blessed when they are comprehensors, but while they are viators. They
are blessed before they are crowned. This seems a paradox to flesh and
blood: what, reproached and maligned, yet blessed! A man that looks upon
the children of God with a carnal eye, and sees how they are afflicted,
and like the ship in the gospel, which was covered with waves (Matt.
viii. 24), would think they were far from blessedness. Paul brings a
catalogue of his sufferings (2 Cor. xi. 24-26), “Thrice was I beaten
with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck,” etc. And
those Christians of the first magnitude, of whom the world was not
worthy, “Had trails of cruel mockings and scourgings, they were sawn
asunder, they were slain with the sword,” Heb. xi. 36, 37. What! and
were all these during the time of their sufferings blessed? A carnal man
would think, if this be to be blessed, God deliver him from it. But,
however sense would give their vote, our Saviour Christ pronounceth the
godly man blessed; though a mourner, though a martyr, yet blessed. Job
on the dunghill was blessed Job. The saints are blessed when they are
cursed. Shimei did curse David (2 Samuel xvi. 5), “He came forth and
cursed him;” yet when he was cursed David he was blessed David. The
saints though they are bruised, yet they are blessed. Not only they
shall be blessed, but they are so. Psalm cxix. 1. “Blessed are the
undefiled.” Psalm iii. 8. “_Thy blessing is upon thy people._”—_Thomas
Watson._
_As a curious instance of Luther’s dogmatical interpretations, we
give very considerable extracts from his rendering of this Psalm
without in any degree endorsing them._—_C. H. S._
_Whole Psalm._—That the meaning of this Psalm is not historical, is
manifest from many particulars, which militate against its being so
understood. And first of all, there is this which the blessed Augustine
has remarked; that the words, “I laid me down to sleep and took my
rest,” seem to be the words of Christ rising from the dead. And then
that there is at the end the blessing of God pronounced upon the people,
which manifestly belongs to the whole church. Hence, the blessed
Augustine interprets the Psalm in a threefold way: first, concerning
Christ the head; secondly concerning the whole of Christ, that is,
Christ and his church, the head and the body; and thirdly, figuratively,
concerning any private Christian. Let each have his own interpretation.
I, in the meantime, will interpret it concerning Christ; being moved so
to do by the same argument that moved Augustine—that the fifth verse
does not seem appropriately to apply to any other but Christ. First,
because, “lying down” and “sleeping,” signify in this place altogether a
natural death, not a natural sleep. Which may be collected from
this—because it then follows, “and rose again.” Whereas if David had
spoken concerning the sleep of the body, he would have said, “and
awoke;” though this does not make so forcibly for the interpretation of
which we are speaking, if the Hebrew word be closely examined. But
again, what new thing would he advance by declaring that he laid him
down and slept? Why did he not say also that he walked, ate, drank,
laboured, or was in necessity, or mention particularly some other work
of the body? And moreover, it seems an absurdity under so great a
tribulation, to boast of nothing else but the sleep of the body; for
that tribulation would rather force him to a privation from sleep, and
to be in peril and distress; especially since those two expressions, “I
laid me down,” and “I slept,” signify the quiet repose of one lying down
in his place, which is not the state of one who falls asleep from
exhausture through sorrow. But this consideration makes the more
forcibly for us—that he therefore glories in his rising up again because
it was the Lord that sustained him, who raised him up while sleeping,
and did not leave him in sleep. How can such a glorying agree, and what
new kind of religion can make it agree, with any particular sleep of the
body? (for in that case, would it not apply to the daily sleep also?)
and especially, when this sustaining of God indicates at the same time
an utterly forsaken state in the person sleeping, which is not the case
in corporal sleep; for there the person sleeping may be protected even
by men being his guards; but this sustaining being altogether of God,
implies, not a sleep, but a heavy conflict. And lastly, the word
HEKIZOTHI itself favours such an interpretation; which, being here put
absolutely and transitively, signifies, “I caused to arise or awake.” As
if he had said, “I caused myself to awake, I roused myself.” Which
certainly more aptly agrees with the resurrection of Christ than with
the sleep of the body; both because those who are asleep are accustomed
to be roused and awaked, and because it is no wonderful matter, nor a
matter worthy of so important a declaration, for any one to awake of
himself, seeing that it is what takes place every day. But this matter
being introduced by the Spirit as a something new and singular, is
certainly different from all that which attends common sleeping and
waking.
