be of different materials, as it was employed for different purposes. At
an early period, a wooden rod came into use as one of the insignia of
royalty, under the name of sceptre. By degrees the sceptre grew in
importance, and was regarded as characteristic of an empire, or of the
reign of some particular king. A golden sceptre denoted wealth and pomp.
The right, or straight sceptre of which we read in Psalm xlv. 6, is
expressive of the justice and uprightness, the truth and equity, which
shall distinguish Messiah’s reign, after his kingdom on earth has been
established. But when it is said in Rev. xix. 15, that he, “whose name
is called the Word of God,” will smite the nations, and “rule them with
a rod of iron,” if the rod signifies “his sceptre,” then the “iron” of
which it is made must be designed to express the severity of the
judgments which this omnipotent “King of kings” will inflict on all who
resist his authority. But to me it appears doubtful whether the “rod of
iron” symbolizes the royal sceptre of the Son of God at his second
advent. It is mentioned in connection with “a sharp sword,” which leads
me to prefer the opinion that it also ought to be regarded as a weapon
of war; at all events, the “rod of iron” mentioned in the Psalm we are
endeavouring to explain, is evidently not the emblem of sovereign power,
although represented as in the hands of a king, but an instrument of
correction and punishment. In this sense the word “rod” is often
used.... When the correcting rod, which usually was a wand or cane, is
represented, as in the second Psalm, to be of “iron” it only indicates
how weighty, how severe, how effectual the threatened chastisement will
be—it will not merely bruise, but it will break. “_Thou shalt break them
with a rod of iron._”
Now it is just such a complete breaking as would not readily be effected
excepting by _an iron rod_, that is more fully expressed in the
following clause of the verse, “Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a
potter’s vessel.” The completeness of the destruction, however, depends
on two things. Even an iron rod if gently used, or used against a hard
and firm substance, might cause little injury; but, in the case before
us, it is supposed to be applied with great force, “Thou shalt _dash_
them;” and it is applied to what will prove as brittle and frangible as
“_a potter’s vessel_”—“Thou shalt dash them _in pieces_.” ... Here, as
in other respects, we must feel that the predictions and promises of
this Psalm were but very partially fulfilled in the history of the
literal David. Their real accomplishment, their awful completion, abides
the day when the spiritual David shall come in glory and in majesty as
Zion’s King, with a rod of iron to dash in pieces the great
antichristian confederacy of kings and peoples, and to take possession
of his long-promised and dearly-purchased inheritance. And the signs of
the times seem to indicate that the coming of the Lord draws
nigh.—_David Pitcairn._
_Verse 10.—“Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings,”_ etc. As Jesus is King
of kings and Judge of judges, so the gospel is the teacher of the
greatest and wisest. If any are so great as to spurn its admonitions,
God will make little of them; and if they are so wise as to despise its
teachings, their fancied wisdom shall make fools of them. The gospel
takes a high tone before the rulers of the earth, and they who preach it
should, like Knox and Melville, magnify their office by bold rebukes and
manly utterances even in the royal presence. A clerical sycophant is
only fit to be a scullion in the devil’s kitchen.—_C. H. S._
_Verse 11.—“Serve the Lord with fear.”_ This fear of God qualifies our
joy. If you abstract fear from joy, joy will become light and wanton;
and if you abstract joy from fear, fear then will become
slavish.—_William Bates, D.D., 1625-1699._
_Verse 11.—“Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”_
There are two kinds of serving and rejoicing in God. First, a serving in
security, and a rejoicing in the Lord without fear; these are peculiar
to hypocrites, who are secure, who please themselves, and who appear to
themselves to be not unuseful servants, and to have great merit on their
side, concerning whom it is said (Psalm x. 5), “Thy judgments are far
above out of his sight;” and also afterwards (Psalm xxxvi. 1), “There is
no fear of God before his eyes.” These do righteousness without judgment
at all times; and permit not Christ to be the Judge to be feared by all,
in whose sight no man living is justified. Secondly, a serving with fear
and a rejoicing with trembling; these are peculiar to the righteous who
do righteousness at all times, and always rightly attemper both; never
being without judgments, on the one hand, by which they are terrified
and brought to despair of themselves and of all their own works; nor
without that righteousness, on the other, on which they rest, and in
which they rejoice in the mercy of God. It is the work of the whole
lives of these characters to accuse themselves in all things, and in all
things to justify and praise God. And thus they fulfil that word of
Proverbs, “Blessed is the man that feareth alway” (xxviii. 14); and also
that of Philip. iv. 4, “Rejoice in the Lord alway.” Thus, between the
upper and nether mill-stone (Deut. xxiv. 6), they are broken in pieces
and humbled, and the husks thus being bruised off, they come forth the
all-pure wheat of Christ.—_Martin Luther._
_Verse 11._—The fear of God promotes spiritual joy; it is the morning
star which ushers in the sunlight of comfort. “Walking in the fear of
God, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.” God mingles joy with fear,
that fear may not be slavish.—_Thomas Watson, 1660._
_Verse 12.—“Kiss,”_ a sign of love among equals: Gen. xxxiii. 4; 1 Sam.
