reserves for his mourners are filling comforts (Rom. xv. 13); “The God
of hope fill you with joy” (John xvi. 24); “Ask that your joy may be
full.” When God pours in the joys of heaven they fill the heart, and
make it run over (2 Cor. vii. 4); “I am exceeding joyful;” the Greek is,
I overflow with joy, as a cup that is filled with wine till it runs
over. Outward comforts can no more fill the heart than a triangle can
fill a circle. Spiritual joys are satisfying (Psalm lxiii. 5); “My heart
shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise
thee with joyful lips;” “_Thou hast put gladness in my heart._” Worldly
joys do put gladness into the face, but the spirit of God puts gladness
into the heart; divine joys are heart joys (Zech. x. 7; John xvi. 22);
“Your heart shall rejoice” (Luke i. 47); “My spirit rejoiced in God.”
And to show how filling these comforts are, which are of a heavenly
extraction, the Psalmist says they create greater joy than when “_corn
and wine increase_.” Wine and oil may delight but not satisfy; they have
their vacuity and indigence. We may say, as Zech. x. 2, “They comfort in
vain;” outward comforts do sooner cloy than cheer, and sooner weary than
fill. Xerxes offered great rewards to him that could find out a new
pleasure; but the comforts of the Spirit are satisfactory, they recruit
the heart (Psalm xciv. 19), “Thy comforts delight my soul.” There is as
much difference between heavenly comforts and earthly, as between a
banquet that is eaten, and one that is painted on the wall.—_Thomas
Watson._
_Verse 8._—It is said of the husbandman, that having cast his seed into
the ground, he sleeps and riseth day and night, and the seed springs and
grows he knoweth not how. Mark iv. 26, 27. So a good man having by faith
and prayer cast his care upon God, he resteth night and day, and is very
easy, leaving it to his God to perform all things for him according to
his holy will.—_Matthew Henry._
_Verse 8._—When you have walked with God from morning until night, it
remaineth that you _conclude_ the day well, when you would give yourself
to rest at night. Wherefore, first look back and take a strict view of
your whole carriage that _day past_. Reform what you find amiss; and
rejoice, or be grieved, as you find you have done well or ill, as you
have advanced or declined in grace that day. Secondly, since you cannot
sleep in safety if God, who is your _keeper_ (Psalm cxi. 4, 5), do not
_wake and watch for you_ (Psalm cxxvii. 1); and though you have _God_ to
watch when you sleep, you cannot be safe, if he that watcheth be your
_enemy_. Wherefore it is very convenient that at night you renew and
confirm your peace with God by faith and prayer, commending and
committing yourself to God’s tuition by prayer (Psalm iii. 4, 5; Psalm
xcii. 2), with thanksgiving before you go to bed. Then shall you lie
_down in safety_. Psalm iv. 8. All this being done, yet while you are
_putting off_ your apparel, when you are _lying down_, and when you are
_in bed_, before you sleep, it is good that _you commune with_ your _own
heart_. Psalm iv. 4. If possibly you can fall asleep with _some heavenly
meditation_, then will your sleep be _more sweet_ (Prov. iii. 21, 24,
25); and _more secure_ (Prov. vi. 21, 22); your _dreams_ fewer, or more
_comfortable_; your head will be fuller of good thoughts (Prov. vi. 22),
and your heart will be in a _better frame_ when you _awake_, whether in
the night or in the morning.—_Condensed from Henry Scudder’s Daily Walk,
1633._
_Verse 8.—“I will both,”_ etc. We have now to retire for a moment from
the strife of tongues and the open hostility of foes, into the stillness
and privacy of the chamber of sleep. Here, also, we find the “I will” of
trust. “_I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord,
only makest me dwell in safety._” God is here revealed to us as
exercising _personal care in the still chamber_. And there is something
here which should be inexpressibly sweet to the believer, for this shows
the minuteness of God’s care, the individuality of his love; how it
condescends and stoops, and acts, not only in great, but also in little
spheres; not only where glory might be procured from great results, but
where nought is to be had save the gratitude and love of a poor feeble
creature, whose life has been protected and preserved, in a period of
helplessness and sleep. How blessed would it be if we made a larger
recognition of God in the still chamber; if we thought of him as being
there in all hours of illness, of weariness, and pain; if we believed
that his interest and care are as much concentrated upon the feeble
believer there as upon his people when in the wider battle field of the
strife of tongues. There is something inexpressibly touching in this
“laying down” of the Psalmist. In thus lying down he voluntarily gave up
guardianship of himself; he resigned himself into the hands of another;
he did so completely, for in the absence of all care he slept; there was
here a perfect trust. Many a believer lies down, but it is not to sleep.
