Sad examples enough there are of the truth of this prophecy. Of Esau it
is written that he “found no place of repentance, though he sought it
carefully with tears.” Heb. xii. 17. Of Antiochus, though he vowed in
his last illness, “that also he would become a Jew himself, and go
through all the world that was inhabited, and declare the power of God,
yet,” continues the historian, “for all this his pains would not cease,
for the just judgment of God was come upon him.” 2 Macc. ix. 17, 18. But
most appropriately to this passage, it is written of Saul, “When he
enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams nor
by Urim, nor by prophets.” 1 Sam. xxviii. 6. And therefore, the prophet
warns us: “Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness,
and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains” (Jer. xiii. 16):
as Saul’s feet, indeed, stumbled on the dark mountains of Gilboa. “_Even
unto the Lord shall they cry_:” but not, as it has been well remarked,
by a Mediator: and so, crying to him in their own name, and by their own
merits, they cry in vain.—_John Lorinus (1569-1634), and Remigius (900),
quoted by J. M. Neale._
_Verse 41.—“Even unto the Lord.”_ As nature prompteth men in an
extremity to look up for help; but because it is but the prayer of the
flesh for ease, and not of the Spirit for grace, and a good use of
calamities, and not but in extreme despair of help elsewhere, therefore
God hears them not. In Samuel it is, “They looked, but there was none to
save them,” _q.d._, If they could have made any other shift, God should
never have heard of them.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 42._—“_I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets_,” or
rather “of the streets.” In the East, all household refuse and filth is
cast forth into the streets, where all of it that is at all edible is
soon cleared away by birds and dogs, and all that is not is speedily
dried up by the sun. To cast forth any one, therefore, as the dirt of
the streets, is a strong image of contempt and rejection.—_John Kitto._
_Verses 43, 44._—If these words can be explained literally of David,
they apply much more naturally to Jesus Christ, who has been delivered
from the strivings of the Jewish people; when, after the terrible
opposition he met with on their part, to the establishment of the
gospel, he was made the head of the Gentiles who were a strange people,
and whom he had not formerly acknowledged as his, but who nevertheless
obeyed him with astonishing readiness as soon as they heard his
voice.—_Louis Isaac le Maistre de Stacy, 1613-1684._
_Verse 45._—The first clause is comparatively easy. “_The strangers
shall fade away_”—“shall gradually wither and disappear;” but the second
clause is very difficult, “_They shall be afraid out of their close
places._” One Jewish scholar interprets it, “They shall fear for the
prisons in which I will throw them and keep them confined.”[6] Another,
“They shall tremble in their castles to which they have betaken
themselves for fear of me.” Another,[7] “They shall surrender themselves
from their fortresses.” The general meaning is plain enough. The class
referred to are represented as reduced to a state of complete helpless
subjugation. As to the event referred to, if we keep to the rendering of
our translators the meaning may be, “The Pagans, retired now generally
to villages and remote places, shall gradually dwindle away, and
fearfully anticipate the complete extinction of their religion.” This
exactly accords with history. If with some interpreters we read, “The
strangers shall fade away, and be afraid because of their prisons,” then
the meaning may be, “that they who only feigned submission, when
persecution for the word should arise should openly apostatise.” This,
too, would be found consonant with fact. The first of these
interpretations seems the more probable.—_John Brown._
_Verse 46.—“The Lord liveth: and blessed be my rock; and let the God of
my salvation be exalted.”_—Let us unite our hearts in this song for a
close of our praises. Honours _die_, pleasures _die_, the world _dies_;
but “_The Lord liveth._” My flesh is as _sand_; my fleshly life,
strength, glory, is as _a word written on sand_; but “_blessed be my_
ROCK.” Those are for a moment; this stands for ever. The curse shall
devour those; everlasting blessings on the head of this. Let outward
salvations vanish; let the saved be crucified; let the “_God_” of our
salvations “_be exalted_.” This Lord is _my rock_; this God is _my
salvation_.—_Peter Sterry, 1649._
_Verse 46.—“The Lord liveth.”_ Why do you not oppose one God to all the
armies of evils that beset you round? why do you not take the more
content in God when you have the less of the creature to take content
in? why do you not boast in your God? and bear up yourselves big with
your hopes in God and expectations from him? Do you not see young heirs
to great estates act and spend accordingly? And, why shall you, being
the King of heaven’s son, be lean and ragged from day to day, as though
you were not worth a groat? O sirs, live upon your portion, chide
yourselves for living besides what you have. There are great and
precious promises, rich, enriching mercies; you may make use of God’s
all-sufficiency; you can blame none but yourselves if you be defective
or discouraged. A woman, truly godly for the main, having buried a
child, and sitting alone in sadness, did yet bear up her heart with the
expression, “God lives”; and having parted with another, still she
redoubled, “Comforts die, but God lives.” At last her dear husband dies,
and she sat oppressed and most overwhelmed with sorrow. A little child
she had yet surviving, having observed what before she spoke to comfort
herself, comes to her and saith, “Is God dead, mother? is God dead?”
