would now be crying,—“What shall we do to be saved?” And in the present
verse, they are pointed to the _sacrifice_, and exhorted to _trust in
the Lord_. When the Jew offered sacrifice righteously, that is, in a
spiritual manner, he thereby set forth the Redeemer, the great
sin-atoning Lamb; there is, therefore, the full gospel in this
exhortation of the Psalmist. O sinners, flee ye to the sacrifices of
Calvary, and there put your whole confidence and _trust_, for he who
died for men is the LORD JEHOVAH.
6 _There be_ many that say, Who will shew us _any_ good? LORD, lift
thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
We have now entered upon the third division of the Psalm, in which the
faith of the afflicted one finds utterance in sweet expressions of
contentment and peace.
There were many, even among David’s own followers, who wanted to _see_
rather than to believe. Alas! this is the tendency of us all! Even the
regenerate sometimes groan after the sense and sight of prosperity, and
are sad when darkness covers all good from view. As for worldlings, this
is their unceasing cry. “_Who will shew us any good?_” Never satisfied,
their gaping mouths are turned in every direction, their empty hearts
are ready to drink in any fine delusion which impostors may invent; and
when these fail, they soon yield to despair, and declare that there is
no good thing in either heaven or earth. The true believer is a man of a
very different mould. His face is not downward like the beasts’, but
upward like the angels’. He drinks not from the muddy pools of Mammon,
but from the fountain of life above. The light of God’s countenance is
enough for him. This is his riches, his honour, his health, his
ambition, his ease. Give him this, and he will ask no more. This is joy
unspeakable, and full of glory. Oh, for more of the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit, that our fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus
Christ may be constant and abiding!
7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time _that_
their corn and their wine increased.
“It is better,” said one, “to feel God’s favour one hour in our
repenting souls, than to sit whole ages under the warmest sunshine that
this world affordeth.” Christ in the heart is better than corn in the
barn, or wine in the vat. Corn and wine are but fruits of the world, but
the light of God’s countenance is the ripe fruit of heaven. “Thou art
with me,” is a far more blessed cry than “Harvest home.” Let my granary
be empty, I am yet full of blessings if Jesus Christ smiles upon me; but
if I have all the world, I am poor without Him.
We should not fail to remark that this verse is the _saying_ of the
righteous man, in opposition to the saying of the many. How quickly doth
the tongue betray the character! “_Speak_, that I may see thee!” said
Socrates to a fair boy. The metal of a bell is best known by its sound.
Birds reveal their nature by their song. Owls cannot sing the carol of
the lark, nor can the nightingale hoot like the owl. Let us, then, weigh
and watch our words, lest our speech should prove us to be foreigners,
and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.
8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only
makest me dwell in safety.
Sweet Evening Hymn! I shall not sit up to watch through fear, but I will
_lie down_; and then I will not lie awake listening to every rustling
sound, but I will lie down _in peace and sleep_, for I have nought to
fear. He that hath the wings of God above him needs no other curtain.
Better than bolts or bars is the protection of the Lord. Armed men kept
the bed of Solomon, but we do not believe that he slept more soundly
than his father, whose bed was the hard ground, and who was haunted by
blood-thirsty foes. Note the word “_only_,” which means that God alone
was his keeper, and that though alone, without man’s help, he was even
then in good keeping, for he was “alone with God.” A quiet conscience is
a good bedfellow. How many of our sleepless hours might be traced to our
untrusting and disordered minds. They slumber sweetly whom faith rocks
to sleep. No pillow so soft as a promise; no coverlet so warm as an
assured interest in Christ.
O Lord, give us this calm repose on thee, that like David we may lie
down in peace, and sleep each night while we live; and joyfully may we
lie down in the appointed season, to sleep in death, to rest in God!
Dr. Hawker’s reflection upon this Psalm is worthy to be prayed over and
fed upon with sacred delight. We cannot help transcribing it.
“Reader! let us never lose sight of the Lord Jesus while reading this
psalm. He is the Lord our righteousness; and therefore, in all our
approaches to the mercy seat, let us go there in a language
corresponding to this which calls Jesus the Lord our righteousness.