_Verse 2.—“There is no help for him in his God.”_ In the Hebrew the
expression is simply, “in God,” without the pronoun “_his_,” which seems
to me to give clearness and force to the expression. As if he had said,
They say of me that I am not only deserted and oppressed by all
creatures, but that even God, who is present with all things, and
preserves all things, and protects all things, forsakes me as the only
thing out of the whole universe that he does not preserve. Which kind of
temptation Job seems also to have tasted where he says, “Why hast thou
set me as a mark against thee?” vii. 20. For there is no temptation, no,
not of the whole world together, nor of all hell combined in one, equal
unto that wherein God stands contrary to a man, which temptation
Jeremiah prays against (xvii. 17), “Be not a terror unto me; thou art my
hope in the day of evil;” and concerning which also the sixth Psalm
following saith, “O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger;” and we find the
same petitions throughout the psaltery. This temptation is wholly
unsupportable, and is truly hell itself; as it is said in the same sixth
Psalm, “for in death there is no remembrance of thee,” etc. In a word,
if you have never experienced it, you can never form any idea of it
whatever.
_Verse 3.—“For thou, O Lord, art my helper, my glory, and the lifter up
of my head.”_ David here contrasts three things with three; helper, with
many troubling; glory, with many rising up; and the lifter up of the
head, with the blaspheming and insulting. Therefore, the person here
represented is indeed alone in the estimation of man, and even according
to his own feelings also; but in the sight of God, and in a spiritual
view, he is by no means alone; but protected with the greatest abundance
of help; as Christ saith (John xvi. 32), “Behold, the hour cometh when
ye shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is
with me.”... The words contained in this verse are not the words of
nature, but of grace; not of free-will, but of the spirit of strong
faith; which, even though seeing God, as in the darkness of the storm of
death and hell, a deserting God, acknowledges him a sustaining God; when
seeing him as a persecuting God, acknowledges him a helping God; when
seeing him as a condemner, acknowledges him a Saviour. Thus this faith
does not judge of things according as they seem to be, or are felt, like
a horse or mule which have no understanding; but it understands things
which are not seen, for “hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man
seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Romans viii. 24.
_Verse 4.—“I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of
his holy hill.”_ In the Hebrew, the verb is in the future, and is, as
Hieronymus translates it, “I will cry,” and, “he shall hear;” and this
pleases me better than the perfect tense; for they are the words of one
triumphing in, and praising and glorifying God, and giving thanks unto
him who sustained, preserved, and lifted him up, according as he had
hoped in the preceding verse. For it is usual with those that triumph
and rejoice, to speak of those things which they have done and suffered,
and to sing a song of praise unto their helper and deliverer; as in
Psalm lxvi. 16, “Come, then, all ye that fear God, and I will declare
what he hath done for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth, and he
was extolled with my tongue.” And also Psalm lxxxi. 1, “Sing aloud unto
God our strength.” And so again, Exodus xv. 1, “Let us sing unto the
Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.” And so here, being filled with
an overflowing sense of gratitude and joy, he sings of his being dead,
of his having slept and rose up again, of his enemies being smitten, and
of the teeth of the ungodly being broken. This it is which causes the
change; for he who hitherto had been addressing God in the second
person, changes on a sudden his address to others concerning God, in the
third person, saying, “_and he heard me_,” not “and thou heardest me;”
and also, “_I cried unto the Lord_,” not “I cried unto thee,” for he
wants to make all know what benefits God has heaped upon him; which is
peculiar to a grateful mind.
_Verse 5.—“I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained
me.”_ Christ, by the words of this verse signifies his death and
burial.... For it is not to be supposed that he would have spoken so
importantly concerning mere natural rest and sleep; especially since
that which precedes, and that which follows, compel us to understand him
as speaking of a deep conflict and a glorious victory over his enemies.
