, those that feared God drank in some little sweetness
of the breath of life, and some small taste of consolation, like the
faint fragrance which is found in the air that is not far from a bed
of roses. Their experience was like also unto a simple man passing
through a flowery and sweet-smelling meadow, who, though he knew not
the peculiar nature and properties of the flowers and herbs, yet found
his senses regaled with the general fragrance.
I would say what I think of the Psalms in a few words thus:—I believe,
for my part, that there is no book under heaven, either of histories
or examples, to be compared to the Book of Psalms. Wherefore, if it
were right to ask of God, and, if such were our soul’s desire, that
all the greatest excellences and most choice experiences of all the
true saints should be gathered and collected from the whole church
since it has existed, and should be most briefly and appropriately
condensed into the focus of one book; if God, I say, should permit any
most spiritual and most gifted man to form and concentrate such a book
from all the excellences of the saints, and from the flower of the
facts recorded in the whole scripture (which might be done);—such a
book would be what the Book of Psalms is, or like unto it. For in the
Book of Psalms we have not the life of one of the saints only, but we
have the experience of Christ himself, the head of all the saints, for
he is set forth in those Psalms: we have, moreover, the feelings and
experiences of all the faithful, both under their sorrows and under
their joys, both in their adversity and their prosperity: how they
conducted themselves towards God, towards their friends, and towards
their enemies: how they acted in various perils and afflictions, in
the midst of temptations, and under the greatest necessities.
And moreover, in addition to the great and blessed doctrines and
instructions in godliness which it embraces, the Book of Psalms ought
to be most dearly and highly prized by us on this account;—because it
contains such clear prophecies concerning the death and resurrection
of Christ, and holds forth such great and gracious promises concerning
the kingdom of Christ, the spread of the Gospel, and the state of the
whole church. So that you may truly call the Book of Psalms, a little
Bible; for in it all things that are contained in the whole Bible are
given to us in the most wonderfully brief and sweet manner, and
condensed into a most beautiful manual.
If God should himself hand down a book out of heaven and commend it to
us with a divine voice, how highly would you prize and value it, how
greedily would you seize it? Be assured then that the Holy Spirit
himself has written and handed down to us this Book of Psalms, as a
form of prayer, in the same way as a father would give a book to his
children. He himself has drawn up this manual for his disciples;
having collected together, as it were, the lives, groans, and
experiences of many thousands, whose hearts he alone sees and knows.
If, therefore, thou canst not read the whole Bible, behold! thou
mayest, by reading the Book of Psalms only, have not only a summary of
all godliness, but all godly excellences, and the most spiritual
experiences.
And again, another great excellency of the Book of Psalms is this. In
other scriptures and histories, for the most part the works and bodily
exercises only of the saints are described: you have very few
histories which give you the words, expressions, and sighs of the
saints, which are the indexes of the state of their minds. But it is
in these things that the Book of Psalms may be a feast of delight for
the meditations of the godly. In these respects, therefore, the
reading of a Psalm is peculiarly sweet; because you have therein, not
only the works and acts of the saints, but their very words and
expressions, nay, their sighs and groans to God, and the utterance in
which they conversed with him during their temptations; and all these
are recorded in such a lively and descriptive manner, that those
saints, though now dead, seem still to live and speak in the Psalms.
Thus all other histories and lives of the saints, which describe their
acts and works only, when compared to the Book of Psalms, set forth to
us nothing more than dumb saints; and every thing that is recorded of
them is dull and lifeless. But in the Psalms, where the very
expressions of those that prayed in faith are recorded, all things
live, all things breathe, and living characters are set before us in
the most lively colours: the saints are represented to us as standing
supported by their faith, even in the midst of afflictions and
tribulations. A dumb man, indeed, is rather a lifeless post than a
man; for man is distinguished from the brute creation by nothing more
than by the power of speech. A stone even, under the hand of the
artificer, may represent the figure of a man. And, as to eating and
drinking, all dumb animals can do those things as well as he: they can
use the organs of sense as well as he: and indeed, as to strength of
body, they have greatly the advantage of him. Hence, it is the power
of speech that so distinguishes man from, and raises him above, the
brute creation: and that speech is the index of, and the mirror that
reflects, the mind.
