God’s dealings with his people; all his actions are resplendent with
justice, truth, tenderness, mercy, and holiness. Every way of God is
complete in itself, and all his ways put together are matchless in
harmony and goodness. Is it not very consolatory to believe that he who
has begun to bless us will perfect his work, for all his ways are
“_perfect_?” Nor must the divine “_word_” be without its song of praise.
“_The word of the Lord is tried_,” like silver refined in the furnace.
The doctrines are glorious, the precepts are pure, the promises are
faithful, and the whole revelation is superlatively full of grace and
truth. David had tried it, thousands have tried it, we have tried it,
and it has never failed. It was meet that when way and word had been
extolled, the Lord himself should be magnified; hence it is added, “_He
is a buckler to all those that trust in him._” No armour of proof or
shield of brass so well secures the warrior as the covenant God of
Israel protects his warring people. He himself is the buckler of
trustful ones; what a thought is this! What peace may every trusting
soul enjoy!
31. Having mentioned his God, the Psalmist’s heart burns, and his words
sparkle; he challenges heaven and earth to find another being worthy of
adoration or trust in comparison with Jehovah. His God, as Matthew Henry
says, is a None-such. The idols of the heathen he scorns to mention,
snuffing them all out as mere nothings when Deity is spoken of. “_Who is
God save the Lord?_” Who else creates, sustains, foresees, and
overrules? Who but he is perfect in every attribute, and glorious in
every act? To whom but Jehovah should creatures bow? Who else can claim
their service and their love? “_Who is a rock save our God?_” Where can
lasting hopes be fixed? Where can the soul find rest? Where is stability
to be found? Where is strength to be discovered? Surely in the Lord
Jehovah alone can we find rest and refuge.
32. Surveying all the armour in which he fought and conquered, the
joyful victor praises the Lord for every part of the panoply. The girdle
of his loins earns the first stanza: “_It is God that girdeth me with
strength, and maketh my way perfect._” Girt about the loins with power
from heaven, the warrior was filled with vigour, far above all created
might; and, whereas, without this wonderous belt he would have been
feeble and effeminate, with relaxed energies and scattered forces, he
felt himself, when braced with the girdle of truth, to be compact in
purpose, courageous in daring, and concentrated in power; so that his
course was a complete success, so undisturbed by disastrous defeat as to
be called “perfect.” Have we been made more than conquerors over sin,
and has our life hitherto been such as becometh the gospel? Then let us
ascribe all the glory to him who girt us with his own inexhaustible
strength, that we might be unconquered in battle and unwearied in
pilgrimage.
33. The conqueror’s feet had been shod by a divine hand, and the next
note must, therefore, refer to them. “_He maketh my feet like hinds’
feet, and setteth me upon my high places._” Pursuing his foes the
warrior had been swift of foot as a young roe, but, instead of taking
pleasure in the legs of a man, he ascribes the boon of swiftness to the
Lord alone. When our thoughts are nimble, and our spirits rapid, like
the chariots of Amminadib, let us not forget that our best Beloved’s
hand has given us the choice favour. Climbing into impregnable
fortresses, David had been preserved from slipping, and made to stand
where scarce the wild goat can find a footing; herein was preserving
mercy manifested. We, too, have had our _high places_ of honour,
service, temptation, and danger, but hitherto we have been kept from
falling. Bring hither the harp, and let us emulate the Psalmist’s joyful
thanksgiving; had we fallen, our wailings must have been terrible; since
we have stood, let our gratitude be fervent.
34. “_He teacheth my hands to war._” Martial prowess and skill in the
use of weapons are gratefully acknowledged to be the result of divine
teaching; no sacrifice is offered at the shrine of self in praise of
natural dexterity, or acquired skilfulness; but, regarding all warlike
prowess as a gift of heavenly favour, thankfulness is presented to the
Giver. The Holy Spirit is the great Drill-master of heavenly soldiers.
“_So that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms._” A bow of brass is
probably meant, and these bows could scarcely be bent by the arms alone,
the archer had to gain the assistance of his foot; it was, therefore, a
great feat of strength to bend the bow, so far as even to snap it in
halves. This was meant of the enemies’ bow, which he not only snatched
from his grasp, but rendered useless by breaking it in pieces. Jesus not
only destroyed the fiery suggestions of Satan, but he broke his
arguments with which he shot them, by using Holy Scripture against him;
by the same means we may win a like triumph, breaking the bow and
cutting the spear in sunder by the sharp edge of revealed truth.
Probably David had by nature a vigorous bodily frame; but it is even
more likely that, like Samson, he was at times clothed with more than
common strength; at any rate, he ascribes the honour of his feats
entirely to his God. Let us never wickedly rob the Lord of his due, but
faithfully give unto him the glory which is due unto his name.