This reached her heart, and by God’s blessing recovered her former
confidence in her God, who is a _living_ God. Thus do you chide
yourselves; ask your fainting spirits under pressing outward sorrows, is
not God alive? and why then doth not thy soul revive? why doth thy heart
die within thee when comforts die! Cannot a living God support thy dying
hopes? Thus, Christians, argue down your discouraged and disquieted
spirits as David did.—_Oliver Heywood’s “Sure Mercies of David.” 1672._
_Verse 47.—“It is God.”_ “Sir, this is none other than the hand of God;
and to him alone belongs the glory, wherein none are to share with him.
The General served you with all faithfulness and honour; and the best
commendation I can give him is that I dare say he attributes all to God,
and would rather perish than assume to himself.”—_Written to the Speaker
of the House of Commons, after the battle of Naseby, June 14, 1645, by_
OLIVER CROMWELL.
_Verse 49._—I admire King David a great deal more when I see him in the
quire than when I see him in the camp; when I see him singing as the
sweet singer of Israel, than when I see him fighting as the worthy
warrior of Israel. For fighting with others he did overcome all others;
but singing, and delighting himself, he did overcome himself.—_Thomas
Playfere._
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Verse 1._—Love’s resolve, love’s logic, love’s trials, love’s
victories.
_James Hervey_ has two sermons upon “Love to God” from this text.
_Verse 2._—The many excellences of Jehovah to his people.
_Verse 2._—God the all-sufficient portion of his people.—_C. Simeon’s
Works, Vol. v., p. 85._
_Verse 3._—Prayer resolved upon; praise rendered; result anticipated.
_Verses 4-6._—Graphic picture of a distressed soul, and its resorts in
the hour of extremity.
_Verse 5 (first clause)._—The condition of a soul convinced of sin.
_Verse 5 (second clause)._—The way in which snares and temptations are,
by Satanic craft, arranged so as to forestall or prevent us.
_Verse 6._—The time, the manner, the hearing, and the answering of
prayer.
_Verse 7._—The quaking of all things in the presence of an angry God.
_Verse 10._—Celestial and terrestrial agencies subservient to the divine
purposes.
_Verse 11._—The darkness in which Jehovah hides. Why? When? What then?
etc.
_Verse 13.—“Hailstones and coals of fire.”_ The terrific in its relation
to Jehovah.
_Verse 16._—The Christian, like Moses, “one taken out of the water.” The
whole verse a noble subject; may be illustrated by life of Moses.
_Verse 17._—The saint’s pæan of victory over Satan, and all other foes.
_Verse 17 (last clause)._—Singular but sound reason for expecting divine
help.
_Verse 18._—The enemy’s “craft,” “_They prevented me in the day of my
calamity._” The enemy chained. “_But the Lord was my stay._”
_Verse 19._—The reason of grace, and the position in which it places its
chosen ones.
_Verse 21._—Integrity of life, its measure, source, benefit, and
dangers.
_Verse 22._—The need of considering sacred things, and the wickedness of
carelessly neglecting them.
_Verse 23._—The upright heart and its darling sin.—_W. Strong’s
Sermons._
_Verse 23._—_Peccata in deliciis_; a discourse of bosom sins.—_P.
Newcome._
_Verse 23._—The sure trial of uprightness.—_Dr. Bates._
_Verse 25._—Equity of the divine procedure.—_C. Simeon._
_Verse 26._—Echoes, in providence, grace, and judgment.
_Verse 27._—Consolation for the humble, and desolation for the proud.
