ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors._” It is said that God hath
ordained his arrows against the persecutors; the word signifies such as
burn in anger and malice against the godly; and the word translated
_ordained_, signifies God hath wrought his arrows; he doth not shoot
them at random, but he works them against the wicked. Illiricus hath a
story which may well be a commentary upon this text in both the parts of
it. One Felix, Earl of Wartenberg, one of the captains of the Emperor
Charles V., swore in the presence of divers at supper, that before he
died he would ride up to the spurs in the blood of the Lutherans. Here
was one that burned in malice, but behold how God works his arrows
against him: that very night the hand of God so struck him, that he was
strangled and choked in his own blood; so he rode not, but bathed
himself, not up to the spurs, but up to the throat, not in the blood of
the Lutherans, but in his own blood before he died.—_Jeremiah
Burroughs._
_Verse 13.—“He ordaineth his arrows._” This might more exactly be
rendered, “He maketh his arrows burning.” This image would seem to be
deduced from the use of fiery arrows.—_John Kitto, 1804-1854._
_Verse 14.—“Behold, he travaileth with iniquity,”_ etc. The words
express the _conception_, _birth_, _carriage_, and _miscarriage_, of a
_plot_ against David. In which you may consider:—(1.) What his _enemies_
did. (2.) What _God_ did. (3.) What _we all_ should do: his enemies’
_intention_, God’s _prevention_, and our _duty_; his enemies’ intention,
_he travaileth with iniquity, and conceiveth mischief_; God’s
prevention, _he brought forth a lie_; our duty, _Behold_.... Observe the
aggravation of the sin, _he conceiveth_. He was not put upon it, or
forced into it; it was voluntary. The more liberty we have not to sin,
makes our sin the greater. He did not this in passion, but in cold
blood. The less will, less sin.—_Richard Sibbs._
_Verse 14.—“He travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief.”_
All note that conceiving is before travailing, but here travailing, as a
woman in labour, goeth first; the reason whereof is, that the wicked are
so hotly set upon the evil which they maliciously intend, that they
would be immediately acting of it if they could tell how, even before
they have conceived by what means; but in fine they bring forth but a
lie, that is, they find that their own hearts lied to them, when they
promised good success, but they had evil. For their haste to perpetrate
mischief is intimated in the word rendered “_persecutors_” (verse 13),
which properly signifieth _ardentes_, _burning_; that is, with a desire
to do mischief—and this admits of no delay. A notable common-place, both
setting forth the evil case of the wicked, especially attempting
anything against the righteous, to move them to repentance—for thou hast
God for thine enemy warring against thee, whose force thou canst not
resist—and the greedy desire of the wicked to be evil, but their
conception shall all prove abortive.—_J. Mayer, in loc._
_Verse 14.—“And hath brought forth falsehood.”_ Every sin is a
lie.—_Augustine._
_Verse 14._—
“Earth’s entertainments are like those of Jael,
Her left hand brings me milk, her right, a nail.”
_Thomas Fuller._
_Verses 14, 15.—“They have digged a pit for us”_—and that low, unto
hell—“_and are fallen into it themselves._”
“No juster law can be devised or made,
Than that sin’s agents fall by their own trade.”
The order of hell proceeds with the same degrees; though it give a
greater portion, yet still a just proportion, of torment. These wretched
guests were too busy with the waters of sin; behold, now they are in the
depth of a pit, “where no water is.” Dives, that wasted so many tuns of
wine, cannot now procure water, not a pot of water, not a handful of
water, not a drop of water, to cool his tongue. _Desideravit guttam, qui
non dedit micam._[4] A just recompense! He would not give a crumb; he
shall not have a drop. Bread hath no smaller fragment than a crumb,
water no less fraction than a drop. As he denied the least comfort to
Lazarus living, so Lazarus shall not bring him the least comfort dead.