While men of the world, from the world are seeking their chief good, let
us desire his favour which infinitely transcends corn and wine, and all
the good things which perish in the using. Yes, Lord, _thy favour is
better than life itself_. Thou causest them that love thee to inherit
substance, and fillest all their treasure.
“Oh! thou gracious God and Father, hast thou in such a wonderful manner
set apart one in our nature for thyself? Hast thou indeed chosen one out
of the people? Hast thou beheld him in the purity of his nature,—as one
in every point godly? Hast thou given him as the covenant of the people?
And hast thou declared thyself well pleased in him? Oh! then, well may
my soul be well pleased in him also. Now do I know that my God and
Father will hear me when I call upon him in Jesus’ name, and when I look
up to him for acceptance for Jesus’ sake? Yes, my heart is fixed, O
Lord, my heart is fixed; Jesus is my hope and righteousness, the Lord
will hear me when I call. And henceforth will I both lay me down in
peace and sleep securely in Jesus, accepted in the Beloved; for _this is
the rest wherewith the Lord causeth the weary to rest, and this is the
refreshing_.”
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Verse 1.—“Hear me when I call,”_ etc. Faith is a good orator and a
noble disputer in a strait; it can reason from God’s readiness to hear:
“_Hear me when I call, O God._” And from the everlasting righteousness
given to the man in the justification of his person: “_O God of my
righteousness._” And from God’s constant justice in defending the
righteousness of his servant’s cause: “_O God of my righteousness._” And
from both present distresses and those that are by-past, wherein he hath
been, and from by-gone mercies received: “_Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress._” And from God’s grace, which is able to answer all
objections from the man’s unworthiness or ill-deserving: “_Have mercy
upon me, and hear my prayer._”—_David Dickson, 1653._
_Verse 1.—“Hear me.”_ The great Author of nature and of all things does
nothing in vain. He instituted not this law, and, if I may so express
it, art of praying, as a vain and insufficient thing, but endows it with
wonderful efficacy for producing the greatest and happiest consequences.
He would have it to be the key by which all the treasures of heaven
should be opened. He has constructed it as a powerful machine, by which
we may, with easy and pleasant labour, remove from us the most dire and
unhappy machinations of our enemy, and may with equal ease draw to
ourselves what is most propitious and advantageous. Heaven and earth,
and all the elements, obey and minister to the hands which are often
lifted up to heaven in earnest prayer. Yea, all works, and, which is yet
more and greater, all the words of God obey it. Well known in the sacred
Scriptures are the examples of Moses and Joshua, and that which James
(v. 17) particularly mentions of Elijah, whom he expressly calls
δμοιοπαθὴς, _a man subject to like infirmities_ with ourselves, that he
might illustrate the admirable force of prayer, by the common and human
weakness of the person by whom it was offered. And that Christian legion
under Antoninus is well known and justly celebrated, which, for the
singular ardour and efficacy of its prayers, obtained the name of
κεραυνοβόλος, _the thundering legion_.—_Robert Leighton, D.D.,
Archbishop of Glasgow, 1611-1684._
_Verse 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.”_ Prayer
soars above the violence and impiety of men, and with a swift wing
commits itself to heaven, with happy omen, if I may allude to what the
learned tell us of the augury of the ancients, which I shall not
minutely discuss. Fervent prayers stretch forth a strong, wide-extended
wing, and while the birds of night hover beneath, they mount aloft, and
point out, as it were, the proper seats to which we should aspire. For
certainly there is nothing that cuts the air so swiftly, nothing that
takes so sublime, so happy, and so auspicious a flight as prayer, which
bears the soul on its pinions, and leaves far behind all the dangers,
and even the delights of this low world of ours. Behold this holy man,
who just before was crying to God in the midst of distress, and with
urgent importunity entreating that he might be heard, now, as if he were
already possessed of all he had asked, taking upon him boldly to rebuke
his enemies, how highly soever they were exalted, and how potent soever
they might be even in the royal palace.—_Robert Leighton, D.D._
_Verse 2.—“O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into
shame?”_ etc. We might imagine every syllable of this precious Psalm
used by our Master some evening, when about to leave the temple for the
day, and retiring to his wonted rest at Bethany (verse 8), after another
fruitless expostulation with the men of Israel. And we may read it still
as the very utterance of his heart, longing over man, and delighting in
God. But further, not only is this the utterance of the Head, it is also
the language of one of his members in full sympathy with him in holy
feeling. This is a Psalm with which the righteous may make their
dwellings resound, morning and evening, as they cast a sad look over a
world that rejects God’s grace. They may sing it while they cling more
and more every day to Jehovah, as their all-sufficient heritage, now and
in the age to come. They may sing it, too, in the happy confidence of
faith and hope, when the evening of the world’s day is coming, and may
then fall asleep in the certainty of what shall greet their eyes on the
resurrection morning—
“Sleeping embosomed in his grace,
Till morning-shadows flee.”
