martyred saints will have the first remembrance; he will avenge his own
elect. Those saints who are living shall also be heard; they shall be
exonerated from blame, and kept from destruction, even when the Lord’s
most terrible work is going on; the man with the inkhorn by his side
shall mark them all for safety, before the slaughtermen are permitted to
smite the Lord’s enemies. The humble cry of the poorest saints shall
neither be drowned by the voice of thundering justice nor by the shrieks
of the condemned.
13 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble _which I suffer_
of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of
death:
14 That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter
of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.
Memories of the past and confidences concerning the future conducted the
man of God to the mercy seat to plead for the needs of the present.
Between praising and praying he divided all his time. How could he have
spent it more profitably? His first prayer is one suitable for all
persons and occasions, it breathes a humble spirit, indicates self
knowledge, appeals to the proper attributes, and to the fitting person.
_Have mercy upon me, O Lord._ Just as Luther used to call some texts
little Bibles, so we may call this sentence a little prayer-book; for it
has in it the soul and marrow of prayer. It is multum in parvo, and like
the angelic sword turns every way. The ladder looks to be short, but it
reaches from earth to heaven.
What a noble title is here given to the Most High. _Thou that liftest me
up from the gates of death!_ What a glorious lift! In sickness, in sin,
in despair, in temptation, we have been brought very low, and the gloomy
portal has seemed as if it would open to imprison us, but, underneath us
were the everlasting arms, and, therefore, we have been uplifted even to
the gates of heaven. Trapp quaintly says, “He commonly reserveth his
hand for a dead lift, and rescueth those who were even talking of their
graves.” We must not overlook David’s object in desiring mercy, it is
God’s glory: “_that I may show forth all thy praise_.” Saints are not so
selfish as to look only to self; they desire mercy’s diamond that they
may let others see it flash and sparkle, and may admire Him who gives
such priceless gems to his beloved. The contrast between the gates of
death and the gates of the New Jerusalem is very striking; let our songs
be excited to the highest and most rapturous pitch by the double
consideration of whence we are taken, and to what we have been advanced,
and let our prayers for mercy be made more energetic and agonizing by a
sense of the grace which such a salvation implies. When David speaks of
his showing forth _all_ God’s praise, he means that, in his deliverance
grace in all its heights and depths would be magnified. Just as our hymn
puts it:—
“O the length and breadth of love!
Jesus, Saviour, can it be?
All thy mercy’s height I prove,
All the depth is seen in me.”
Here ends the first part of this instructive psalm, and in pausing
awhile we feel bound to confess that our exposition has only flitted
over its surface, and has not digged into the depths. The verses are
singularly full of teaching, and if the Holy Spirit shall bless the
reader, he may go over this Psalm, as the writer has done scores of
times, and see on each occasion fresh beauties.
15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit _that_ they made: in the net
which they hid is their own foot taken.
16 The LORD is known _by_ the judgment _which_ he executeth: the
wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
In considering this terrible picture of the Lord’s overwhelming
judgments of his enemies, we are called upon to ponder and meditate upon
it with deep seriousness by the two untranslated words, Higgaion, Selah.
Meditate, pause. Consider, and tune your instrument. Bethink yourselves
and solemnly adjust your hearts to the solemnity which is so well
becoming the subject. Let us in a humble spirit approach these verses,
and notice, first, that the character of God requires the punishment of
sin. _Jehovah is known by the judgment which he executeth_; his holiness
and abhorrence of sin are thus displayed. A ruler who winked at evil
would soon be known by all his subjects to be evil himself, and he, on
the other hand, who is severely just in judgment reveals his own nature
thereby. So long as our God is God, he will not, he cannot spare the
guilty; except through that one glorious way in which he is just, and
yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. We must notice,
secondly, that the manner of his judgment is singularly wise, and
indisputably just. He makes the wicked become their own executioners.
“The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made, &c.” Like cunning
hunters they prepared a pitfall for the godly and fell into it
themselves: the foot of the victim escaped their crafty snares, but the
toils surrounded themselves: the cruel snare was laboriously
manufactured, and it proved its efficacy by snaring its own maker.