Thus the pain for sin answers the pleasure of sin.... Thus damnable sins
shall have semblable punishments; and as Augustine of the tongue, so we
may say of any member.... If it will not serve God in action, it shall
serve him in passion.—_Thomas Adams._
_Verse 15.—“He made a pit and digged it.”_ The practice of making
pitfalls was anciently not only employed for ensnaring wild beasts, but
was also a stratagem used against men by the enemy, in time of war. The
idea, therefore, refers to a man who, having made such a pit, whether
for man or beast, and covered it over so as completely to disguise the
danger, did himself inadvertently tread on his own trap, and fall into
the pit he had prepared for another.—_Pictorial Bible._
_Verse 16._—That most witty of commentators, Old Master Trapp, tells the
following notable anecdote, in illustration of this verse:—That was a
very remarkable instance of Dr. Story, who, escaping out of prison in
Queen Elizabeth’s days, got to Antwerp, and there thinking himself out
of the reach of God’s rod, he got commission under the Duke of Alva to
search all ships coming thither for English books. But one Parker, an
English merchant, trading to Antwerp, laid his snare fair (saith our
chronicler), to catch this foul bird, causing secret notice to be given
to Story, that in his ship were stores of heretical books, with other
intelligence that might stand him in stead. The Canonist conceiving that
all was quite sure, hasted to the ship, where, with looks very big upon
the poor mariners, each cabin, chest, and corner above-board were
searched, and some things found to draw him further on: so that the
hatches must be opened, which seemed to be unwillingly done, and great
signs of fear were showed by their faces. This drew on the Doctor to
descend into the hold, where now in the trap the mouse might well gnaw,
but could not get out, for the hatches were down, and the sails hoisted
up, which, with a merry gale were blown into England, where ere long he
was arraigned, and condemned of high treason, and accordingly executed
at Tyburn, as he had well deserven.
_Verse 16._—The story of Phalaris’s bull, invented for the torment of
others, and serving afterwards for himself, is notorious in heathen
story.... It was a voluntary judgment which Archbishop Cranmer inflicted
on himself when he thrust that very hand into the fire, and burnt it,
with which he had signed to the popish articles, crying out, “_Oh, my
unworthy right hand!_” but who will deny that the hand of the Almighty
was also concerned in it?—_William Turner in “Divine Judgments by way of
Retaliation,” 1697._
_Verse 17._—To bless God for mercies is the way to increase them; to
bless him for miseries is the way to remove them: no good lives so long
as that which is thankfully improved; no evil dies so soon as that which
is patiently endured.—_William Dyer._
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Verse 1._—The necessity of faith when we address ourselves to God. Show
the worthlessness of prayer without trust in the Lord.
_Verses 1, 2._—Viewed as a prayer for deliverance from all enemies,
especially Satan the lion.
_Verse 3._—Self-vindication before men. When possible, judicious, or
serviceable. With remarks upon the spirit in which it should be
attempted.
_Verse 4.—“The best revenge.”_ Evil for good is devil-like, evil for
evil is beastlike, good for good is man-like, good for evil is God-like.
_Verse 6._—How and in what sense divine anger may become the hope of the
righteous.
Fire fought by fire, or man’s anger overcome by God’s anger.
_Verse 7.—“The congregation of the people.”_ 1. Who they are. 2. Why
they congregate together with one another. 3. Where they congregate. 4.
Why they choose such a person to be the centre of their congregation.
_Verse 7._—The gathering of the saints around the Lord Jesus.
_Verse 7 (last clause)._—The coming of Christ to judgment for the good
of his saints.
_Verse 8._—The character of the Judge before whom we all must stand.
_Verse 9 (first clause)._—(1) By changing their hearts; or (2) by
restraining their wills, (3) or depriving them of power, (4) or removing
them. Show the times when, the reasons why, such a prayer should be
offered, and how, in the first sense, we may labour for its
accomplishment.
_Verse 9._—This verse contains two grand prayers, and a noble proof that
the Lord can grant them.
_Verse 9._—The period of sin, and the perpetuity of the
righteous:—_Matthew Henry._
_Verse 9.—“Establish the just.”_ By what means and in what sense the
just are established, or, the true established church.
_Verse 9 (last clause)._—God’s trial of men’s hearts.
_Verse 10.—“Upright in heart.”_ Explain the character.
_Verse 10._—The believer’s trust in God, and God’s care over him. Show
the action of faith in procuring defence and protection, and of that
defence upon our faith by strengthening it, etc.
_Verse 11._—The Judge, and the two persons upon their trial.
_Verse 11 (second clause)._—God’s present, daily, constant, and vehement
anger, against the wicked.
_Verse 12._—See “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” No. 106. “Turn or Burn.”