xx. 41; Rom. xvi. 16; 1 Cor. xvi. 20. Of subjection in inferiors: 1 Sam.
x. 1. Of religious adoration in worshippers: 1 Kings xix. 18; Job xxxi.
27.—_John Richardson, Bishop of Ardagh, 1655._
_Verse 12.—“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry.”_ From the Person, _the
Son_, we shall pass to the act (_Osculamini, kiss the Son_); in which we
shall see, that since this is an act which licentious men have depraved
(carnal men do it, and treacherous men do it—_Judas_ betrayed his Master
by a kiss), and yet God commands this, and expresses love in this;
everything that hath, or may be abused, must not therefore be abandoned;
the turning of a thing out of the way, is not a taking of that thing
away, but good things deflected to ill uses by some, may be by others
reduced to their first goodness. Then let us consider and magnify the
goodness of God, that hath brought us into this distance, that we may
_kiss the Son_, that the expressing of this love lies in our hands, and
that, whereas the love of the church, in the Old Testament, even in the
Canticle, went no farther but to the _Osculatur me_ (_O that he would
kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!_ Cant. i. 1), now, in the
Christian church, and in the visitation of a Christian soul, he hath
invited us, enabled us to kiss him, for he is presentially amongst us.
This leads us to give an earnest persuasion and exhortation _to kiss the
Son_, with all those affections, which we shall there find to be
expressed in the Scriptures, in that testimony of true love, _a holy
kiss_. But then lest that persuasion by love should not be effectual and
powerful enough to us, we shall descend from that duty, to the danger,
from love, to fear, “_lest he be angry_;” and therein see first, that
God, who is love, can be angry; and then, that this God who is angry
here, is the Son of God, he that hath done so much for us, and therefore
in justice may be angry; he that is our Judge, and therefore in reason
we are to fear his anger: and then, in a third branch, we shall see how
easily this anger departs—a kiss removes it.
_Verse 12.—“Kiss the Son.”_ That is, embrace him, depend upon him all
these ways: as thy kinsman, as thy sovereign; at thy going, at thy
coming; at thy reconciliation, in the truth of religion in thyself, in a
peaceable unity with the church, in a reverent estimation of those men,
and those means whom he sends. Kiss him, and be not ashamed of kissing
him; it is that which the spouse desired, “_I would kiss thee, and not
be despised._” Cant. vii. 1. If thou be despised for loving Christ in
his gospel, remember that when David was thought base, for dancing
before the ark, his way was to be more base. If thou be thought
frivolous for thrusting in at service, in the forenoon, be more
frivolous, and come again in the afternoon: “_Tanto major requies,
quanto ab amore Jesu nulla requies_;”[1] “The more thou troublest
thyself, or art troubled by others for Christ, the more peace thou hast
in Christ.” ... “_Lest he be angry._” Anger, as it is a passion that
troubles, and disorders, and discomposes a man, so it is not in God; but
anger, as it is a sensible discerning of foes from friends, and of
things that conduce, or disconduce to his glory, so it is in God. In a
word, Hilary hath expressed it well: “_Pæna patientis, ira
decernentis_;” “Man’s suffering is God’s anger.” When God inflicts such
punishments as a king justly incensed would do, then God is thus angry.
Now here, our case is heavier; it is not this great, and almighty, and
majestical God, that may be _angry_—that is like enough; but even the
Son, whom we must _kiss_, may be angry; it is not a person whom we
consider merely as God, but as man; nay, not as man neither, but _a
worm, and no man_, and he may be angry, and angry to our ruin.... “_Kiss
the Son_,” and he will not _be angry_; if he be, kiss the rod, and he
will be angry no longer—love him lest he be; fear him when he is angry:
the preservative is easy, and so is the restorative too: the balsamum of
this kiss is all, to suck spiritual milk out of the left breast, as well
as out of the right, to find mercy in his judgments, reparation in his
ruins, feasts in his lents, joy in his anger.—_From Sermons of John
Donne, D.D., Dean of St. Paul’s, 1621-1631._
_Verse 12.—“Kiss the Son.”_ To make peace with the Father, kiss the Son.