Persecutors and oppressors are often ruined by their own malicious
projects. “Drunkards kill themselves; prodigals beggar themselves;” the
contentious are involved in ruinous costs; the vicious are devoured with
fierce diseases; the envious eat their own hearts; and blasphemers curse
their own souls. Thus, men may read their sin in their punishment. They
sowed the seed of sin, and the ripe fruit of damnation is the natural
result.
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, _and_ all the nations that
forget God.
18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of
the poor shall _not_ perish for ever.
17. The justice which has punished the wicked, and preserved the
righteous, remains the same, and therefore in days to come, retribution
will surely be meted out. How solemn is the seventeenth verse,
especially in its warning to forgetters of God. The moral who are not
devout, the honest who are not prayerful, the benevolent who are not
believing, the amiable who are not converted, these must all have their
portion with the openly wicked in the hell which is prepared for the
devil and his angels. There are whole nations of such; the forgetters of
God are far more numerous than the profane or profligate, and according
to the very forceful expression of the Hebrew, the nethermost hell will
be the place into which all of them shall be hurled headlong.
Forgetfulness seems a small sin, but it brings eternal wrath upon the
man who lives and dies in it.
18. Mercy is as ready to her work as ever justice can be. Needy souls
fear that they are forgotten; well, if it be so, let them rejoice that
they _shall not alway_ be so. Satan tells poor tremblers that their hope
shall perish, but they have here divine assurance that _their
expectation shall not perish for ever_. “The Lord’s people are a humbled
people, afflicted, emptied, sensible of need, driven to a daily
attendance on God, daily begging of him, and living upon the hope of
what is promised;” such persons may have to wait, but they shall find
that they do not wait in vain.
19 Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in
thy sight.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD, _that_ the nations may know themselves
_to be but_ men. Selah.
19. Prayers are the believer’s weapons of war. When the battle is too
hard for us, we call in our great ally, who, as it were, lies in ambush
until faith gives the signal by crying out, “Arise, O Lord.” Although
our cause be all but lost, it shall be soon won again if the Almighty
doth but bestir himself. He will not suffer man to prevail over God, but
with swift judgments will confound their gloryings. In the very sight of
God the wicked will be punished, and he who is now all tenderness will
have no bowels of compassion for them, since they had no tears of
repentance while their day of grace endured.
20. One would think that men would not grow so vain as to deny
themselves to be but men, but it appears to be a lesson which only a
divine schoolmaster can teach to some proud spirits. Crowns leave their
wearers _but men_, degrees of eminent learning make their owners not
more than _men_, valour and conquest cannot elevate beyond the dead
level of “_but men_;” and all the wealth of Crœsus, the wisdom of Solon,
the power of Alexander, the eloquence of Demosthenes, if added together,
would leave the possessor but a man. May we ever remember this, lest
like those in the text, we should be _put in fear_.