_Andrew A. Bonar, 1859._
_Verse 2.—“Love Vanity.”_ They that love sin, love _vanity_; they chase
a bubble, they lean upon a reed, their hope is as a spider’s web.
“_Leasing._” This is an old Saxon word signifying falsehood.
_Verse 2.—“How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing?”_
“Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.” This our first parents found,
and therefore named their second son Abel, or vanity. Solomon, that had
tried these things, and could best tell the vanity of them, he preacheth
this sermon over again and again, “Vanity of vanities, and all is
vanity.” It is sad to think how many thousands there be that can say
with the preacher, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity;” nay, swear it,
and yet follow after these things as if there were no other glory, nor
felicity, but what is to be found in these things they call vanity. Such
men will sell Christ, heaven, and their souls, for a trifle, that call
these things vanity, but do not cordially believe them to be vanity, but
set their hearts upon them as if they were their crown, the top of all
their royalty and glory. Oh! let your souls dwell upon the vanity of all
things here below, till your hearts be so thoroughly convinced and
persuaded of the vanity of them, as to trample upon them, and make them
a footstool for Christ to get up, and ride in a holy triumph in your
hearts.
Gilemex, king of Vandals, led in triumph by Belisarius, cried out,
“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” The fancy of Lucian, who placeth
Charon on the top of a high hill, viewing all the affairs of men living,
and looking on their greatest cities as little birds’ nests, is very
pleasant. Oh, the imperfection, the ingratitude, the levity, the
inconstancy, the perfidiousness of those creatures we most servilely
affect! Ah, did we but weigh man’s pain with his payment, his crosses
with his mercies, his miseries with his pleasures, we should then see
that there is nothing got by the bargain, and conclude, “Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity.” Chrysostom said once, “That if he were the
fittest in the world to preach a sermon to the whole world, gathered
together in one congregation, and had some high mountain for his pulpit,
from whence he might have a prospect of all the world in his view, and
were furnished with a voice of brass, a voice as loud as the trumpets of
the archangel, that all the world might hear him, he would choose to
preach upon no other text than that in the Psalms, O mortal men, ‘_How
long will ye love vanity, and follow after leasing?_’”—_Thomas Brooks,
1608-1680._
_Verse 2.—“Love Vanity.”_ Men’s affections are according to their
principles; and every one loves that most _without him_ which is most
suitable to somewhat _within him_: _liking_ is founded in _likeness_,
and has therefore that word put upon it. It is so in whatsoever we can
imagine; whether in temporals or spirituals, as to the things of this
life, or of a better. Men’s love is according to some working and
impression upon their own spirits. And so it is here in the point of
vanity; those which are vain persons, they delight in vain things; as
children, they love such matters as are most agreeable to their childish
dispositions, and as do suit them in that particular. Out of the heart
comes all kind of evil.—_Thomas Horton, 1675._
_Verse 3.—“The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself.”_ When
God chooseth a man, he chooseth him for himself; for himself to converse
with, to communicate himself unto him as a friend, a companion, and his
delight. Now, it is holiness that makes us fit to live with the holy God
for ever, since without it we cannot see him (Heb. xii. 14), which is
God’s main aim, and more than our being his children; as one must be
supposed a man, one of mankind, having a soul reasonable, ere we can
suppose him capable of adoption, or to be another man’s heir. As
therefore it was the main first design in God’s eye, before the
consideration of our happiness, let it be so in ours.—_Thomas Goodwin,
1600-1679._
_Verse 3._—What rare persons the godly are: “The righteous is more
excellent than his neighbour.” Prov. xii. 26. As the flower of the sun,
as the wine of Lebanon, as the sparkling upon Aaron’s breastplate, such
is the orient splendour of a person embellished with godliness.... The
godly are precious, therefore they are set apart for God, “_Know that
the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself._” We set apart
things that are precious; the godly are set apart as God’s peculiar
treasure (Psalm cxxxv. 4); as his garden of delight (Cant. iv. 12); as
his royal diadem (Isaiah xliii. 3); the godly are the excellent of the
earth (Psalm xvi. 3); comparable to fine gold (Lam. iv. 2); double
refined. Zech. xiii. 9. They are the glory of the creation. Isaiah xlvi.