“Let him kiss me,” was the church’s prayer. Cant. i. 2. Let us kiss
him—that be our endeavour. Indeed, the Son must first kiss us by his
mercy, before we can kiss him by our piety. Lord, grant in these mutual
kisses and interchangeable embraces now, that we may come to the plenary
wedding supper hereafter; when the choir of heaven, even the voices of
angels, shall sing epithalamiums, nuptial songs, at the bridal of the
spouse of the Lamb.—_Thomas Adams._
_Verse 12.—“If his wrath be kindled but a little;”_ the Hebrew is, if
his nose or nostril be kindled but a little; the nostril, being an organ
of the body in which wrath shows itself, is put for wrath itself.
Paleness and snuffling of the nose are symptoms of anger. In our
proverbials, to take a thing in snuff, is to take it in anger.—_Joseph
Caryl._
_Verse 12.—“His wrath.”_ Unspeakable must the wrath of God be when it is
kindled fully, since perdition may come upon the _kindling of it but a
little_.—_John Newton._
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Whole Psalm._—Shows us the nature of sin, and the terrible results of
it if it could reign.
_Verse 1.—Nothing is more irrational than irreligion._ A weighty theme.
The reasons why sinners rebel against God, stated, refuted, lamented,
and repented of.
The crowning display of human sin in man’s hatred of the Mediator.
_Verses 1 and 2._—Opposition to the gospel, unreasonable and
ineffectual.—_Two sermons by John Newton._
_Verses 1 and 2._—These verses show that all trust in man in the service
of God is vain. Inasmuch as men oppose Christ, it is not good to hang
our trust upon _the multitude_ for their number, _the earnest_ for their
zeal, _the mighty_ for their countenance, or _the wise_ for their
counsel, since all these are far oftener against Christ than for him.
_Verse 2._—“Spurgeon’s Sermons,” No. 495, “The Greatest Trial on
Record.”
_Verse 3._—The true reason of the opposition of sinners to Christ’s
truth, viz.: their hatred of the restraints of godliness.
_Verse 4._—God’s derision of the rebellious, both now and hereafter.
_Verse 5.—The voice of wrath._ One of a series of sermons upon the
voices of the divine attributes.
_Verse 6.—Christ’s sovereignty._ 1. The opposition to it: “yet.” 2. The
certainty of its existence: “_Yet have I set._” 3. The power which
maintains it: “_have I set_.” 4. The place of its manifestation: “_my
holy hill of Zion_.” 5. The blessings flowing from it.
_Verse 7._—The divine decree concerning Christ, in connection with the
decrees of election and providence. The Sonship of Jesus.
This verse teacheth us faithfully to declare, and humbly to claim, the
gifts and calling that God hath bestowed upon us.—_Thomas Wilcocks._
_Verse 8._—Christ’s inheritance.—_William Jay._
Prayer indispensable.—_Jesus must ask._
_Verse 9.—The ruin of the wicked._ Certain, irresistible, terrible,
complete, irretrievable, “like a potter’s vessel.”
_The destruction of systems of error and oppression to be expected._ The
gospel an iron rod quite able to break mere pots of man’s making.
_Verse 10._—True wisdom, fit for kings and judges, lies in obeying
Christ.
The gospel, a school for those who would learn how to rule and judge
well. They may consider its principles, its exemplar, its spirit, etc.
_Verse 11.—Mingled experience._ See the case of the women returning from
the sepulchre. Matt. xxviii. 8. This may be rendered a very comforting
subject, if the Holy Spirit direct the mind of the preacher.
True religion, a compound of many virtues and emotions.
_Verse 12.—An earnest invitation._ 1. _The command._ 2. _The argument._
3. _The benediction_ upon the obedient.—“Spurgeon’s Sermons,” No. 260.
_Last clause._—Nature, object, and blessedness of saving faith.
Footnote 1:
Gregory.
PSALM III.
TITLE.—“A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his Son.” _You will
remember the sad story of David’s flight from his own palace, when, in
the dead of the night, he forded the brook Kedron, and went with a few
faithful followers to hide himself for awhile from the fury of his
rebellious son. Remember that David in this was a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He, too, fled; he, too, passed over the brook Kedron when his
own people were in rebellion against him, and with a feeble band of
followers he went to the garden of Gethsemane. He, too, drank of the
brook by the way, and therefore doth he lift up the head. By very many
expositors this is entitled_ THE MORNING HYMN. _May we ever wake with
holy confidence in our hearts, and a song upon our lips!_
DIVISION.—_This Psalm may be divided into four parts of two verses each.