_Verse 27 (second clause)._—The bringing down of high looks. In a way of
grace and justice. Among saints and sinners, etc. A wide theme.
_Verse 28._—A comfortable hope for an uncomfortable state.
_Verse 29._—Believing exploits recounted. Variety, difficulty in
themselves, ease in performance, completeness, impunity, and dependence
upon divine working.
_Verse 30._—God’s way, word, and warfare.
_Verse 31._—A challenge. I. To the _gods_. World, pleasure, etc. Which
among these deserve the name? II. To the _rocks_, self-confidence,
superstition, etc. On which can we trust?
_Verses 32-34._—Trying positions, gracious adaptations, graceful
accomplishments, secure abidings, grateful acknowledgement.
_Verse 35.—“The shield of thy salvation.”_ What it is? Faith. Whence it
comes? “Thou hast given.” What it secures? “Salvation.” Who have
received it?
_Verse 35._—See “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” No. 683. “Divine Gentleness
Acknowledged.”
_Verse 36._—Divine benevolence in the arranging of our lot.
_Verse 39._—The Red Cross Knight armed for the fray.
_Verse 41._—Unavailing prayers—on earth and in hell.
_Verse 42._—The sure overthrow, final shame, and ruin of evil.
_Verse 43 (last clause)._—Our natural and sinful distance from Christ,
no bar to grace.
_Verse 44._—Rapid advance of the gospel in some places, slow progress in
others. Solemn considerations.
_Verse 46._—The living God, and how to bless and exalt him.
_Verse 50._—The greatness of salvation, “_great deliverance_;” its
channel, “_the King_;” and its perpetuity, “_for evermore_.”
Footnote 6:
Jarchi.
Footnote 7:
Abenezra.
PSALM XIX.
SUBJECT.—_It would be idle to enquire into the particular period when
this delightful poem was composed, for there is nothing in its title or
subject to assist us in the enquiry. The heading, “To the chief
Musician, a Psalm of David,” informs us that David wrote it, and that it
was committed to the Master of the service of song in the sanctuary for
the use of the assembled worshippers. In his earliest days the Psalmist,
while keeping his father’s flock, had devoted himself to the study of
God’s two great books—nature and Scripture; and he had so thoroughly
entered into the spirit of these two only volumes in his library, that
he was able with a devout criticism to compare and contrast them,
magnifying the excellency of the Author as seen in both. How foolish and
wicked are those who instead of accepting the two sacred tomes, and
delighting to behold the same divine hand in each, spend all their wits
in endeavouring to find discrepancies and contradictions. We may rest
assured that the true “Vestiges of Creation” will never contradict
Genesis, nor will a correct “Cosmos” be found at variance with the
narrative of Moses. He is wisest who reads both the world-book and the
Word-book as two volumes of the same work, and feels concerning them,
“My Father wrote them both.”_
DIVISION.—_This song very distinctly divides itself into three parts,
very well described by the translators in the ordinary heading of our
version. The creatures show God’s glory, 1-6. The word showeth his
grace, 7-11. David prayeth for grace, 12-14. Thus praise and prayer are
mingled, and he who here sings the work of God in the world without,
pleads for a work of grace in himself within._
EXPOSITION.
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth
knowledge.
3 _There is_ no speech nor language, _where_ their voice is not
heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to
the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which _is_ as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, _and_
rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6 His going forth _is_ from the end of the heaven, and his circuit
unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
1. “_The heavens declare the glory of God._” The book of nature has
three leaves, heaven, earth, and sea, of which heaven is the first and
the most glorious, and by its aid we are able to see the beauties of the
other two. Any book without its first page would be sadly imperfect, and
especially the great Natural Bible, since its first pages, the sun,
moon, and stars, supply light to the rest of the volume, and are thus
the keys, without which the writing which follows would be dark and
undiscerned. Man walking erect was evidently made to scan the skies, and
he who begins to read creation by studying the stars begins the book at
the right place.
