would be holy, let him read the Psalms. Every line in this book breathes
peculiar sanctity. This Psalm, though placed among the first, was penned
among the last, as the preface assures us, and is left as the epitome of
the general history of David’s life. It is twice recorded in the
Scripture (2 Sam. xxii., and in this book of Psalms), for the excellency
and sweetness thereof; surely that we should take double notice of it.
Holy David, being near the shore, here looks on his former dangers and
deliverances with a thankful heart, and writes this Psalm to bless the
Lord: as if each of you that are grown into years should review your
lives and observe the wonderful goodness and providence of God towards
you; and then sit down and write a modest memorial of his most
remarkable mercies, for the comfort of yourselves and posterity; an
excellent practice. What a comfort would it be for you to read how good
your God was to your father or grandfather, that are dead and gone! So
would your children rejoice in the Lord upon the reading of his goodness
to you; and you cannot have a better pattern for this than holy David,
who wrote this Psalm when he was threescore and seven years old; when he
had outlived most of his troubles, and almost ready for his journey to
his Father in heaven, he resolves to leave this good report of him upon
earth. And I pray mark how he begins: he sets not up trophies to
himself, but triumphs in his God—“_I will love thee, O Lord, my
strength._” As the _love of God_ is the beginning of all our mercies, so
_love to God_ should be the end and effect of them all. As the stream
leads us to the spring, so all the gifts of God must lead us to the
giver of them. Lord, thou hast saved me from sickness, “_I will love
thee_;” from death and hell, “_I will love thee_;” on me thou hast
bestowed grace and comfort, “_I will love thee, O Lord, my strength._”
And after he had heaped on God all the sweet names he could devise
(verse 2), as the true saint thinks he can never speak too well of God,
or too ill of himself, then he begins his narrative. 1. Of his _dangers_
(verse 4); “_Snares of death_,” “_Floods of ungodly men_,” “_Sorrows of
hell_.” Hell and earth are combined against each holy man, and will
trouble sufficiently in this world, if they cannot keep him out of a
better. 2. Of his _retreat_, and that was, earnest prayer to God (verse
6), “_I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God._” When our prayers
are cries ardent and importunate, then they speed: “_My cry came before
him, even into his ears._” The mother trifles while the child whimpers,
but when he raises his note—strains every nerve and cries every
vein—then she throws all aside, and gives him his desire. While our
prayers are only whispers, our God can take his rest; but when we fall
to crying, “Now will I arise, saith the Lord.” 3. Of his _rescue_
(verses 7 to 20), by the powerful and terrible arm of the Lord, who is
in a lofty strain brought in to his servant’s help, as if he would
mingle heaven and earth together, rather than leave his child in the
lion’s paws. 4. Of the _reason_ of this gracious dealing of God with him
(verse 20, etc.) He was a righteous person, and he had a righteous
cause. And thereupon he turns to God, saying, Thou hast dealt with me
just as thou art wont to do, for “_with the merciful thou wilt show
thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt show thyself
upright_.”—_Richard Steele’s “Plain Discourse upon Uprightness,” 1670._
_Whole Psalm._—Sometimes the Lord cheers and comforts the hearts of his
people with smiling and reviving providences, both public and personal.
There are times of lifting up, as well as casting down by the hand of
providence. The scene changes, the aspects of providence are very
cheerful and encouraging; their winter seems to be over; they put off
their garments of mourning; and then, ah, what sweet returns are made to
heavenly gracious souls! Doth God lift them up by prosperity? they also
will lift up their God by praises. See title, and verses 1-3 of Psalm
xviii. So Moses, and the people with him (Exodus xv.), when God had
delivered them from Pharaoh, how do they exalt him in a song of
thanksgiving, which for the elegancy and spirituality of it, is made an
emblem of the doxologies given to God in glory by the saints. Rev. xv.
1.—_John Flavel._
_Title._—“_The servant of the Lord_;”—the name given to Moses (Josh. i.