_Verses 14, 15, 16._—Illustrate by three figures the devices and defeat
of persecutors.
_Verse 17._—The excellent duty of praise.
_Verse 17._—View the verse in connection with the subject of the Psalm,
and show how the deliverance of the righteous, and the destruction of
the wicked are themes for song.
Footnote 4:
Aug. Hom. 7.
PSALM VIII.
TITLE.—“To the Chief Musician upon Gittith, a Psalm of David.” _We are
not clear upon the meaning of the word Gittith. Some think it refers to
Gath, and may refer to a tune commonly sung there, or an instrument of
music there invented, or a song of Obededom the Gittite, in whose house
the ark rested, or, better still, a song sung over Goliath of Gath.
Others, tracing the Hebrew to its root, conceive it to mean a song for
the winepress, a joyful hymn for the treaders of grapes. The term
Gittith is applied to two other Psalms_ (lxxxi. _and_ lxxxiv.), _both of
which, being of a joyous character, it may be concluded, that where we
find that word in the title, we may look for a hymn of delight._
_We may style this Psalm the song of the Astronomer: let us go abroad
and sing it beneath the starry heavens at eventide, for it is very
probable that in such a position, it first occurred to the poets mind.
Dr. Chalmers says, “There is much in the scenery of a nocturnal sky, to
lift the soul to pious contemplation. That moon, and these stars, what
are they? They are detached from the world, and they lift us above it.
We feel withdrawn from the earth, and rise in lofty abstraction from
this little theatre of human passions and human anxieties. The mind
abandons itself to reverie, and is transferred in the ecstasy of its
thought to distant and unexplored regions. It sees nature in the
simplicity of her great elements, and it sees the God of nature invested
with the high attributes of wisdom and majesty.”_
DIVISION.—_The first and last verses are a sweet song of admiration, in
which the excellence of the name of God is extolled. The intermediate
verses are made up of holy wonder at the Lord’s greatness in creation,
and at his condescension towards man. Poole, in his annotation, has well
said, “It is a great question among interpreters, whether this Psalm
speaks of man in general, and of the honour which God puts upon him in
his creation; or only of the_ man Christ Jesus. _Possibly both may be
reconciled and put together, and the controversy, if rightly stated, may
be ended, for the scope and business of this Psalm seems plainly to be
this: to display and celebrate the great love and kindness of God to
mankind, not only in his creation, but especially in his redemption by
Jesus Christ, whom, as he was man, he advanced to the honour and
dominion here mentioned, that he might carry on his great and glorious
work. So Christ is the principal subject of this Psalm, and it is
interpreted of him, both by our Lord himself_ (_Matt._ xxi. 16), _and by
his holy apostle_ (_1 Cor._ xv. 27; _Heb._ ii. 6, 7).”
EXPOSITION.
O LORD our Lord, how excellent _is_ thy name in all the earth! who
hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Unable to express the glory of God, the Psalmist utters a note of
exclamation. O Jehovah our Lord! We need not wonder at this, for no
heart can measure, no tongue can utter, the half of the greatness of
Jehovah. The whole creation is full of his glory and radiant with the
excellency of his power; his goodness and his wisdom are manifested on
every hand. The countless myriads of terrestrial beings, from man the
head, to the creeping worm at the foot, are all supported and nourished
by the Divine bounty. The solid fabric of the universe leans upon his
eternal arm. Universally is he present, and everywhere is his name
excellent. God worketh ever and everywhere. There is no _place_ where
God is not. The miracles of his power await us on all sides. Traverse
the silent valleys where the rocks enclose you on either side, rising
like the battlements of heaven till you can see but a strip of the blue
sky far overhead; you may be the only traveller who has passed through
that glen; the bird may start up affrighted, and the moss may tremble
beneath the first tread of human foot; but God is there in a thousand
wonders, upholding yon rocky barriers, filling the flowercups with their
perfume, and refreshing the lonely pines with the breath of his mouth.
Descend, if you will, into the lowest depths of the ocean, where
undisturbed the water sleeps, and the very sand is motionless in
unbroken quiet, but the glory of the Lord is there, revealing its
excellence in the silent palace of the sea. Borrow the wings of the
morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the sea, but God is there.
Mount to the highest heaven, or dive into the deepest hell, and God is
in both hymned in everlasting song, or justified in terrible vengeance.