Before leaving this Psalm, it will be very profitable if the student
will peruse it again as the triumphal hymn of the Redeemer, as he
devoutly brings the glory of his victories and lays it down at his
Father’s feet. Let us joy in his joy, and our joy shall be full.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—We are to consider this song of praise, as I conceive, to
be the language of our great Advocate and Mediator, “in the midst of the
church giving thanks unto God,” and teaching us to anticipate by faith
his great and final victory over all the adversaries of our peace
temporal and spiritual, with especial reference to his assertion of his
royal dignity on Zion, his holy mountain. The victory over the enemy, we
find by the fourth verse, is again ascribed to the decision of divine
justice, and the award of a righteous judge, who has at length resumed
his tribunal. This renders it certain, that the claim preferred to the
throne of the Almighty, could proceed from the lips of none but our
MELCHIZEDEC.—_John Fry, B.A., 1842._
_Verse 1.—“I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart.”_ As a
vessel by the scent thereof tells what liquor is in it, so should our
mouths smell continually of that mercy wherewith our hearts have been
refreshed: for we are called vessels of mercy.—_William Cowper, 1612._
_Verse 1.—“I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, I will shew forth
all thy marvellous works.”_ The words, “_With my whole heart_,” serve at
once to show the greatness of the deliverances wrought for the psalmist,
and to distinguish him from the hypocrites—the coarser, who praise the
Lord for his goodness merely with the lips; and the more refined, who
praise him with just half their heart, while they secretly ascribe the
deliverance more to themselves than to him. “_All thy wonders_,” the
marvellous token of thy grace. The Psalmist shows by this term, that he
recognised them in all their greatness. Where this is done, there the
Lord is also praised with the whole heart. _Half-heartedness_, and the
depreciation of divine grace, go hand in hand. The בְּ is the בְּ
_instrum_. The heart is the instrument of praise, the mouth only its
organ.—_E. W. Hengstenberg._
_Verse 1 (second clause)._—When we have received any special good thing
from the Lord, it is well, according as we have opportunities, to tell
others of it. When the woman who had lost one of her ten pieces of
silver, found the missing portion of her money, she gathered her
neighbours and her friends together, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I
have found the piece which I had lost.” We may do the same; we may tell
friends and relations that we have received such-and-such a blessing,
and that we trace it directly to the hand of God. Why have we not
already done this? Is there a lurking unbelief as to whether it really
came from God; or are we ashamed to own it before those who are perhaps
accustomed to laugh at such things? Who knows so much of the marvellous
works of God as his own people; if they be silent, how can we expect the
world to see what he has done? Let us not be ashamed to glorify God, by
telling what we know and feel he has done; let us watch our opportunity
to bring out distinctly the fact of his acting; let us feel delighted at
having an opportunity, from our own experience, of telling what must
turn to his praise; and them that honour God, God will honour in turn;
if we be willing to talk of his deeds, he will give us enough to talk
about.—_P. B. Power, in ‘I Wills’ of the Psalms._
_Verses 1, 2.—“I will confess unto thee, O Lord, with my whole heart,”_
etc. Behold, with what a flood of the most sweet affections he says that
he “_will confess_,” “_show forth_,” “_rejoice_,” “_be glad_,” and
“_sing_,” being filled with ecstasy! He does not simply say, “_I will
confess_,” but, “_with my heart_,” and “_with my whole heart_.” Nor does
he propose to speak simply of “_works_,” but of the “_marvellous works_”
of God, and of “_all_” those “_works_.” Thus his spirit (like John in
the womb) exults and rejoices in God his Saviour, who has done great
things for him, and those marvellous things which follow. In which words
are opened the subject of this Psalm: that is, that he therein sings the
marvellous works of God. And these works are wonderful, because he
converts, by those who are nothing, those who have all things, and, by
the ALMUTH who live in hidden faith, and are dead to the world, he
humbles those who flourish in glory, and are looked upon in the world.
Thus accomplishing such mighty things without force, without arms,
without labour, by the cross only and blood. But how will his saying,
that he will show forth “_all_” his marvellous works, agree with that of
Job. ix. 10, “which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and
wonders without number”? For who can show forth all the marvellous works
of God? We may say, therefore, that these things are spoken in that