1, 13, 15, and in nine other places of that book) and to Joshua (Josh.
xxiv. 29; Judg. ii. 8); but to none other except David (here, and in the
title to Ps. xxxvi.). Cp. Acts xiii. 36, ὑπηρετήσας. This is
significant; reminding us of the place occupied by David in the history
of Israel. He was the appointed successor of Moses and Joshua, who
extended the power of Israel over the whole region allotted to them by
Divine promise.—_W. Kay, 1871._
_Title._—This Psalm, which is entitled a _shirah_ (or song), is David’s
hymn of praise to God for his deliverance from all his enemies (see the
title, and above, 2 Sam. xxii.), and has an appropriate place in the
present group of Psalms, which speak of resurrection after suffering. It
is entitled a Psalm of David, “_the servant of the Lord_,” and thus is
coupled with another Psalm of deliverance, Ps. xxxvi.—_Christopher
Wordsworth._
_Verse 1.—“I will love thee, O Lord.”_—The word whereby the Psalmist
expresseth his entire affection, in the noun signifieth a womb, and
importeth such an affection as cometh from the innermost part of man
(רֶהֶם matrix), from his bowels, from the bottom of his heart, as we
speak. It is, therefore, oft put for such pity and compassion as moveth
the bowels. Some, therefore, thus translate that phrase, “From my
innermost bowels will I love thee, O Lord.” To give evidence of his
entire and ardent love of God, he oft professeth his wonderful great
love to God’s commandments, whereof he saith with admiration, “Oh, how I
love thy law! I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
I love them exceedingly” (Psalm cxix. 97, 127, 167); therefore, he saith
to God, “Consider how I love thy precepts” (verse 159).—_William Gouge,
1575-1653._
_Verse 1.—“I will love thee.”_ Intimately as a mother loves the child
that comes out of her womb.—_Westminster Assembly’s Annotations, 1651._
_Verses 1, 2._—God hath, as it were, made himself over to believers.
David doth not say, God will give or bestow salvation upon me; but he
saith, “He is the horn of my salvation.” It is God himself who is the
salvation and the portion of his people. They would not care much for
salvation if God were not their salvation. It more pleaseth the saints
that they enjoy God, than that they enjoy salvation. False and carnal
spirits will express a great deal of desire after salvation, for they
like salvation, heaven, and glory well; but they never express any
longing desire after God and Jesus Christ. They love salvation, but they
care not for a Saviour. Now that which faith pitcheth most upon is God
himself; he shall be my salvation, let me have him, and that is
salvation enough; he is my life, he is my comfort, he is my riches, he
is my honour, and he is my all. Thus David’s heart acted immediately
upon God, “_I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock,
and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will
trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower._” It
pleased holy David more that God was his strength, than that God gave
him strength; that God was his deliverer, than that he was delivered;
that God was his fortress, his buckler, his horn, his high tower, than
that he gave him the effect of all these. It pleased David, and it
pleases all the saints more that God is their salvation, whether
temporal or eternal, than that he saves them: the saints look more at
God than at all that is God’s.—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verses 1, 2._—David speaks like one in love with God, for he doth adorn
him with confession of praise, and his mouth is filled with the praise
of the Lord, which he expresseth in this exuberancy and redundancy of
holy oratory.—_Edward Marbury._
_Verse 2.—“The Lord is my rock.”_ As the rocks that are hard to be
clambered unto are good refuges to fly unto from the face of pursuers,
so God is the safety of all such as in distress do fly to him for
succour.—_Robert Cawdray._
_Verse 2.—“My deliverer.”_ He who betook himself to one of these
inaccessible retreats, was sometimes obliged by famine to surrender to
his enemy, who lay in wait for him beneath; but Jehovah gives him not
only security but liberty; not only preserves him, as it were, in an
inaccessible retreat, but at the same time enables him to go forth in
safety.—_Jarchi._
_Verse 2.—“The horn of my salvation.”_ The allusion here is doubtful.
Some have supposed the reference to be to the horns of animals, by which
they defend themselves and attack their enemies. “God is to me, does for
me, what their horns do for them.” Others consider it as referring to
the well-established fact, that warriors were accustomed to place horns,
or ornaments like horns, on their helmets. The horn stands for the
helmet; and “the helmet of salvation” is an expression equivalent to “a
saving, a protecting helmet.” Others consider the reference as to the
corners or handles of the altar in the court of the tabernacle or
temple, which are called its horns. Others suppose the reference to be
to the highest point of a lofty and precipitous mountain, which we are
accustomed to call its peak. No doubt, in the Hebrew language, horn is
used for mountain as in Isaiah v. 1. A very fertile mountain is called a
horn of oil. The sense is substantially the same, whichever of these
views we take; though, from the connection with “shield” or “buckler,” I
am induced to consider the second of these views as the most probable.