Perhaps he feels safe enough so far as his body is concerned, but cares
and anxieties invade the privacy of his chamber; they come to try his
faith and trust; they threaten, they frighten, and alas! prove too
strong for trust. Many a poor believer might say, “I will lay me down,
but not to sleep.” The author met with a touching instance of this, in
the case of an aged minister whom he visited in severe illness. This
worthy man’s circumstances were narrow, and his family trials were
great; he said, “The doctor wants me to sleep, but how can I sleep with
care sitting on my pillow?” It is the experience of some of the Lord’s
people, that although equal to an emergency or a continued pressure, a
reaction sets in afterwards; and when they come to be alone their
spirits sink, and they do not realise that strength from God, or feel
that confidence in him which they felt while the pressure was exerting
its force.... There is a trial in stillness; and oftentimes the still
chamber makes a larger demand upon loving trust than the battle field. O
that we could trust God more and more with personal things! O that he
were the God of our chamber, as well as of our temples and houses! O
that we could bring him more and more into the minutiæ of daily life! If
we did thus, we should experience a measure of rest to which we are,
perhaps, strangers now; we should have less dread of the sick chamber;
we should have that unharassed mind which conduces most to repose, in
body and soul; we should be able to say, “I will lie down and sleep,
_and leave to-morrow with God!_” Ridley’s brother offered to remain with
him during the night preceding his martyrdom, but the bishop declined,
saying, that “he meant to go to bed, and sleep as quietly as ever he did
in his life.”—_Philip Bennett Power’s ‘I Wills’ of the Psalms._
_Verse 8._—Due observation of Providence will both beget and secure
inward tranquility in your minds amidst the vicissitudes and revolutions
of things in this unstable vain world. “_I will both lay me down in
peace, and sleep; for the Lord only maketh me dwell in safety._” He
resolves that sinful fears of events shall not rob him of his inward
quiet, nor torture his thoughts with anxious presages: he will commit
all his concerns into that faithful fatherly hand that had hitherto
wrought all things for him; and he means not to lose the comfort of one
night’s rest, nor bring the evil of to-morrow upon the day; but knowing
in whose hand he was, wisely enjoys the sweet felicity of a resigned
will. Now this tranquility of our minds is as much begotten and
preserved by a due consideration of providence as by anything
whatsoever.—_John Flavel, 1627-1691._
_Verse 8._—Happy is the Christian, who having nightly with this verse,
committed himself to his bed as to his grave, shall at last, with the
same words, resign himself to his grave as to his bed, from which he
expects in due time to arise, and sing a morning hymn with the children
of the resurrection.—_George Horne, D.D., 1776._
_Verse 9.—“Sleep.”_
“How blessed was that _sleep_
The sinless Saviour knew!
In vain the storm-winds blew,
Till he awoke to others’ woes,
And hushed the billows to repose.
How beautiful is _sleep_—
The _sleep_ that Christians know!
Ye mourners! cease your woe,
While soft upon his Saviour’s breast,
The righteous sinks to endless rest.”
_Mrs. M’Cartree._
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Verse 1._—Is full of matter for a sermon upon, _past mercies a plea for
present help_. The first sentence shows that believers desire, expect,
and believe in a God that heareth prayer. The title—_God of my
righteousness_, may furnish a text (see exposition), and the last
sentence may suggest a sermon upon, “The best of saints must still
appeal to God’s mercy and sovereign grace.”
_Verse 2.—Depravity of man_ as evinced (1) by continuance in despising
Christ, (2) loving vanity in his heart, and (3) seeking lies in his
daily life.
_Verse 2._—The length of the sinner’s sin. “How long?” May be bounded by
repentance, shall be by death, and yet shall continue in eternity.
_Verse 3.—Election._—Its aspects towards God, our enemies, and
ourselves.
_Verse 3.—“The Lord will hear when I call unto him.”_ Answers to prayer
certain to special persons. Mark out those who can claim the favour.
_Verse 3.—The gracious Separatist._ Who is he? Who separated him? With
what end? How to make men know it?