13. Origen compares the saints to sapphires and crystals: God calls them
jewels. Mal. iii. 17.—_Thomas Watson._
_Verse 3.—“The Lord will hear when I call unto him.”_ Let us remember
that the experience of one of the saints concerning the verity of God’s
promises, and of the certainty of the written privileges of the Lord’s
people, is a sufficient proof of the right which all his children have
to the same mercies, and a ground of hope that they also shall partake
of them in their times of need.—_David Dickson, 1653._
_Verse 4.—“Stand in awe, and sin not.”_ Jehovah is a name of great power
and efficacy, a name that hath in it five vowels, without which no
language can be expressed; a name that hath in it also three syllables,
to signify the Trinity of persons, the eternity of God, One in Three and
Three in One; a name of such dread and reverence amongst the Jews, that
they tremble to name it, and therefore they use the name _Adonai_
(_Lord_) in all their devotions. And thus ought every one to “_stand in
awe, and sin not_,” by taking the name of God in vain; but to sing
praise, and honour, to remember, to declare, to exalt, to praise and
bless it; for holy and reverend, only worthy and excellent is his
name.—_Rayment, 1630._
_Verse 4.—“Commune with your own heart.”_ The language is similar to
that which we use when we say, “Consult your better judgment,” or, “Take
counsel of your own good sense.”—_Albert Barnes, in loc._
_Verse 4._—If thou wouldst exercise thyself to godliness in solitude,
accustom thyself to soliloquies, I mean to conference with thyself. He
needs never be idle that hath so much business to do with his own soul.
It was a famous answer which Antisthenes gave when he was asked what
fruit he reaped by all his studies. By them, saith he, I have learned
both to live and talk with myself. Soliloquies are the best disputes;
every good man is best company for himself of all the creatures. Holy
David enjoineth this to others, “_Commune with your own hearts upon your
bed, and be still._” “_Commune with your own hearts_;” when ye have none
to speak with, talk to yourselves. Ask yourselves for what end ye were
made, what lives ye have led, what times ye have lost, what love ye have
abused, what wrath ye have deserved. Call yourselves to a reckoning, how
ye have improved your talents, how true or false ye have been to your
trust, what provision ye have laid in for an hour of death, what
preparation ye have made for a great day of account. “_Upon your beds._”
Secrecy is the best opportunity for this duty. The silent night is a
good time for this speech. When we have no outward objects to disturb
us, and to call our eyes, as the fool’s eyes are always, to the ends of
the earth; then our eyes, as the eyes of the wise, may be in our heads;
and then our minds, like the windows in Solomon’s temple, may be broad
inwards. The most successful searches have been made in the night
season; the soul is then wholly shut up in the earthly house of the
body, and hath no visits from strangers to disquiet its thoughts.
Physicians have judged dreams a probable sign whereby they might find
out the distempers of the body. Surely, then, the bed is no bad place to
examine and search into the state of the soul. “_And be still._”
Self-communion will much help to curb your headstrong, ungodly passions.