It seems the same idea as that expressed, Psalm cxl. 7, “Thou hast
covered,” and thou wilt cover “my head in the day of battle.”—_John
Brown._
_Verse 2.—“The horn of my salvation.”_ Horns are the well-known emblems
of strength and power, both in the sacred and profane writers; by a
metaphor taken from horned animals, which are frequently made subjects
of comparison by poetical writers, and the strength of which, whether
for offence or defence, consists principally in their horns. Bruce
speaks of a remarkable head-dress worn by the governors of provinces in
Abyssinia, consisting of a large broad fillet, bound upon their
foreheads and tied behind their heads, and having in the middle of it a
horn, or a conical piece of silver, gilt, about four inches long, much
in the shape of our common candle extinguishers. It is called _kirn_ or
horn, and is only worn on reviews or parades after victory. He supposes
this, like other Abyssinian usages, to be taken from the Hebrews, and is
of opinion that there are many allusions to the practice in Scripture,
in the expressions, “lifting up the horn,” “exalting the horn,” and the
like.—_Richard Mant._
_Verse 2.—“The Lord is my high tower.”_ If a man do run to a tower, yet
if that be a weak and an insufficient tower, without men and munition,
and a ruinous shaken tower; or if a man do make choice of a tower, a
strong sufficient tower, yet if in his danger he betake not himself to
that tower, but he sit still; or if he sit not still, yet he but only go
and walk on easily towards it, he may well be met withal, and a danger
may arrest him, surprise him, and cut him off before he get the tower
over his head. But the man that will be safe, as he must choose a strong
tower, so he must go to, nay, _run_ into that tower. Running will not
secure a man unless the tower be strong.... David was got unto his
_tower_, and in that _tower_ there was thundering ordnance, and David
put fire to them by prayer, verse 6, “In my distress I called upon the
Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my
cry came before him, even into his ears.” Here David prays and gives
fire to the cannon, and what followed? See verses 7, 8, 13, 14. “Then
the earth shook and trembled,” etc. “There went up a smoke out of his
nostrils,” etc. “The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest
gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his
arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited
them.” There were no guns nor ordnance invented and in use in David’s
time, and yet David’s prayers being in this tower, did him as good
service against his enemies as all the ordnance and cannons in the world
have done. David had thundering ordnance, and with them discomfited his
enemies long before powder and guns were invented. It is a memorable and
well known story of that Christian legion that was in Marcus Aurelius’s
army: the enemy being in great straits, those Christian soldiers did by
their prayers not only procure rain, by which his languishing army was
refreshed, but also obtained hail mixed with thunderbolts against his
enemies, upon which he honoured them with the name of _Legio
fulminatrix_, the Thundering Legion. They used David’s cannon against
the enemy, and discharged that thundering ordnance by their prayers, and
that to the confusion of their enemies.—_Jeremiah Dyke’s “Righteous
Man’s Tower,” 1639._
_Verse 2.—“My high tower.”_ Even as the fowls of the air, that they may
escape the nets and snares of the fowlers, are wont to fly up on high;
so we, to avoid the infinite snares of innumerable temptations, must fly
to God; and lift up ourselves from the corruptions, lying vanities, and
deceitful sleights of the world.—_Robert Cawdray._
_Verse 3.—“I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.”_
Prayer and invocation of God should always be joined with praises and
thanksgivings, and used as a means whereby faith shall extract the good
which it knoweth is in God, and of which he hath made promise.—_David
Dickson._
_Verse 3.—“So shall I be saved from mine enemies.”_ Whoso comes to God
as he should will not call in vain. The right kind of prayer is the most
potent instrumentality known on earth.—_William S. Plumer._
_Verse 4.—“Sorrows of death.”_ It is heaven’s peculiar to be the land of
the living; all this life is at most but the _shadow_ of death, the
_gate_ of death, the _sorrows_ of death, the _snares_ of death, the
_terrors_ of death, the _chambers_ of death, the _sentence_ of death,
the _savour_ of death, the _ministration_ of death, the _way_ of
death.—_Matthew Griffith, 1634._
_Verse 4.—“The bands or cords of death encompassed me.”_ It is not very
easy to fix the precise meaning of the phrase, “bands” or “cords” of
death. It may either be considered as equivalent to “the bands by which
the dead are bound,” in which case, to be encircled with the bands of
death is just a figurative expression for being dead; or it may be
considered as equivalent to the bands in which a person is bound in the
prospect of a violent death, and by which his violent death is secured,
he being prevented from escaping. It has been supposed by some, that the
allusion is to the ancient mode of hunting wild animals. A considerable
tract of country was surrounded with strong ropes. The circle was
gradually contracted, till the object of pursuit was so confined as to
become an easy prey to the hunter. These cords were the cords of death,
securing the death of the animal. The phrase is applicable to our Lord
in both senses; but as “the floods” of wickedness, or the wicked, are
represented as making him afraid subsequently to his being encircled
with the cords of death, I am disposed to understand it in the latter of