_Verse 4._—The sinner directed to review himself, that he may be
convinced of sin.—_Andrew Fuller, 1754-1815._
_Verse 4.—“Be still.”_ Advice—good, practical, but hard to follow. Times
when seasonable. Graces needed to enable one to be still. Results of
quietness. Persons who most need the advice. Instances of its practice.
Here is much material for a sermon.
_Verse 5._—The nature of those sacrifices of righteousness which the
Lord’s people are expected to offer.—_William Ford Vance, 1827._
_Verse 6._—The cry of the world and the church contrasted. _Vox populi_
not always _Vox Dei_.
_Verse 6._—The cravings of the soul all satisfied in God.
_Verses 6, 7._—An assurance of the Saviour’s love, the source of
unrivalled joy.
_Verse 7._—The believer’s joys. (1) Their source, “_Thou_;” (2) their
season—even now—“_Thou hast_;” (3) their position, “_in my heart_;” (4)
their excellence, “_more than in the time that their corn and their wine
increased_.”
Another excellent theme suggests itself—“The superiority of the joys of
grace to the joys of earth;” or, “Two sort of prosperity—which is to be
the more desired?”
_Verse 8._—The peace and safety of the good man.—_Joseph Lathrop, D.D.,
1805._
_Verse 8._—A bedchamber for believers, a vesper song to sing in it, and
a guard to keep the door.
_Verse 8._—The Christian’s good-night.
_Verses 2 to 8._—The means which a believer should use to win the
ungodly to Christ. (1). Expostulation, verse 2. (2.) Instruction, verse
3. (3.) Exhortation, verses 4, 5. (4.) Testimony to the blessedness of
true religion, as in verses 6, 7. (5.) Exemplification of that testimony
by the peace of faith, verse 8.
PSALM V.
TITLE.—“To the Chief Musician upon Nehiloth, a Psalm of David.” _The
Hebrew word Nehiloth is taken from another word, signifying “to
perforate,” “to bore through,” whence it comes to mean a pipe or a
flute; so that this song was probably intended to be sung with an
accompaniment of wind instruments, such as the horn, the trumpet, flute,
or cornet. However, it is proper to remark that we are not sure of the
interpretation of these ancient titles, for the Septuagint translates
it, “For him who shall obtain inheritance,” and Aben Ezra thinks it
denotes some old and well-known melody to which this Psalm was to be
played. The best scholars confess that great darkness hangs over the
precise interpretation of the titles; nor is this much to be regretted,
for it furnishes an internal evidence of the great antiquity of the
Book. Throughout the first, second, third, and fourth Psalms, you will
have noticed that the subject is a contrast between the position, the
character, and the prospects of the righteous and of the wicked. In this
Psalm you will note the same. The Psalmist carries out a contrast
between himself made righteous by God’s grace, and the wicked who
opposed him. To the devout mind there is here presented a precious view
of the Lord Jesus, of whom it is said that in the days of his flesh, he
offered up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears._
DIVISION.—_The Psalm should be divided into two parts, from the first to
the seventh verse, and then from the eighth to the twelfth. In the first
part of the Psalm David most vehemently beseeches the Lord to hearken to
his prayer, and in the second part he retraces the same ground._
EXPOSITION.
Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
There are two sorts of prayers—those expressed in words, and the
unuttered longings which abide as silent meditations. Words are not the
essence but the garments of prayer. Moses at the Red Sea cried to God,
though he said nothing. Yet the use of language may prevent distraction
of mind, may assist the powers of the soul, and may excite devotion.
David, we observe, uses both modes of prayer, and craves for the one a
hearing, and for the other a _consideration_. What an expressive word!
“_Consider my meditation._” If I have asked that which is right, give it
to me; if I have omitted to ask that which I most needed, fill up the
vacancy in my prayer. “Consider my meditation.” Let thy holy soul
_consider_ it as presented through my all-glorious Mediator: then regard
thou it in thy wisdom, weigh it in the scales, judge thou of my
sincerity, and of the true state of my necessities, and answer me in due
time for thy mercy’s sake! There may be prevailing intercession where
there are no words; and alas! there may be words where there is no true
supplication. Let us cultivate the _spirit_ of prayer which is even
better than the _habit_ of prayer. There may be seeming prayer where
there is little devotion. We should begin to pray before we kneel down,
and we should not cease when we rise up.
2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto
thee will I pray.