By all which things he stirs us up and animates us to faith in God, and
commends unto us the power and grace of God; that he is able to raise us
up from the dead; an example of which he sets before us, and proclaims
it unto us as wrought in himself.... And this is shown also farther in
his using gentle words, and such as tend wonderfully to lessen the
terror of death. “_I laid me down_ (saith he), _and slept_.” He does not
say, I died and was buried; for death and the tomb had lost both their
name and their power. And now death is not death, but a sleep; and the
tomb not a tomb, but a bed and resting place; which was the reason why
the words of this prophecy were put somewhat obscurely and doubtfully,
that it might by that means render death most lovely in our eyes (or
rather most contemptible), as being that state from which, as from the
sweet rest of sleep, an undoubted arising and awaking are promised. For
who is not most sure of an awaking and arising, who lies down to rest in
a sweet sleep (where death does not prevent)? This person, however, does
not say that he died, but that he laid him down to sleep, and that
therefore he awaked. And moreover, as sleep is useful and necessary for
a better renewal of the powers of the body (as Ambrosius says in his
hymn), and as sleep relieves the weary limbs, so is death also equally
useful, and ordained for the arriving at a better life. And this is what
David says in the following Psalm, “I will lay me down in peace, and
take my rest, for thou, Lord, in a singular manner hast formed me in
hope.” Therefore, in considering death, we are not so much to consider
death itself, as that most certain life and resurrection which are sure
to those who are in Christ; that those words (John viii. 51) might be
fulfilled, “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” But how
is it that he shall never see it? Shall he not feel it? Shall he not
die? No! he shall only see sleep, for, having the eyes of his faith
fixed upon the resurrection, he so glides through death, that he does
not even see death; for death, as I have said, is to him no death at
all. And hence, there is that also of John xi. 25, “He that believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
_Verse 7.—“For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone;
thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.”_ Hieronymus uses this
metaphor of “_cheek bones_,” and “_teeth_,” to represent cutting words,
detractions, calumnies, and other injuries of the same kind, by which
the innocent are oppressed: according to that of Proverbs xxx. 14,
“There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw-teeth as
knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among
men.” It was by these that Christ was devoured, when, before Pilate he
was condemned to the cross by the voices and accusations of his enemies.
And hence it is that the apostle saith (Gal. v. 15), “But if ye bite and
devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”
_Verse 8.—“Salvation is of the Lord, and thy blessing is upon thy
people.”_ A most beautiful conclusion this, and, as it were, the sum of
all the feelings spoken of. The sense is, it is the Lord alone that
saves and blesses: and even though the whole mass of all evils should be
gathered together in one against a man, still, it is the Lord who saves:
salvation and blessing are in his hands. What then shall I fear? What
shall I not promise myself? When I know that no one can be destroyed, no
one reviled, without the permission of God, even though all should rise
up to curse and to destroy; and that no one of them can be blessed and
saved without the permission of God, how much soever they may bless and
strive to save themselves. And as Gregory Nazianzen says, “Where God
gives, envy can avail nothing; and where God does not give labour can
avail nothing.” And in the same way also Paul saith (Rom. viii. 31), “If
God be for us, who can be against us?” And so, on the contrary, if God
be against them, who can be for them? And why? Because “_salvation is of
the Lord_,” and not of them, nor of us, for “vain is the help of
man.”—_Martin Luther._
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Verse 1.—“The saint telling his griefs to his God.”_ (1) His right to
do so. (2) The proper manner of telling them. (3) The fair results of
such holy communications with the Lord.
When may we expect increased troubles? Why are they sent? What is our
wisdom in reference to them?
_Verse 2._—The lie against the saint and the libel upon his God.
_Verse 3._—The threefold blessing which God affords to his suffering
ones—Defence, Honour, Joy. Show how all these may be enjoyed by faith,
even in our worst estate.
_Verse 4._—(1) In dangers we should pray. (2) God will graciously hear.
(3) We should record his answers of grace. (4) We may strengthen
ourselves for the future by remembering the deliverances of the past.
_Verse 5._—(1) Describe sweet sleeping. (2) Describe happy waking. (3)
Show how both are to be enjoyed, “_for the Lord sustained me_.”
_Verse 6._—Faith surrounded by enemies and yet triumphant.
_Verse 7._—(1) Describe the Lord’s past dealing with his enemies; “thou
hast.” (2) Show that the Lord should be our constant resort, “O Lord,”
“O my God.” (3) Enlarge upon the fact that the Lord is to be stirred up:
“Arise.” (4) Urge believers to use the Lord’s past victories as an
argument with which to prevail with him.