these two senses.—_John Brown._
_Verse 4.—“The floods.”_ There is no metaphor of more frequent
occurrence with the sacred poets, than that which represents dreadful
and unexpected calamities under the images of overwhelming waters. This
image seems to have been especially familiar with the Hebrews, inasmuch
as it was derived from the peculiar habit and nature of their own
country. They had continually before their eyes the river Jordan,
annually overflowing its banks, when at the approach of summer the snows
of Libanus and the neighbouring mountains melted, and, suddenly pouring
down in torrents, swelled the current of the river. Besides, the whole
country of Palestine, although it was not watered by many perennial
streams, was, from the mountainous character of the greater part of it,
liable to numerous torrents, which precipitated themselves through the
narrow valleys after the periodical rainy seasons. This image,
therefore, however known, and adopted by other poets, may be considered
as particularly familiar and, as it were, domestic with the Hebrews; who
accordingly introduce it with greater frequency and freedom.—_Robert
Lowth (Bishop), 1710-1787._
_Verse 5.—“The snares of death prevented me.”_ The word “_snares_,”
signifies such traps or gins as are laid for birds and wild beasts. The
English word “prevent” has changed its meaning in some measure since our
authorised translation of the Bible was made. Its original meaning is to
“come before.”—_John Brown._
_Verse 6.—“In my distress.”_ If you listen even to David’s harp, you
shall hear as many hearse-like airs as carols; and the pencil of the
Holy Spirit hath laboured more in describing the afflictions of Job than
the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is not without many fears and
distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes. We see, in
needleworks and embroideries, it is more pleasing to have a lively work
upon a sad and solemn ground, than to have a dark and melancholy work
upon a lightsome ground; judge, therefore, of the pleasures of the heart
by the pleasures of the eye. Certainly virtue is like precious
odours—most fragrant when they are crushed; for prosperity doth best
discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.—_Francis Bacon,
Baron of Verulam, etc., 1561-1626._
_Verse 6.—“I called upon the Lord and cried.”_ Prayer is not eloquence
but earnestness; not the definition of helplessness, but the feeling of
it; it is the cry of faith to the ear of mercy.—_Hannah Moore,
1745-1833._
_Verse 6.—“He heard my voice out of his temple,”_ etc. The Ædiles or
chamberlains among the Romans, had ever their doors standing open for
all who had occasion of request or complaint to have free access to
them. “God’s mercy-doors are wide open to the prayers of his faithful
people.” The Persian kings held it a piece of their silly glory to deny
an easy access to their greatest subjects. It was death to solicit them
uncalled. Esther herself was afraid. But the king of heaven manifesteth
himself to his people, he calls to his spouse, with, “Let me see thy
face, let me hear thy voice,” etc., and assigneth her negligence herein
as the cause of her soul-sickness. The door of the tabernacle was not of
any hard or debarring matter, but a veil, which is easily penetrable.
And whereas in the temple none came near to worship, but only the high
priest, others stood without in the outer court. God’s people are now a
kingdom of priests, and are said to worship in the temple, and at the
altar. Rev. xi. 1. “Let us therefore draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith:” “let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we
may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. x. 22;
iv. 16.—_Charles Bradbury’s “Cabinet of Jewels,” 1785._
_Verse 6._—Oh! how true is that saying, that “Faith is safe when in
danger, and in danger when secure; and prayer is fervent in straits, but
in joyful and prosperous circumstances, if not quite cold and dead, at
least lukewarm.” Oh, happy straits, if they hinder the mind from flowing
forth upon earthly objects, and mingling itself with the mire; if they
favour our correspondence with heaven, and quicken our love to celestial
objects, without which, what we call life, may more properly deserve the
name of death!—_Robert Leighton, D.D._
_Verses 6, 7._—The prayer of a single saint is sometimes followed with
wonderful effects; “_In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried
unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before
him, even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the
foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was
wroth_:” what then can a thundering legion of such praying souls do? It
was said of Luther, _iste vir potuit cum Deo quicquid voluit_, That man
could have of God what he would; his enemies felt the weight of his
prayers; and the church of God reaped the benefits thereof. The Queen of
Scots professed she was more afraid of the prayers of Mr. Knox, than of
an army of ten thousand men. These were mighty wrestlers with God,
howsoever contemned and vilified among their enemies. There will a time
come when God will hear the prayers of his people who are continually
crying in his ears, “How long, Lord, how long?”—_John Flavel._
_Verse 7.—“Then the earth shook and trembled.”_ The word גָּעַשׁ
signifies, to move or shake violently: it is employed, also, to denote
the reeling and staggering of a drunken man. Jer. xxv. 16.—_John
Morison, in loc._
_Verse 7._—Let no appearing impossibilities make you question God’s
accomplishment of any of his gracious words. Though you cannot see how
the thing can be done, ’tis enough if God hath said that he will do it.