“_The voice of my cry._” In another Psalm we find the expression, “The
voice of my weeping.” Weeping has a voice—a melting, plaintive tone, an
ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches the very heart of God: and
_crying_ hath a voice—a soul-moving eloquence; coming from _our_ heart
it reaches _God’s_ heart. Ah! my brothers and sisters, sometimes we
cannot put our prayers into words: they are nothing but a _cry_: but the
Lord can comprehend the meaning, for he hears a voice in our cry. To a
loving father his children’s cries are music, and they have a magic
influence which his heart cannot resist. “_My King and my God._” Observe
carefully these little pronouns, “_my_ King, and _my_ God.” They are the
pith and marrow of the plea. Here is a grand argument why God should
answer prayer—because he is _our_ King and _our_ God. We are not aliens
to him: he is the King of our country. Kings are expected to hear the
appeals of their own people. We are not strangers to him; we are his
worshippers, and he is our God: ours by covenant, by promise, by oath,
by blood.
“_For unto thee will I pray._” Here David expresses his declaration that
he will seek to God, and to God alone. God is to be the only object of
worship: the only resource of our soul in times of need. Leave broken
cisterns to the godless, and let the godly drink from the Divine
fountain alone. “Unto thee _will I_ pray.” He makes a resolution, that
as long as he lived he would pray. He would never cease to supplicate,
even though the answer should not come.
3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning
will I direct _my prayer_ unto thee, and will look up.
Observe, this is not so much a prayer as a resolution, “‘_My voice shalt
thou hear_,’ I will not be dumb, I will not be silent, I will not
withhold my speech, I _will_ cry to thee, for the fire that dwells
within compels me to pray.” We can sooner die than live without prayer.
None of God’s children are possessed with a dumb devil.
“_In the morning._” This is the fittest time for intercourse with God.
An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening. While the dew is on
the grass, let grace drop upon the soul. Let us give to God the mornings
of our days and the morning of our lives. Prayer should be the key of
the day and the lock of the night. Devotion should be both the morning
star and the evening star.
If we merely read our English version, and want an explanation of these
two sentences, we find it in the figure of an archer, “_I will direct my
prayer unto thee_,” I will put my prayer upon the bow, I will direct it
towards heaven, and then when I have shot up my arrow, _I will look up_
to see where it has gone. But the Hebrew has a still fuller meaning than
this—“I will _direct_ my prayer.” It is the word that is used for the
laying in order of the wood and the pieces of the victim upon the altar,
and it is used also for the putting of the shewbread upon the table. It
means just this: “I will arrange my prayer before thee;” I will lay it
out upon the altar in the morning, just as the priest lays out the
morning sacrifice. I will _arrange_ my prayer; or, as old Master Trapp
has it, “I will marshal up my prayers,” I will put them in order, call
up all my powers, and bid them stand in their proper places, that I may
pray with all my might, and pray acceptably.
“_And will look up_,” or, as the Hebrew might better be translated, “‘I
will look out,’ I will look out for the answer; after I have prayed, I
will expect that the blessing shall come.” It is a word that is used in
another place where we read of those who watched for the morning. So
will I watch for thine answer, O my Lord! I will spread out my prayer
like the victim on the altar, and I will look up, and expect to receive
the answer by fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice.
Two questions are suggested by the last part of this verse. Do we not
miss very much of the sweetness and efficacy of prayer by a want of
careful meditation before it, and of hopeful expectation after it? We
too often rush into the presence of God without forethought or humility.
We are like men who present themselves before a king without a petition,
and what wonder is it that we often miss the end of prayer? We should be
careful to keep the stream of meditation always running; for this is the
water to drive the mill of prayer. It is idle to pull up the flood-gates
of a dry brook, and then hope to see the wheel revolve. Prayer without
fervency is like hunting with a dead dog, and prayer without preparation
is hawking with a blind falcon. Prayer is the work of the Holy Spirit,
but he works by means. God made man, but he used the dust of the earth
as a material: the Holy Ghost is the author of prayer, but he employs
the thoughts of a fervent soul as the gold with which to fashion the
vessel. Let not our prayers and praises be the flashes of a hot and
hasty brain, but the steady burning of a well-kindled fire.
But, furthermore, do we not forget to watch the result of our
supplications? We are like the ostrich, which lays her eggs and looks
not for her young. We sow the seed, and are too idle to seek a harvest.
How can we expect the Lord to open the windows of his grace, and pour us
out a blessing, if we will not open the windows of expectation and look
up for the promised favour? Let holy preparation link hands with patient
expectation, and we shall have far larger answers to our prayers.