_Verse 7 (last clause)._—Our enemies vanquished foes, toothless lions.
_Verse 8 (first clause)._—Salvation of God from first to last. (See the
exposition).
_Verse 8 (last clause)._—They were blessed _in_ Christ, _through_
Christ, and shall be blessed _with_ Christ. The blessing rests upon
their persons, comforts, trials, labours, families, etc. It flows from
grace, is enjoyed by faith, and is insured by oath, etc.—_James Smith’s
Portions, 1802-1862._
PSALM IV.
TITLE.—_This Psalm is apparently intended to accompany the third, and
make a pair with it. If the last may be entitled_ THE MORNING PSALM,
_this from its matter is equally deserving of the title of_ THE EVENING
HYMN. _May the choice words of the 8th verse be our sweet song of rest
as we retire to our repose!_
“Thus with my thoughts composed to peace,
I’ll give mine eyes to sleep;
Thy hand in safety keeps my days,
And will my slumbers keep.”
_The Inspired title runs thus_: “To the chief Musician on Neginoth, a
Psalm of David.” _The chief musician was the master or director of the
sacred music of the sanctuary. Concerning this person carefully read 1
Chron._ vi. 31, 32; xv. 16-22; xxv. 1, 7. _In these passages will be
found much that is interesting to the lover of sacred song, and very
much that will throw a light upon the mode of praising God in the
temple. Some of the titles of the Psalms are, we doubt not, derived from
the names of certain renowned singers, who composed the music to which
they were set._
On Neginoth, _that is, on stringed instruments, or_ hand _instruments,
which were played on with the hand alone, as harps and cymbals. The joy
of the Jewish church was so great that they needed music to set forth
the delightful feelings of their souls, our holy mirth is none the less
overflowing because we prefer to express it in a more spiritual manner,
as becometh a more spiritual dispensation. In allusion to these
instruments to be played on with the hand, Nazianzen says. “Lord I am an
instrument for thee to touch.” Let us lay ourselves open to the Spirits
touch, so shall we make melody. May we be full of faith and love, and we
shall be living instruments of music._
_Hawker says “The Septuagint read the word which we have rendered in our
translation chief musician_ Lamenetz, _instead of_ Lamenetzoth, _the
meaning of which is_ unto the end.” _From whence the Greek and Latin
fathers imagined, that all psalms which bear this inscription refer to
the Messiah_ the great end. _If so, this Psalm is addressed to Christ;
and well it may, for it is all of Christ, and spoken by Christ, and hath
respect only to his people as being one with Christ. The Lord the Spirit
give the reader to see this, and he will find it most blessed._
DIVISION.—_In the first verse David pleads with God for help. In the
second he expostulates with his enemies, and continues to address them
to the end of verse 5. Then from verse 6 to the close he delightfully
contrasts his own satisfaction and safety with the disquietude of the
ungodly in their best estate. The Psalm was most probably written upon
the same occasion as the preceding, and is another choice flower from
the garden of affliction. Happy is it for us that David was tried, or
probably we should never have heard these sweet sonnets of faith._
EXPOSITION.
Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged
me _when I was_ in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
This is another instance of David’s common habit of pleading past
mercies as a ground for present favour. Here he reviews his Ebenezers
and takes comfort from them. It is not to be imagined that he who has
helped us in six troubles will leave us in the seventh. God does nothing
by halves, and he will never cease to help us until we cease to need.
The manna shall fall every morning until we cross the Jordan.
Observe, that David speaks first to God and then to men. Surely we
should all speak the more boldly to men if we had more constant converse
with God. He who dares to face his Maker will not tremble before the
sons of men.
The name by which the Lord is here addressed, “_God of my
righteousness_,” deserves notice, since it is not used in any other part
of Scripture. It means, Thou art the author, the witness, the
maintainer, the judge, and the rewarder of my righteousness; to thee I
appeal from the calumnies and harsh judgments of men. Herein is wisdom,
let us imitate it and always take our suit, not to the petty courts of
human opinion, but into the superior court, the King’s Bench of heaven.
“_Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress._” A figure taken from an
army enclosed in a defile, and hardly pressed by the surrounding enemy.
God hath dashed down the rocks and given me room; he hath broken the
barriers and set me in a large place. Or, we may understand it
thus:—“God hath enlarged my heart with joy and comfort when I was like a
man imprisoned by grief and sorrow.” God is a never-failing comforter.