35. “_Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation._” Above all
we must take the shield of faith, for nothing else can quench Satan’s
fiery darts; this shield is of celestial workmanship, and is in all
cases a direct gift from God himself; it is the channel, the sign, the
guarantee, and the earnest of perfect salvation. “_Thy right hand hath
holden me up._” Secret support is administered to us by the preserving
grace of God, and at the same time Providence kindly yields us manifest
aid. We are such babes that we cannot stand alone; but when the Lord’s
right hand upholds us, we are like brazen pillars which cannot be moved.
“_Thy gentleness hath made me great._” There are several readings of
this sentence. The word is capable of being translated, “thy _goodness_
hath made me great.” David saw much of benevolence in God’s action
towards him, and he gratefully ascribed all his greatness not to his own
goodness, but to the goodness of God. “Thy _providence_” is another
reading, which is indeed nothing more than goodness in action. Goodness
is the bud of which providence is the flower; or goodness is the seed of
which providence is the harvest. Some render it, “thy _help_,” which is
but another word for providence; providence being the firm ally of the
saints, aiding them in the service of their Lord. Certain learned
annotators tell us that the text means, “thy _humility_ hath made me
great.” “Thy _condescension_” may, perhaps, serve as a comprehensive
reading, combining the ideas which we have already mentioned, as well as
that of humility. It is God’s making himself little which is the cause
of our being made great. We are so little that if God should manifest
his greatness without condescension, we should be trampled under his
feet; but God, who must stoop to view the skies and bow to see what
angels do, looks to the lowly and contrite, and makes them great. While
these are the translations which have been given to the adopted text of
the original, we find that there are other readings altogether; as for
instance, the Septuagint, which reads, “thy discipline”—thy fatherly
correction—“hath made me great;” while the Chaldee paraphrase reads,
“thy word hath increased me.” Still the idea is the same. David ascribes
all his own greatness to the condescending goodness and graciousness of
his Father in heaven. Let us all feel this sentiment in our own hearts,
and confess that whatever of goodness or greatness God may have put upon
us, we must cast our crowns at his feet, and cry, “_thy gentleness hath
made me great_.”
36. “_Thou hast enlarged my steps._” A smooth pathway leading to
spacious possessions and camping-grounds had been opened up for him.
Instead of threading the narrow mountain paths, and hiding in the cracks
and corners of caverns, he was able to traverse the plains and dwell
under his own vine and fig tree. It is no small mercy to be brought into
full Christian liberty and enlargement, but it is a greater favour still
to be enabled to walk worthily in such liberty, not being permitted to
slip with our feet. To stand upon the rocks of affliction is the result
of gracious upholding, but that aid is quite as much needed in the
luxurious plains of prosperity.
37. The preservation of the saints bodes ill for their adversaries. The
Amalekites thought themselves clear away with their booty, but when
David’s God guided him in the pursuit, they were soon overtaken and cut
in pieces. When God is with us sins and sorrows flee, and all forms of
evil are “_consumed_” before the power of grace. What a noble picture
this and the following verses present to us of the victories of our
glorious Lord Jesus!
38. The destruction of our spiritual enemies is complete. We may exult
over sin, death and hell, as disarmed and disabled _for_ us by our
conquering Lord; may he graciously give them a like defeat _within_ us.
39 and 40. It is impossible to be too frequent in the duty of ascribing
all our victories to the God of our salvation. It is true that we have
to wrestle with our spiritual antagonists, but the triumph is far more
the Lord’s than ours. We must not boast like the ambitious votaries of
vainglory, but we may exult as the willing and believing instruments in
the Lord’s hands of accomplishing his great designs.
41. “_They cried, but there was none to save them; even unto the Lord,
but he answered them not._” Prayer is so notable a weapon that even the
wicked will take to it in their fits of desperation. Bad men have
appealed to God against God’s own servants, but all in vain; the kingdom
of heaven is not divided, and God never succours his foes at the expense
of his friends. There are prayers to God which are no better than
blasphemy, which bring no comfortable reply, but rather provoke the Lord
to greater wrath. Shall I ask a man to wound or slay his own child to
gratify my malice? Would he not resent the insult against his humanity?
How much less will Jehovah regard the cruel desires of the enemies of
the church, who dare to offer their prayers for its destruction calling
its existence schism, and its doctrine heresy!
42. The defeat of the nations who fought with King David was so utter
and complete that they were like powders pounded in a mortar; their
power was broken into fragments and they became as weak as dust before
the wind, and as mean as the mire of the roads. Thus powerless and base
are the enemies of God now become through the victory of the Son of
David upon the cross. Arise, O my soul, and meet thine enemies, for they
have sustained a deadly blow, and will fall before thy bold advance.