4 For thou _art_ not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither
shall evil dwell with thee.
5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers
of iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor
the bloody and deceitful man.
And now the Psalmist having thus expressed his resolution to pray, you
hear him putting up his prayer. He is pleading against his cruel and
wicked enemies. He uses a most mighty argument. He begs of God to put
them away from him, because they were displeasing to God himself. “_For
thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil
dwell with thee._” “When I pray against my tempters,” says David, “I
pray against the very things which thou thyself abhorrest.” _Thou_
hatest evil: Lord, I beseech thee, deliver _me_ from it!
Let us learn here the solemn truth of the hatred which a righteous God
must bear towards sin. _He has no pleasure in wickedness_, however
wittily, grandly, and proudly it may array itself. Its glitter has no
charm for him. Men may bow before the successful villainy, and forget
the wickedness of the battle in the gaudiness of the triumph, but the
Lord of Holiness is not such-an-one as we are. “_Neither shall evil
dwell with thee._” He will not afford it the meanest shelter. Neither on
earth nor in heaven shall evil share the mansion of God. Oh, how foolish
are we if we attempt to entertain two guests so hostile to one another
as Christ Jesus and the devil! Rest assured, Christ will not live in the
parlour of our hearts if we entertain the devil in the cellar of our
thoughts. “_The foolish shall not stand in thy sight._” Sinners are
fools written large. A little sin is a great folly, and the greatest of
all folly is great sin. Such sinful fools as these must be banished from
the court of heaven. Earthly kings were wont to have fools in their
trains, but the only wise God will have no fools in his palace above.
“_Thou hatest all workers of iniquity._” It is not a little dislike, but
a thorough hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated of
God is an awful thing. O let us be very faithful in warning the wicked
around us, for it will be a terrible thing for them to fall into the
hands of an angry God! Observe, that evil speakers must be punished as
well as evil workers, for “_thou shalt destroy them that speak
leasing_.” All liars shall have their portion in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone. A man may lie without danger of the law of man,
but he will not escape the law of God. Liars have short wings, their
flight shall soon be over, and they shall fall into the fiery floods of
destruction. “_The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man._”
Bloody men shall be made drunk with their own blood, and they who began
by deceiving others shall end with being deceived themselves. Our old
proverb saith, “Bloody and deceitful men dig their own graves.” The
voice of the people is in this instance the voice of God. How forcible
is the word _abhor_! Does it not show us how powerful and deep-seated is
the hatred of the Lord against the workers of iniquity?
7 But as for me, I will come _into_ thy house in the multitude of
thy mercy: _and_ in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
With this verse the first part of the Psalm ends. The Psalmist has bent
his knee in prayer: he has described before God, as an argument for his
deliverance, the character and the fate of the wicked; and now he
contrasts this with the condition of the righteous. “_But as for me, I
will come into thy house._” I will not stand at a distance, I will come
into thy sanctuary, just as a child comes into his father’s house. But I
will not come there by my own merits; no, I have a multitude of sins,
and therefore I will come _in the multitude of thy mercy_. I will
approach thee with confidence because of thy immeasurable grace. God’s
judgments are all numbered, but his mercies are innumerable; he gives
his wrath by weight, but without weight his mercy. “_And in thy fear
will I worship toward thy holy temple_,”—towards the temple of thy
holiness. The temple was not built on earth at that time; it was but a
tabernacle; but David was wont to turn his eyes spiritually to that
temple of God’s holiness where between the wings of the Cherubim Jehovah
dwells in light ineffable. Daniel opened his window towards Jerusalem,
but we open our hearts towards heaven.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies;
make thy way straight before my face.
Now we come to the second part, in which the Psalmist repeats his
arguments, and goes over the same ground again.
“_Lead me, O Lord_,” as a little child is led by its father, as a blind
man is guided by his friend. It is safe and pleasant walking when God
leads the way. “_In thy righteousness_,” not in _my_ righteousness, for
that is imperfect, but in _thine_, for thou art righteousness itself.
“_Make thy way_,” not _my_ way, “_straight before my face_.” Brethren,
when we have learned to give up our own way, and long to walk in God’s
way, it is a happy sign of grace; and it is no small mercy to see the
way of God with clear vision straight before our face. Errors about duty
may lead us into a sea of sins, before we know where we are.
9 For _there is_ no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part
_is_ very wickedness; their throat _is_ an open sepulchre; they
flatter with their tongue.