Serious consideration, like the casting up of earth amongst bees, will
allay inordinate affections when they are full of fury, and make such a
hideous noise. Though sensual appetites and unruly desires are, as the
people of Ephesus, in an uproar, pleading for their former privilege,
and expecting their wonted provision, as in the days of their
predominancy, if conscience use its authority, commanding them in God’s
name, whose officer it is, to keep the king’s peace, and argue it with
them, as the town-clerk of Ephesus, “We are in danger to be called in
question for this days’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may
give an account of this day’s concourse;” all is frequently by this
means hushed, and the tumult appeased without any further
mischief.—_George Swinnock, 1627-1673._
_Verse 4.—“Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.”_
When we are most retired from the world, then we are most fit to have,
and usually have, most communion with God. If a man would but abridge
himself of sleep, and wake with holy thoughts, when deep sleep falleth
upon sorrowful labouring men, he might be entertained with visions from
God, though not such visions as Eliphaz and others of the saints have
had, yet visions he might have. Every time God communicates himself to
the soul, there is a vision of love, or mercy, or power, somewhat of God
in his nature, or in his will, is showed unto us. David shows us divine
work when we go to rest. The bed is not all for sleep: “_Commune with
your own heart upon your bed, and be still._” Be still or quiet, and
then commune with your hearts; and if _you_ will commune with your
hearts, God will come and commune with your hearts too, his Spirit will
give you a loving visit and visions of his love.—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verse 4.—“Stand in awe.”_
With sacred _awe_ pronounce his name,
Whom words nor thoughts can reach.
_John Needham, 1768._
_Verse 6._—Where Christ reveals himself there is satisfaction in the
slenderest portion, and without Christ there is emptiness in the
greatest fulness.—_Alexander Grosse, on enjoying Christ, 1632._
_Verse 6._—“_Many_,” said David, “_ask who will shew us any good?_”
meaning riches, and honour, and pleasure, which are not good. But when
he came to godliness itself, he leaves out “_many_,” and prayeth in his
own person, “_Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us_;”
as if none would join with him.—_Henry Smith._
_Verse 6.—“Who will shew us any good?”_ This is not a fair translation.
The word _any_ is not in the text, nor anything equivalent to it; and
not a few have quoted _it_, and preached upon the text, placing the
principal emphasis upon this illegitimate. The place is sufficiently
emphatic. There are _multitudes who say, Who will shew us good?_ Man
wants _good_; he hates _evil_ as evil, because he has _pain_,
_suffering_, and _death_ through it; and he wishes to find that _supreme
good_ which will content his heart, and save him from evil. But men
mistake this good. They look for a good that is to gratify their
_passions_; they have no notion of any happiness that does not come to
them through the _medium of their senses_. Therefore they reject
_spiritual good_, and they reject the supreme God, by whom alone all the
powers of the soul of man can be gratified.—_Adam Clarke._
_Verse 6.—“Lift thou up,”_ etc. This was the blessing of the high priest
and is the heritage of all the saints. It includes reconciliation,
assurance, communion, benediction, in a word, the fulness of God. Oh, to
be filled therewith!—_C. H. S._
_Verses 6, 7._—Lest riches should be accounted evil in themselves, God
sometimes gives them to the righteous; and lest they should be
considered as the _chief good_, he frequently bestows them on the
wicked. But they are more generally the portion of his enemies than his
friends. Alas! what is it to receive and not to be received? to have
none other dews of blessing than such as shall be followed by showers of
brimstone? We may compass ourselves with sparks of security, and
afterwards be secured in eternal misery. This world is a floating
island, and so sure as we cast anchor _upon_ it, we shall be carried
away _by_ it. God, and all that he has made, is not more than God
without anything that he has made. He can never want treasure who has
such a golden mine. _He_ is enough without the creature, but the
_creature_ is not anything without him. It is, therefore, better to
enjoy him without anything else, than to enjoy everything else without
him. It is better to be a wooden vessel filled with wine, than a golden
one filled with water.—_William Secker’s Nonsuch Professor, 1660._
_Verse 7._—What madness and folly is it that the favourites of heaven
should envy the men of the world, who at best do but feed upon the
scraps that come from God’s table! Temporals are the bones; spirituals
are the marrow. Is it below a man to envy the dogs, because of the
bones? And is it not much more below a Christian to envy others for
temporals, when himself enjoys spirituals?—_Thomas Brooks._