“Hell and my sins resist my course,
But hell and sin are vanquish’d foes;
My Jesus nail’d them to his cross,
And sung the triumph when he rose.”
43. “_Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people._”
Internal strife is very hard to deal with. A civil war is war in its
most miserable form; it is a subject for warmest gratitude when concord
rules within. Our poet praises Jehovah for the union and peace which
smiled in his dominions, and if we have peace in the three kingdoms of
our spirit, soul, and body, we are in duty bound to give Jehovah a song.
Unity in a church should assuredly excite like gratitude. “_Thou hast
made me the head of the heathen; a people whom I have not known shall
serve me._” The neighbouring nations yielded to the sway of Judah’s
prince. Oh when shall all lands adore King Jesus, and serve him with
holy joy? Surely there is far more of Jesus than of David here.
Missionaries may derive rich encouragement from the positive declaration
that heathen lands shall own the Headship of the Crucified.
44. “_As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me._” Thus readily did
the once struggling captain become a far-renowned victor, and thus easy
shall be our triumphs. We prefer, however, to speak of Jesus. In many
cases the gospel is speedily received by hearts apparently unprepared
for it. Those who have never heard the gospel before, have been charmed
by its first message, and yielded obedience to it; while others, alas!
who are accustomed to its joyful sound, are rather hardened than
softened by its teachings. The grace of God sometimes runs like fire
among the stubble, and a nation is born in a day. “Love at first sight”
is no uncommon thing when Jesus is the wooer. He can write Cæsar’s
message without boasting, _Veni, vidi, vici_; his gospel is in some
cases no sooner heard than believed. What inducements to spread abroad
the doctrine of the cross!
45. “_The strangers shall fade away._” Like sear leaves or blasted trees
our foes and Christ’s foes shall find no sap and stamina remaining in
them. Those who are strangers to Jesus are strangers to all lasting
happiness; those must soon fade who refuse to be watered from the river
of life. “_And be afraid out of their close places._” Out of their
mountain fastnesses the heathen crept in fear to own allegiance to
Israel’s king, and even so, from the castles of self-confidence and the
dens of carnal security, poor sinners come bending before the Saviour,
Christ the Lord. Our sins which have entrenched themselves in our flesh
and blood as in impregnable forts, shall yet be driven forth by the
sanctifying energy of the Holy Spirit, and we shall serve the Lord in
singleness of heart.
Thus with remembrances of conquests in the past, and with glad
anticipations of victories yet to come the sweet singer closes the
description, and returns to exercise of more direct adoration of his
gracious God.
46 The LORD liveth; and blessed _be_ my rock; and let the God of my
salvation be exalted.
47 _It is_ God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above
those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the
violent man.
49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the
heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his
anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
46. “_The Lord liveth._” Possessing underived, essential, independent
and eternal life. We serve no inanimate, imaginary, or dying God. He
only hath immortality. Like loyal subjects let us cry, Live on, O God.
Long live the King of kings. By thine immortality do we dedicate
ourselves afresh to thee. As the Lord our God liveth so would we live to
him. “_And blessed be my rock._” He is the ground of our hope, and let
him be the subject of our praise. Our hearts bless the Lord, with holy
love extolling him.
Jehovah lives, my rock be blest!
Praised be the God who gives me rest!
“_Let the God of my salvation be exalted._” As our Saviour, the Lord
should more than ever be glorified. We should publish abroad the story
of the covenant and the cross, the Father’s election, the Son’s
redemption, and the Spirit’s regeneration. He who rescues us from
deserved ruin should be very dear to us. In heaven they sing, “Unto him
that loved us and washed us in his blood;” the like music should be
common in the assemblies of the saints below.
47. “_It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me._” To
rejoice in personal revenge is unhallowed and evil, but David viewed
himself as the instrument of vengeance upon the enemies of God and his
people, and had he not rejoiced in the success accorded to him he would
have been worthy of censure. That sinners perish is in itself a painful
consideration, but that the Lord’s law is avenged upon those who break
it is to the devout mind a theme for thankfulness. We must, however,
always remember that vengeance is never ours, vengeance belongeth unto
the Lord, and he is so just and withal so long-suffering in the
excercise of it, that we may safely leave its administration in his
hands.
48. From all enemies, and especially from one who was pre-eminent in
violence, the Lord’s anointed was preserved, and at the last over the
head of Saul and all other adversaries he reigned in honour. The like
end awaits every saint, because Jesus who stooped to be lightly esteemed
among men is now made to sit far above all principalities and powers.