Indeed, many of the Psalms cannot be well understood unless we
attentively regard the parts into which they are to be divided. They are
not continuous descriptions of one scene, but a set of pictures of many
kindred subjects. As in our modern sermons, we divide our discourse into
different heads, so it is in these Psalms. There is always unity, but it
is the unity of a bundle of arrows, and not of a single solitary shaft.
Let us now look at the Psalm before us. In the first two verses you have
David making a complaint to God concerning his enemies; he then declares
his confidence in the Lord (3, 4), sings of his safety in sleep (5, 6),
and strengthens himself for future conflict (7. 8)._
EXPOSITION.
LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many _are_ they that
rise up against me.
2 Many _there be_ which say of my soul, _There is_ no help for him
in God. Selah.
The poor broken-hearted father complains of the multitude of his
enemies, and if you turn to 2 Samuel xv. 12, you will find it written
that “the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually
with Absalom,” while the troops of David constantly diminished! “_Lord
how are they increased that trouble me!_” Here is a note of exclamation
to express the wonder of woe which amazed and perplexed the fugitive
father. Alas! I see no limit to my misery, for my troubles are enlarged!
There was enough at first to sink me very low; but lo! my enemies
multiply. When Absalom, my darling, is in rebellion against me, it is
enough to break my heart; but lo! Ahithophel hath forsaken me, my
faithful counsellors have turned their backs on me; lo! my generals and
soldiers have deserted my standard. “How are they increased that trouble
me!” Troubles always come in flocks. Sorrow hath a numerous family.
“_Many are they that rise up against me._” Their hosts are far superior
to mine! Their numbers are too great for my reckoning!
Let us here recall to our memory the innumerable hosts which beset our
Divine Redeemer. The legions of our sins, the armies of fiends, the
crowd of bodily pains, the host of spiritual sorrows, and all the allies
of death and hell, set themselves in battle against the Son of Man. O
how precious to know and believe that he has routed their hosts, and
trodden them down in his anger! They who would have troubled us he has
removed into captivity, and those who would have risen up against us he
has laid low. The dragon lost his sting when he dashed it into the soul
of Jesus.
David complains before his loving God of the worst weapon of his
enemies’ attacks, and the bitterest drop of his distresses. “Oh!” saith
David, “_many there be that say of my soul, There is no help for him in
God._” Some of his distrustful friends said this sorrowfully, but his
enemies exultingly boasted of it, and longed to see their words proved
by his total destruction. This was the unkindest cut of all, when they
declared that his God had forsaken him. Yet David knew in his own
conscience that he had given them some ground for this exclamation, for
he had committed sin against God in the very light of day. Then they
flung his crime with Bathsheba into his face, and they said, “Go up,
thou bloody man; God hath forsaken thee and left thee,” Shimei cursed
him and swore at him to his very face, for he was bold because of his
backers, since multitudes of the men of Belial thought of David in like
fashion. Doubtless, David felt this infernal suggestion to be staggering
to his faith. If all the trials which come from heaven, all the
temptations which ascend from hell, and all the crosses which arise from
earth, could be mixed and pressed together, they would not make a trial
so terrible as that which is contained in this verse. It is the most
bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help for us
in God. And yet remember our most blessed Saviour had to endure this in
the deepest degree when he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?” He knew full well what it was to walk in darkness and to
see no light. This was the curse of the curse. This was the wormwood
mingled with the gall. To be deserted of his Father was worse than to be
the despised of men. Surely we should love him who suffered this
bitterest of temptations and trials for our sake. It will be a
delightful and instructive exercise for the loving heart to mark the
Lord in his agonies as here portrayed, for there is here, and in very
many other Psalms, far more of David’s Lord than of David himself.
“_Selah._” This is a musical pause; the precise meaning of which is not
known. Some think it simply a rest, a pause in the music; others say it
means, “Lift up the strain—sing more loudly—pitch the tune upon a higher
key—there is nobler matter to come, therefore retune your harps.”
Harp-strings soon get out of order and need to be screwed up again to
their proper tightness, and certainly our heart-strings are evermore
getting out of tune. Let “Selah” teach us to pray
“O may my heart in tune be found
Like David’s harp of solemn sound.”
At least, we may learn that wherever we see “Selah,” we should look upon
it as a note of observation. Let us read the passage which precedes and
succeeds it with greater earnestness, for surely there is always
something excellent where we are required to rest and pause and
meditate, or when we are required to lift up our hearts in grateful
song. “SELAH.”
3 But thou, O LORD, _art_ a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter
up of mine head.
4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his
holy hill. Selah.