excess of feeling in which he said (Psalm vi. 6), “I will water my couch
with my tears.” That is, he hath such an ardent desire to speak of the
wonderful works of God, that, as far as his wishes are concerned, he
_would_ set them “_all_” forth, though he _could_ not do it, for love
has neither bounds nor end: and as Paul saith (1 Cor. xiii. 7), “Love
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things;” hence it
can do all things, and does do all things, for God looketh at the heart
and spirit.—_Martin Luther._
_Verse 3.—“When mine enemies are turned back,”_ etc. _Were turned back_,
repulsed, and put to flight. To render this in the present time, as our
translators did, is certainly improper; it destroys the coherence, and
introduces obscurity. Ainsworth saw this, and rendered in the past,
“When mine enemies turned backward.” “_At thy presence._” That is, by
thine anger. For as God’s presence or face denotes his favour to such as
fear and serve him, so it denotes his anger towards the wicked. “The
face of Jehovah is against them that do evil.”—_B. Boothroyd, 1824._
_Verse 3.—“They shall fall and perish.”_ It refers to those that either
faint in a march, or are wounded in a battle, or especially that in
flight meet with galling haps in their way, and so are galled and lamed,
rendered unable to go forward, and so fall, and become liable to all the
chances of pursuits, and as here, are overtaken and perish in the
fall.—_Henry Hammond, D.D._
_Verse 5.—“Thou hast rebuked the heathen,”_ etc.—Augustine applieth all
this mystically, as is intimated (verse 1) that it should be applied
for, “I will speak,” said he, “of all thy wonderful works;” and what so
wonderful as the turning of the spiritual enemy backward, whether the
devil, as when he said, “Get thee behind me, Satan;” or the old man,
which is turned backward when he is put off, and the new man put
on?—_John Mayer._
_Verse 8.—“He shall judge the world in righteousness.”_ In this judgment
tears will not prevail, prayers will not be heard, promises will not be
admitted, repentance will be too late; and as for riches, honourable
titles, sceptres, and diadems, these will profit much less; and the
inquisition shall be so curious and diligent, that not one light thought
nor one idle word (not repented of in the life past), shall be
forgotten. For truth itself hath said, not in jest, but in earnest, “Of
every idle word which men have spoken, they shall give an account in the
day of judgment.” Oh, how many which now sin with great delight, yea,
even with greediness (as if we served a god of wood or of stone, which
seeth nothing, or can do nothing), will be then astonished, ashamed, and
silent! Then shall the days of thy mirth be ended, and thou shalt be
overwhelmed with everlasting darkness; and instead of thy pleasures,
thou shalt have everlasting torments.—_Thomas Tymme._
_Verse 8.—“He shall judge the world in righteousness.”_ Even Paul, in
his great address on Mars’ Hill, a thousand years after, could find no
better words in which to teach the Athenians the doctrine of the
judgment-day than the Septuagint rendering of this clause.—_William S.
Plumer._
_Verse 8._—The guilty conscience cannot abide this day. The silly sheep,
when she is taken, will not bleat, but you may carry her and do what you
will with her, and she will be subject; but the swine, if she be once
taken, she will roar and cry, and thinks she is never taken but to be
slain. So of all things the guilty conscience cannot abide to hear of
this day, for they know that when they hear of it, they hear of their
own condemnation. I think if there were a general collection made
through the whole world that there might be no judgment-day, then God
would be so rich that the world would go a-begging and be a waste
wilderness. Then the covetous judge would bring forth his bribes; then
the crafty lawyer would fetch out his bags; the usurer would give his
gain, and a double thereof. But all the money in the world will not
serve for our sin, but the judge must answer his bribes, he that hath
money must answer how he came by it, and just condemnation must come
upon every soul of them; then shall the sinner be ever dying and never
dead, like the salamander, that is ever in the fire and never
consumed.—_Henry Smith._
_Verse 9._—It is reported of the Egyptians that, living in the fens, and
being vexed with gnats, they used to sleep in high towers, whereby,
those creatures not being able to soar so high, they are delivered from
the biting of them: so would it be with us when bitten with cares and
fear, did we but run to God for refuge, and rest confident of his
help.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 10.—“They that know thy name will put their trust in thee.”_
Faith is an intelligent grace; though there can be knowledge without
faith, yet there can be no faith without knowledge. One calls it
quicksighted faith. Knowledge must carry the torch before faith. 2 Tim.