Everywhere, and in every place, God dwells and is manifestly at work.
Nor on earth alone is Jehovah extolled, for his brightness shines forth
in the firmament above the earth. His glory exceeds the glory of the
starry heavens; above the region of the stars he hath set fast his
everlasting throne, and there he dwells in light ineffable. Let us adore
him “who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of
the sea; who maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of
the south.” (Job ix. 8, 9.) We can scarcely find more fitting words than
those of Nehemiah, “Thou even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth, and all
things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou
preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.” Returning
to the text we are led to observe that this Psalm is addressed to God,
because none but the Lord himself can fully know his own glory. The
believing heart is ravished with what it sees, but God only knows the
glory of God. What a sweetness lies in the little word _our_, how much
is God’s glory endeared to us when we consider our interest in him as
our Lord. _How excellent is thy name!_ no words can express that
excellency; and therefore it is left as a note of exclamation. The very
_name_ of Jehovah is excellent, what must his person be. Note the fact
that even the heavens cannot contain his glory, it is set _above the
heavens_, since it is and ever must be too great for the creature to
express. When wandering amid the Alps, we felt that the Lord was
infinitely greater than all his grandest works, and under that feeling
we roughly wrote these few lines:—
Yet in all these how great soe’er they be,
We see not Him. The glass is all too dense
And dark, or else our earthborn eyes too dim.
Yon Alps, that lift their heads above the clouds
And hold familiar converse with the stars,
Are dust, at which the balance trembleth not,
Compared with His divine immensity.
The snow-crown’d summits fail to set Him forth.
Who dwelleth in Eternity, and bears
Alone, the name of High and Lofty One.
Depths unfathomed are too shallow to express
The wisdom and the knowledge of the Lord.
The mirror of the creatures has no space
To bear the image of the Infinite.
’Tis true the Lord hath fairly writ His name,
And set His seal upon creation’s brow.
But as the skilful potter much excels
The vessel which he fashions on the wheel,
E’en so, but in proportion greater far,
Jehovah’s self transcends His noblest works.
Earth’s ponderous wheels would break, her axles snap,
If freighted with the load of Deity.
Space is too narrow for the Eternal’s rest,
And time too short a footstool for His throne.
E’en avalanche and thunder lack a voice,
To utter the full volume of His praise.
How then can I declare Him! Where are words
With which my glowing tongue may speak His name!
Silent I bow, and humbly I adore.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained
strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the
enemy and the avenger.
Nor only in the heavens above is the Lord seen, but the earth beneath is
telling forth his majesty. In the sky, the massive orbs, rolling in
their stupendous grandeur, are witnesses of his power in great things,
while here below, the lisping utterances of babes are the manifestations
of his strength in little ones. How often will children tell us of a God
whom we have forgotten! How doth their simple prattle refute those
learned fools who deny the being of God! Many men have been made to hold
their tongues, while sucklings have borne witness to the glory of the
God of heaven. It is singular how clearly the history of the church
expounds this verse. Did not the children cry “Hosannah!” in the temple,
when proud Pharisees were silent and contemptuous? and did not the
Saviour quote these very words as a justification of their infantile
cries? Early church history records many amazing instances of the
testimony of children for the truth of God, but perhaps more modern
instances will be most interesting. Foxe tells us, in the Book of
Martyrs, that when Mr. Lawrence was burnt in Colchester, he was carried
to the fire in a chair, because, through the cruelty of the Papists, he
could not stand upright, several young children came about the fire and
cried, as well as they could speak, “Lord, strengthen thy servant, and
keep thy promise.” God answered their prayer, for Mr. Lawrence died as
firmly and calmly as any one could wish to breathe his last. When one of
the Popish chaplains told Mr. Wishart, the great Scotch martyr, that he
had a devil in him, a child that stood by cried out, “A devil cannot
speak such words as yonder man speaketh.” One more instance is still
nearer to our time. In a postscript to one of his letters, in which he
details his persecution when first preaching In Moorfields, Whitfield
says, “I cannot help adding that several little boys and girls, who were
fond of sitting round me on the pulpit while I preached, and handed to
me people’s notes—though they were often pelted with eggs, dirt, &c.,
thrown at me—never once gave way; but, on the contrary, every time I was
struck, turned up their little weeping eyes, and seemed to wish they
could receive the blows for me. God make them, in their growing years,
great and living martyrs for him who, out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings, perfects praise!” He who delights in the songs of angels is
pleased to honour himself in the eyes of his enemies by the praises of
little children. What a contrast between the glory above the heavens,
and the mouths of babes and sucklings! yet by both the name of God is
made excellent.