“_Have mercy upon me._” Though thou mayest justly permit my enemies to
destroy me, on account of my many and great sins, yet I flee to thy
mercy, and I beseech thee _hear my prayer_, and bring thy servant out of
his troubles. The best of men need mercy as truly as the worst of men.
All the deliverances of saints, as well as the pardons of sinners, are
the free gifts of heavenly grace.
2 O ye sons of men, how long _will ye turn_ my glory into shame?
_how long_ will ye love vanity, _and_ seek after leasing? Selah.
In this second division of the Psalm, we are led from the closet of
prayer into the field of conflict. Remark the undaunted courage of the
man of God. He allows that his enemies are great men (for such is the
import of the Hebrew words translated—_sons of men_), but still he
believes them to be foolish men, and therefore chides them, as though
they were but children. He tells them that they _love vanity, and seek
after leasing_, that is, lying, empty fancies, vain conceits, wicked
fabrications. He asks them _how long_ they mean to make his honour a
jest, and his fame a mockery? A little of such mirth is too much, why
need they continue to indulge in it? Had they not been long enough upon
the watch for his halting? Had not repeated disappointments convinced
them that the Lord’s anointed was not to be overcome by all their
calumnies? Did they mean to jest their souls into hell, and go on with
their laughter until swift vengeance should turn their merriment into
howling? In the contemplation of their perverse continuance in their
vain and lying pursuits, the Psalmist solemnly pauses and inserts a
_Selah_. Surely we too may stop awhile, and meditate upon the
deep-seated folly of the wicked, their continuance in evil, and their
sure destruction; and we may learn to admire that grace which has made
us to differ, and taught us to _love_ truth, and _seek_ after
_righteousness_.
3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for
himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
“_But know._” Fools will not learn, and therefore they must again and
again be told the same thing, especially when it is such a bitter truth
which is to be taught them, viz:—the fact that the godly are the chosen
of God, and are, by distinguishing grace, set apart and separated from
among men. Election is a doctrine which unrenewed men cannot endure, but
nevertheless, it is a glorious and well-attested truth, and one which
should comfort the tempted believer. Election is the guarantee of
complete salvation, and an argument for success at the throne of grace.
HE who chose us for himself will surely hear our prayers. The Lord’s
elect shall not be condemned, nor shall their cry be unheard. David was
king by divine decree, and we are the Lord’s people in the same manner;
let us tell our enemies to their faces, that they fight against God and
destiny, when they strive to overthrow our souls. O beloved, when you
are on your knees, the fact of your being _set apart_ as God’s own
peculiar treasure, should give you courage and inspire you with fervency
and faith. “Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night
unto him?” Since he chose to love us he cannot but choose to hear us.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your
bed, and be still. Selah.
“_Tremble and sin not._” How many reverse this counsel and sin but
tremble not. O that men would take the advice of this verse and _commune
with their own hearts_. Surely a want of thought must be one reason why
men are so mad as to despite Christ and hate their own mercies. O that
for once their passions would be quiet and let them _be still_, that so
in solemn silence they might review the past, and meditate upon their
inevitable doom. Surely a thinking man might have enough sense to
discover the vanity of sin and the worthlessness of the world. Stay,
rash sinner, stay ere thou take the last leap. Go to _thy bed_ and think
upon thy ways. Ask counsel of thy pillow, and let the quietude of night
instruct thee! Throw not away thy soul for nought! Let reason speak! Let
the clamorous world be still awhile, and let thy poor soul plead with
thee to bethink thyself before thou seal its fate, and ruin it for ever!
_Selah._ O sinner! pause while I question thee awhile in the words of a
sacred poet,—
“Sinner, is thy heart at rest?
Is thy bosom void of fear?
Art thou not by guilt oppress’d?
Speaks not conscience in thine ear?
Can this world afford thee bliss?
Can it chase away thy gloom?
Flattering, false, and vain it is;
Tremble at the worldling’s doom!
Think, O sinner, on thy end,
See the judgment-day appear,
Thither must thy spirit wend,
There thy righteous sentence hear.
Wretched, ruin’d, helpless soul,
To a Saviour’s blood apply;
He alone can make thee whole,
Fly to Jesus, sinner, fly!”
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the
LORD.