i. 12. “For I know whom I have believed.” As in Paul’s conversion a
light from heaven “shined round about him” (Acts ix. 3), so before faith
be wrought, God shines in with a light upon the understanding. A blind
faith is as bad as a dead faith: that eye may as well be said to be a
good eye which is without sight, as that faith is good without
knowledge. Devout ignorance damns; which condemns the church of Rome,
that think it a piece of their religion to be kept in ignorance; these
set up an altar to an unknown God. They say ignorance is the mother of
devotion; but sure where the sun is set in the understanding, it must
needs be night in the affections. So necessary is knowledge to the being
of faith, that the Scriptures do sometimes baptise faith with the name
of knowledge. Isa. liii. 11. “By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many.” Knowledge is put there for faith.—_Thomas
Watson._
_Verse 10.—“They that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for
thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.”_ The mother of
unbelief is ignorance of God, his faithfulness, mercy, and power. _They
that know thee, will trust in thee._ This confirmed Paul, Abraham,
Sarah, in the faith. “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
day.” 2 Tim. i. 12. “He is faithful that promised,” and “able also to
perform.” Heb. x. 23, and xi. 11; Rom. iv. 21. The free promises of the
Lord are all certain, his commandments right and good, the recompense of
reward inestimably to be valued above thousands of gold and silver;
trust therefore in the Lord, O my soul, and follow hard after him. Thou
hast his free promise, who never failed, who hath promised more than
possibly thou couldst ask or think, who hath done more for thee than
ever he promised, who is good and bountiful to the wicked and ungodly;
thou doest his work, who is able and assuredly will bear thee out. There
is a crown of glory proposed unto thee above all conceit of merit; stick
fast unto his word, and suffer nothing to divide thee from it. Rest upon
his promises though he seem to kill thee; cleave unto his statutes
though the flesh lust, the world allure, the devil tempt by flatteries
or threatenings to the contrary.—_John Ball, 1632._
_Verse 10.—“They that know thy name will put their trust in thee.”_ They
can do no otherwise who savingly know God’s sweet attributes, and noble
acts for his people. We never trust a man till we know him, and bad men
are better known than trusted. Not so the Lord; for where his name is
ointment poured forth, the virgins love him, fear him, and rejoice in
him, and repose upon him.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 12.—“When he maketh inquisition for blood he remembereth them.”_
There is a time when God will make inquisition for innocent blood. The
Hebrew word _doresh_, from _darash_, that is here rendered
_inquisition_, signifies not barely to seek, to search, but to seek,
search, and enquire with all diligence and care imaginable. Oh, there is
a time a-coming when the Lord will make a very diligent and careful
search and enquiry after all the innocent blood of his afflicted and
persecuted people, which persecutors and tyrants have spilt as water
upon the ground; and woe to persecutors when God shall make a more
strict, critical, and careful enquiry after the blood of his people than
ever was made in the inquisition of Spain, where all things are carried
with the greatest diligence, subtlety, secrecy, and severity. O
persecutors, there is a time a-coming, when God will make a strict
enquiry after the blood of Hooper, Bradford, Latimer, Taylor, Ridley,
etc. There is a time a-coming, wherein God will enquire who silenced and
suspended such-and-such ministers, and who stopped the mouths of
such-and-such, and who imprisoned, confined, and banished such-and-such,
who were once burning and shining lights, and who were willing to spend
and be spent that sinners might be saved, and that Christ might be
glorified. There is a time when the Lord will make a very narrow enquiry
into all the actions and practices of ecclesiastical courts, high
commissions, committees, assizes, etc, and deal with persecutors as they
have dealt with his people.—_Thomas Brooks._
_Verse 12.—“When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them.”_
There is _vox sanguinis_, a voice of blood; and “he that planted the
ear, shall he not hear?” It covered the old world with waters. The earth
is filled with cruelty; it was _vox sanguinis_ that cried, and the
heavens heard the earth, and the windows of heaven opened to let fall
judgment and vengeance upon it.—_Edward Marbury, 1649._
_Verse 12.—“When he maketh inquisition for blood,”_ etc. Though God may
seem to wink for a time at the cruelty of violent men, yet will call
them at last to a strict account for all the innocent blood they have
shed, and for their unjust and unmerciful usuage of meek and humble
persons; whose cry he never forgets (though he doth not presently answer
it), but takes a fit time to be avenged of their oppressors.—_Symon
Patrick, D.D., 1626-1707._
_Verse 12.—“He maketh inquisition for blood.”_ He is so stirred at this
sin, that he will up, search out the authors, contrivers, and
commissioners of this scarlet sin, he will avenge for blood.—_William
Greenhill._