As, therefore, the Psalms describe the words and expressions of the
saints, they give us an exact picture of their minds. For the Psalms
record not those common and everywhere-heard expressions of the
saints, but those ardent and pathetic utterances, by which, in real
earnest, and under the very pressure of temptations, and in the very
wrestlings of their souls, they poured out their hearts like Jacob,
not before man, but before God! The Psalms give us, therefore, not
only the works and words of the saints, but the very hidden treasure
of their hearts’ feelings—the very inmost sensations and motions of
their soul.
Wouldst thou see, then, the face and countenance of David, which he
carried under all those perils and sorrows with which the Lord
exercised him?—then read the Psalms; and they will give thee not only
the outward David, but, more expressively still, the inner David; and
that more descriptively than he could do it himself, if he were to
talk with you face to face. What then are all other histories, which
band about the singular works, and I know not what miracles of the
saints? I can see all the works and the miracles of the saints in
these everywhere-to-be-had records, but I can see nothing of the
feelings and sensations of their hearts.
As, therefore, I had much rather hear David or any such eminent saint
speak, than merely see the works or exercises of his body; so, much
rather would I know the inmost thoughts of David’s heart, and the
inward conflicts and struggles of his faith. With this knowledge the
Psalms furnish us most satisfactorily; so that from them we can know
what he felt and what all the saints felt, under their temptations,
from the ardent expressions and effusions which are uttered. For the
human heart is like a ship in the midst of the sea, which is exposed
to the perils of the winds and the waves on every side, and made as it
were their sport. For as the ship is suddenly assaulted, so trouble,
and the fear of future evil, like a sudden tempest, assaults and
disarms our minds: and then flow in cowardice of spirit, and sorrow of
heart, which, like the waves, run over us and threaten to overwhelm us
every moment. By and by, again, the confidence inspired by prosperity
carries us up to heaven in full sail; and then, security under our
present prospects dashes unexpectedly our ship against a rock. These,
I say, and the numberless other evils and perils of this life, tend to
arouse and stir up the saints, and teach and bring them to sigh and
groan from the recesses within, to pour out their whole hearts, and to
cry with their whole souls unto heaven. The complaints of those who
thus grieve and groan in truth, are far more ardent than theirs’ who
only feign sorrows and straits of mind: just as the man, who feels
joyful and glad in reality, discovers a far greater gladness,
hilarity, and exultation in his countenance, expressions, and whole
appearance, than he who only smoothes his brows with a feigned
rejoicing.
The expressions contained in the Psalms, then, as I have said, are
uttered under the true and real feelings of the heart; and the greater
part of them contain the pathetic and ardent utterances of the heart
under every kind of affliction and temptation. But wherever the
feelings of joy are described, you will never find the sensations of a
heart, filled with gladness and exultation, more significantly and
expressively described, than in the Psalms of thanksgiving, or the
Psalms of praise. There you may look into the hearts of the saints, as
into paradise, or into the opened heaven; and may see, in the greatest
variety, all the beautiful and flourishing flowers, or the most
brilliant stars, as it were, of their upspringing affections towards
God for his benefits and blessings.
On the other hand, you will never find the straits, the sorrows, and
the pains of a distressed mind any where described in a more
expressive manner than in the Psalms of temptations, or of complaints;
as in Psalm vi. and the like; where you see all dark and gloomy, all
full of anguish and distress, under a sight and sense of divine wrath,
and the working of despair.