49. Paul cites this verse (Rom. xv. 9): “And that the Gentiles might
glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will
confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.” This is
clear evidence that David’s Lord is here, but David is here too, and is
to be viewed as an example of a holy soul making its boast in God even
in the presence of ungodly men. Who are the despisers of God that we
should stop our mouths for them? We will sing to our God whether they
like it or no, and force upon them the knowledge of his goodness. Too
much politeness to traitors may be treason to our King.
50. This is the winding-up verse into which the writer throws a fulness
of expression, indicating the most rapturous delight of gratitude.
“_Great deliverance._” The word “_deliverance_” is plural, to show the
variety and completeness of the salvation; the adjective “_great_” is
well placed if we consider from what, to what, and how we are saved. All
this mercy is given to us in our King, the Lord’s Anointed, and those
are blessed indeed who as his seed may expect mercy to be built up for
evermore. The Lord was faithful to the literal David, and he will not
break his covenant with the spiritual David, for that would far more
involve the honour of his crown and character.
The Psalm concludes in the same loving spirit which shone upon its
commencement; happy are they who can sing on from love to love, even as
the pilgrims marched from strength to strength.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—The general argument of the Psalm may be thus stated: it
is a magnificent eucharistic ode. It begins with a celebration of the
glorious perfections of the Divinity, whose assistance the speaker had
so often experienced. He describes, or rather, he delineates, his
perils, the power of his enemies, his sudden deliverance from them, and
the indignation and power of his divine deliverer manifested in their
overthrow. He paints these in so lively colours, that while we read we
seem to see the lightning, to hear the thunders, to feel the earthquake.
He afterwards describes his victories, so that we seem to be
eye-witnesses of them, and take part in them. He predicts a
wide-extended empire, and concludes with a lofty expression of grateful
adoration of Jehovah, the Author of all his deliverances and triumphs.
The style is highly oratorical and poetical, sublime, and full of
uncommon figures of speech. It is the natural language of a person of
the highest mental endowments, under a divine inspiration, deeply
affected by remarkable divine benefits, and filled with the most lofty
conceptions of the divine character and dispensations.—_John Brown,
D.D., 1853._
_Whole Psalm._—Kitto, in “The Pictorial Bible,” has the following note
upon 2 Samuel xxii.:—“This is the same as the eighteenth Psalm.... The
Rabbins reckon up seventy-four differences between the two copies, most
of them very minute. They probably arose from the fact that the poem
was, as they conjecture, composed by David in his youth, and revised in
his later days when he sent it to the chief musician. The present is, of
course, supposed to be the earlier copy.”
_Whole Psalm._—The eighteenth Psalm is called by Michaelis more
artificial, and less truly terrible than the Mosaic odes. In structure
it may be so, but surely not in spirit. It appears to many besides us,
one of the most magnificent lyrical raptures in the Scriptures. As if
the poet had dipped his pen in “the brightness of that light which was
before his eye,” so he describes the descending God. Perhaps it may be
objected that the _nodus_ is hardly worthy of the _vindex_—to deliver
David from his enemies, could Deity ever be imagined to come down? But
the objector knows not the character of the ancient Hebrew mind. God in
its view had not to descend from heaven; he was nigh—a cloud like a
man’s hand might conceal—a cry, a look might bring him down. And why
should not David’s fancy clothe him, as he came, in a panoply befitting
his dignity, in clouds spangled with coals of fire? If he was to
descend, why not in state? The proof of the grandeur of this Psalm is in
the fact, that it has borne the test of almost every translation, and
made doggerel erect itself, and become divine. Even Sternhold and
Hopkins its fiery whirlwind lifts up, purifies, touches into true power,
and then throws down, helpless and panting, upon their ancient common.
Perhaps the great charm of the eighteenth, apart from the poetry of the
descent, is the exquisite and subtle alternation of the _I_ and the
_Thou_. We have spoken of parallelism, as the key to the mechanism of
Hebrew song. We find this as existing between David and God—the
delivered and the deliverer—beautifully pursued throughout the whole of
this Psalm. “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.” “I will call upon
the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.” “He sent from above; he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.” “Thou wilt light my candle.” “Thou hast
given me the shield of thy salvation.” “Thou hast girded me with
strength unto battle.” “Thou hast given me the necks of mine enemies.”
“Thou hast made me the head of the heathen.” It has been ingeniously
argued, that the existence of the I suggests, inevitably as a polar
opposite, the thought of the _Thou_, that the personality of man proves
thus the personality of God; but, be this as it may, David’s perception
of that personality is nowhere so intense as here. He seems not only to
see, but to feel and touch, the object of his gratitude and
worship.—_George Gilfillan, in “The Bards of the Bible,” 1852._