There can be no obstructions to promised salvation which we need to
fear. He who is the God of this salvation and the Author of the promise
will prepare his own way for the doing of his own work, so that “every
valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought
low.” Luke iii. 5. Though the valleys be so deep that we cannot see the
bottom, and the mountains so high that we cannot see the tops of them,
yet God knows how to raise the one and level the other. Isaiah lxiii. 1.
“I that speak in righteousness (or faithfulness) am mighty to save.” If
anything would keep back the kingdom of Christ, it would be our
infidelity; but he will come though he should find no faith on the
earth. See Rom. iii. 3. Cast not away your confidence because he defers
his performances. Though providences run cross, though they move
backwards and forwards, you have a sure and faithful word to rely upon.
Promises, though they be for a time seemingly delayed, cannot be finally
frustrated. Dare not to harbour such a thought within yourselves as
Psalm lxxvii. 8; “Doth his promise fail for evermore?” The being of God
may as well fail as the promise of God. That which does not come in your
time, will be hastened in his time, which is always the more convenient
season. Accuse him not of slowness who hath said, “I come quickly,” that
is, he comes as soon as all things are ready and ripe for his
appearance. ’Tis as true that “the Lord is not slack concerning his
promise” (2 Peter iii. 9), as that he is never guilty of breaking his
promise. Wait, therefore, how long soever he tarry; do not give over
expecting: the heart of God is not turned though his face be hid; and
prayers are not flung back, though they be not instantly
answered.—_Timothy Cruso._
_Verses 7, 8._—The volcanic phenomena of Palestine open a question of
which the data are, in a scientific point of view, too imperfect to be
discussed; but there is enough in the history and literature of the
people to show that there was an agency of this kind at work. The valley
of the Jordan, both in its desolation and vegetation, was one continued
portent; and from its crevices ramified even into the interior of Judæa
the startling appearances, if not of the volcano, at least of the
earthquake. Their historical effect in the special theatres of their
operation will appear as we proceed; but their traces on the permanent
feeling of the nation must be noticed here. The writings of the
psalmists and prophets abound with indications which escape the eye of a
superficial reader. Like the soil of their country, they actually heave
and labour with the fiery convulsions which glow beneath their
surface.—_Arthur Penrhyn Stanley._
_Verses 7-9._—While Jesus hung on the cross a preternatural “darkness
covered all the land;” and no sooner had he yielded up his spirit, than
“the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top even to the
bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were
opened; and many bodies of the saints that slept arose, and came out of
the graves, after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and
appeared unto many.”—_John Brown._
_Verses 7-9._—In the night in which the Idumæans lay before Jerusalem,
there arose a prodigious tempest and fierce winds, with most vehement
rains, frequent lightnings, and terrible thunderings, and great roarings
of the shaken earth; and it was manifest that the state of the universe
was disordered at the slaughter of men; so that one might guess that
these were signs of no small calamity.... At the day of Pentecost, when
the priests, by night, went into the inner temple, according to their
custom, to execute their office, they said they perceived, first of all,
a shake and a noise, and after that a sudden voice, “Let us go
hence.”... A few days after the feast of unleavened bread, a strange and
almost incredible sight was seen, which would, I suppose, be taken for a
mere fable, were it not related by such as saw it, and did not the
miseries which followed appear answerable to the signs; for, before the
sun set, were seen on high, in the air, all over the country, chariots
and armed regiments moving swiftly in the clouds, and encompassing the
city.—_Flavius Josephus, 37-103._
_Verse 8.—“There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,”_ עָלָה עָשָׁן
בְּאַפּוֹ. Or there ascended into his nose, as the words, literally
rendered, signify. The ancients placed the seat of anger in the nose, or
nostrils; because when it grows warm and violent, it discovers itself,
as it were, by a heated vehement breath, that proceeds from
them.—_Samuel Chandler, D.D., F.R. and A.S.S., 1766._