Here David avows his confidence in God. “_Thou, O Lord, art a shield for
me._” The word in the original signifies more than a shield; it means a
buckler round about, a protection which shall surround a man entirely, a
shield above, beneath, around, without and within. Oh! what a shield is
God for his people! He wards off the fiery darts of Satan from beneath,
and the storms of trials from above, while, at the same instant, he
speaks peace to the tempest within the breast. Thou art “_my glory_.”
David knew that though he was driven from his capital in contempt and
scorn, he should yet return in triumph, and by faith he looks upon God
as honouring and glorifying him. O for grace to see our future glory
amid present shame! Indeed, there is a present glory in our afflictions,
if we could but discern it; for it is no mean thing to have fellowship
with Christ in his sufferings. David was honoured when he made the
ascent of Olivet, weeping, with his head covered; for he was in all this
made like unto his Lord. May we learn, in this respect, to glory in
tribulations also! “_And the lifter up of mine head_”—thou shalt yet
exalt me. Though I hang my head in sorrow, I shall very soon lift it up
in joy and thanksgiving. What a divine trio of mercies is contained in
this verse!—defence for the defenceless, glory for the despised, and joy
for the comfortless. Verily we may well say, “There is none like the God
of Jeshurun.”
“_I cried unto the Lord with my voice._” Why doth he say, “with my
voice?” Surely, silent prayers are heard. Yes, but good men often find
that, even in secret, they pray better aloud than they do when they
utter no vocal sound. Perhaps, moreover, David would think thus:—“My
cruel enemies clamour against me; _they_ lift up their voices, and,
behold, _I_ lift up mine, and my cry outsoars them all. They clamour,
but the cry of my voice in great distress pierces the very skies, and is
louder and stronger than all their tumult; for there is one in the
sanctuary who hearkens to me from the seventh heaven, and he hath
‘_heard me out of his holy hill_.’” Answers to prayers are sweet
cordials for the soul. We need not fear a frowning world while we
rejoice in a prayer-hearing God.
Here stands another _Selah_. Rest awhile, O tried believer, and change
the strain to a softer air.
5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set
_themselves_ against me round about.
David’s faith enabled him to _lie down_; anxiety would certainly have
kept him on tiptoe, watching for an enemy. Yea, he was able to sleep,
_to sleep_ in the midst of trouble, surrounded by foes. “So he giveth
his beloved sleep.” There is a sleep of presumption; God deliver us from
it! There is a sleep of holy confidence; God help us so to close our
eyes! But David says he _awaked_ also. Some sleep the sleep of death;
but he, though exposed to many enemies, reclined his head on the bosom
of his God, slept happily beneath the wing of Providence in sweet
security, and then awoke in safety. “_For the Lord sustained me._” The
sweet influence of the Pleiades of promise shone upon the sleeper, and
he awoke conscious that the Lord had preserved him. An excellent divine
has well remarked—“This quietude of a man’s heart by faith in God, is a
higher sort of work than the natural resolution of manly courage, for it
is the gracious operation of God’s Holy Spirit upholding a man above
nature, and therefore the Lord must have all the glory of it.”
Buckling on his harness for the day’s battle, our hero sings, “_I will
not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves
against me round about._” Observe that he does not attempt to
under-estimate the number or wisdom of his enemies. He reckons them at
tens of thousands, and he views them as cunning huntsmen chasing him
with cruel skill. Yet he trembles not, but looking his foeman in the
face he is ready for the battle. There may be no way of escape; they may
hem me in as the deer are surrounded by a circle of hunters; they may
surround me on every side, but in the name of God I will dash through
them; or, if I remain in the midst of them, yet shall they not hurt me;
I shall be free in my very prison.
But David is too wise to venture to the battle without prayer; he
therefore betakes himself to his knees, and cries aloud to Jehovah.
7 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine
enemies _upon_ the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the
ungodly.
His only hope is in his God, but that is so strong a confidence, that he
feels the Lord hath but to _arise_ and he is saved. It is enough for the
Lord to stand up, and all is well. He compares his enemies to wild
beasts, and he declares that God hath broken their jaws, so that they
could not injure him; “_Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly._” Or
else he alludes to the peculiar temptations to which he was then
exposed. They had spoken against him; God, therefore, has smitten them
upon the cheek bone. They seemed as if they would devour him with their
mouths; God hath broken their teeth, and let them say what they will,
their toothless jaws shall not be able to devour him. Rejoice, O
believer, thou hast to do with a dragon whose head is broken, and with
enemies whose teeth are dashed from their jaws!
8 Salvation _belongeth_ unto the LORD: thy blessing _is_ upon thy
people. Selah.