And so again, where the Psalms are speaking of hope or fear, they so
describe those feelings in their true and native colours, that no
Demosthenes or Cicero could ever equal them in liveliness, or
descriptiveness of expression. For, as I have before observed, the
Psalms have this peculiarity of excellence above all other books of
description,—that the saints, whose feelings and sensations are
therein set forth, did not speak to the wind, under those their
exercises and conflicts, nor to an earthly friend, but unto, and
before, God himself, and in the sight of God. And it is this that
above all things gives a seriousness, and reality to the feelings,—it
is this that affects, as it were, the very bones and the marrow,—when
a creature feels itself speaking in the very sight and presence of its
God! But when we are speaking otherwise, and complaining to a friend,
or to a man only, our necessities are not so keenly and really felt;
our feelings are not so ardent, real, and poignant.
The Book of Psalms, therefore, as it contains these real feelings of
the saints, is a book so universally adapted and useful to all
Christians, that whatever one that truly fears God may be suffering,
or under what temptation soever he may be, he may find, in the Psalms,
feelings and expressions exactly suited to his case; just as much so
as if the Psalms had been indited and composed from his own personal
afflictions.
It ought, therefore, godly soul, to be a great consolation to thee
when the Psalms truly suit and delight thee. There is a saying of
Quinctilian left on record, who says, ‘He that is truly delighted with
Cicero may be assured that he has made a good progress:’ which I may
not unappropriately turn thus,—‘He that is really delighted with, and
receives consolation from, the Psalms of David, may be assured that he
has arrived at some knowledge and experience in divine things.’ For
when thou findest thyself under the same feelings that David was; when
the chords and strings of his harp are really re-echoed by the
feelings and sensations of thy heart; thou mayest assure thyself that
thou art in the congregation of the elect of God; seeing that thou art
afflicted in the same manner as they were afflicted, and that thou
prayest with the same faith, sensations, and affections as they
prayed. Whereas, to a cold and frigid reader, destitute of faith, all
these Psalms are insipid and unengaging.
Again, the Psalms are those parts of the lives of the saints, which
you may most safely copy and imitate. Other lives and histories, which
do not set forth the words and expressions, but certain works of the
saints, contain many things of the saints which we cannot imitate,
such as certain signs and wonders, and demonstrations of divine power.
And indeed some of the recorded works of those who are considered to
have been saints, are such that you cannot imitate them without
eminent peril; being such works as cause sects and heresies, and draw
us away from the unity of the Spirit; of which we have abundant proof
in monkery. But the Psalms call us away from all sects and divisions,
to the unity of the Spirit. They teach us to maintain fear in
prosperity, and not to cast away our hope in adversity; and thus to be
of the same mind, to have the same desires, and to have the same
feelings and sensations with all the saints.
In a word, if you desire to see the Christian church painted forth, as
it were, in a most beautiful picture, and in the most lively and
descriptive colours, then take the Psalms into thy hands; this will be
as an all-clear mirror, which will represent to thee the whole church
in its true features; and if thou be one that fears God it will
present to thee a true picture of thyself: so that, according to the
maxim of the philosopher of old, γνωθι σεαυτον, thou wilt, by this
book, come to a true knowledge of thyself, nay, and also of God and
all creatures.
Let us therefore watch over our hearts, and see that we be thankful in
this our day for this revelation of the word, for this unspeakable
gift of God. Let us use these precious gifts to the glory of God, and
the good of our neighbour, lest we be made to suffer the deserved
punishment of our ingratitude. For not many years ago, during that
barbarous blindness and ignorance, what a treasure should we have had,
if we had possessed one Psalm only, really and truly understood and
set forth; but we had not so much as one! And now we are blessed with
such an abundance of revelation—“Blessed therefore are the eyes which
see the things that we see, and the ears which hear the things that we
hear.” But how do I fear lest, like the Israelites in the desert, we
should at length nauseate this manna and say, “Our souls loathe this
light food.” But however, the despisers of the word shall bear their
judgment, whoever they are, even as the Israelites bore the awful
judgments wherewith God punished them. But may the Father of all
mercies and the God of all consolation, keep and increase in us the
knowledge of his word, for Jesus Christ our Lord’s sake: to whom, for
this Book of Psalms, and for all the excellent gifts which he has
richly bestowed upon us, be praise and glory, for ever and ever! Amen!