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man,
that thou visitest him?
At the close of that excellent little manual entitled “The Solar
System,” written by Dr. Dick, we find an eloquent passage which
beautifully expounds the text:—A survey of the solar system has a
tendency to moderate the pride of man and to promote humility. Pride is
one of the distinguishing characteristics of puny man, and has been one
of the chief causes of all the contentions, wars, devastations, systems
of slavery, and ambitious projects which have desolated and demoralized
our sinful world. Yet there is no disposition more incongruous to the
character and circumstance of man. Perhaps there are no rational beings
throughout the universe among whom pride would appear more unseemly or
incompatible than in man, considering the situation in which he is
placed. He is exposed to numerous degradations and calamities, to the
rage of storms and tempests, the devastations of earthquakes and
volcanoes, the fury of whirlwinds, and the tempestuous billows of the
ocean, to the ravages of the sword, famine, pestilence, and numerous
diseases; and at length he must sink into the grave, and his body must
become the companion of worms! The most dignified and haughty of the
sons of men are liable to these and similar degradations as well as the
meanest of the human family. Yet, in such circumstances, man—that puny
worm of the dust, whose knowledge is so limited, and whose follies are
so numerous and glaring—has the effrontery to strut in all the
haughtiness of pride, and to glory in his shame.
When other arguments and motives produce little effect on certain minds,
no considerations seem likely to have a more powerful tendency to
counteract this deplorable propensity in human beings, than those which
are borrowed from the objects connected with astronomy. They show us
what an insignificant being—what a mere atom, indeed, man appears amidst
the immensity of creation! Though he is an object of the paternal care
and mercy of the Most High, yet he is but as a grain of sand to the
whole earth, when compared to the countless myriads of beings that
people the amplitudes of creation. What is the whole of this globe on
which we dwell compared with the solar system, which contains a mass of
matter ten thousand times greater? What is it in comparison of the
hundred millions of suns and worlds which by the telescope have been
described throughout the starry regions? What, then, is a kingdom, a
province, or a baronial territory, of which we are as proud as if we
were the lords of the universe and for which we engage in so much
devastation and carnage? What are they, when set in competition with the
glories of the sky? Could we take our station on the lofty pinnacles of
heaven, and look down on this scarcely distinguishable speck of earth,
we should be ready to exclaim with Seneca, “Is it to this little spot
that the great designs and vast desires of men are confined? Is it for
this there is so much disturbance of nations, so much carnage, and so
many ruinous wars? Oh, the folly of deceived men, to imagine great
kingdoms in the compass of an atom, to raise armies to decide a point of
earth with the sword!” Dr. Chalmers, in his Astronomical Discourses,
very truthfully says, “We gave you but a feeble image of our comparative
insignificance, when we said that the glories of an extended forest
would suffer no more from the fall of a single leaf, than the glories of
this extended universe would suffer though the globe we tread upon, ‘and
all that it inherits, should dissolve.’”
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast
crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou
hast put all _things_ under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, _and whatsoever_
passeth through the paths of the sea.
These verses may set forth man’s position among the creatures before he
fell; but as they are, by the apostle Paul, appropriated to man as
represented by the Lord Jesus, it is best to give most weight to that
meaning. In order of dignity, man stood next to the angels, and a little
lower than they; in the Lord Jesus this was accomplished, for he was
made a little lower than the angels by the suffering of death. Man in
Eden had the full command of all creatures, and they came before him to
receive their names as an act of homage to him as the vicegerent of God
to them. Jesus in his glory, is now Lord, not only of all living, but of
all created things, and, with the exception of him who put all things
under him, Jesus is Lord of all, and his elect, in him, are raised to a
dominion wider than that of the first Adam, as shall be more clearly
seen at his coming. Well might the Psalmist wonder at the singular
exaltation of man in the scale of being, when he marked his utter
nothingness in comparison with the starry universe.