The _heavens_ are plural for their variety, comprising the watery
heavens with their clouds of countless forms, the aerial heavens with
their calms and tempests, the solar heavens with all the glories of the
day, and the starry heavens with all the marvels of the night; what the
Heaven of heavens must be hath not entered into the heart of man, but
there in chief all things are telling the glory of God. Any part of
creation has more instruction in it than human mind will ever exhaust,
but the celestial realm is peculiarly rich in spiritual lore. The
heavens _declare_, or are _declaring_, for the continuance of their
testimony is intended by the participles employed; every moment God’s
existence, power, wisdom, and goodness, are being sounded abroad by the
heavenly heralds which shine upon us from above. He who would guess at
divine sublimity should gaze upward into the starry vault; he who would
imagine infinity must peer into the boundless expanse; he who desires to
see divine wisdom should consider the balancing of the orbs; he who
would know divine fidelity must mark the regularity of the planetary
motions; and he who would attain some conceptions of divine power,
greatness, and majesty, must estimate the forces of attraction, the
magnitude of the fixed stars, and the brightness of the whole celestial
train. It is not merely glory that the heavens declare, but the “_glory
of God_,” for they deliver to us such unanswerable arguments for a
conscious, intelligent, planning, controlling, and presiding Creator,
that no unprejudiced person can remain unconvinced by them. The
testimony given by the heavens is no mere hint, but a plain,
unmistakeable declaration; and it is a declaration of the most constant
and abiding kind. Yet for all this, to what avail is the loudest
declaration to a deaf man, or the clearest showing to one spiritually
blind? God the Holy Ghost must illuminate us, or all the suns in the
milky way never will.
“_The firmament sheweth his handy-work_;” not _handy_, in the vulgar use
of that term, but hand-work. The expanse is full of the works of the
Lord’s skilful, creating hands; hands being attributed to the great
creating Spirit to set forth his care and workmanlike action, and to
meet the poor comprehension of mortals. It is humbling to find that even
when the most devout and elevated minds are desirous to express their
loftiest thoughts of God, they must use words and metaphors drawn from
the earth. We are children, and must each confess, “I think as a child,
I speak as a child.” In the expanse above us God flies, as it were, his
starry flag to show that the King is at home, and hangs out his
escutcheon that atheists may see how he despises their denunciations of
him. He who looks up to the firmament and then writes himself down an
atheist, brands himself at the same moment as an idiot or a liar.
Strange is it that some who love God are yet afraid to study the
God-declaring book of nature; the mock-spirituality of some believers,
who are too heavenly to consider the heavens, has given colour to the
vaunts of infidels that nature contradicts revelation. The wisest of men
are those who with pious eagerness trace the goings forth of Jehovah as
well in creation as in grace; only the foolish have any fears lest the
honest study of the one should injure our faith in the other. Dr. M’Cosh
has well said, “We have often mourned over the attempts made to set the
works of God against the Word of God, and thereby excite, propagate, and
perpetuate jealousies fitted to separate parties that ought to live in
closest union. In particular, we have always regretted that endeavours
should have been made to depreciate nature with a view of exalting
revelation; it has always appeared to us to be nothing else than the
degrading of one part of God’s works in the hope thereby of exalting and
recommending another. Let not science and religion be reckoned as
opposing citadels, frowning defiance upon each other, and their troops
brandishing their armour in hostile attitude. They have too many common
foes, if they would but think of it, in ignorance and prejudice, in
passion and vice, under all their forms, to admit of their lawfully
wasting their strength in a useless warfare with each other. Science has
a foundation, and so has religion; let them unite their foundations, and
the basis will be broader, and they will be two compartments of one
great fabric reared to the glory of God. Let the one be the outer and
the other the inner court. In the one, let all look, and admire and
adore; and in the other, let those who have faith kneel, and pray, and
praise. Let the one be the sanctuary where human learning may present
its richest incense as an offering to God, and the other the holiest of
all, separated from it by a veil now rent in twain, and in which, on a
blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, we pour out the love of a reconciled heart,
and hear the oracles of the living God.”
2. “_Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth
knowledge._” As if one day took up the story where the other left it,
and each night passed over the wondrous tale to the next. The original
has in it the thought of pouring out, or welling over, with speech; as
though days and nights were but as a fountain flowing evermore with
Jehovah’s praise. Oh to drink often at the celestial well, and learn to
utter the glory of God! The witnesses above cannot be slain or silenced;
from their elevated seats they constantly preach the knowledge of God,
unawed and unbiassed by the judgments of men. Even the changes of
alternating night and day are mutely eloquent, and light and shade
equally reveal the Invisible One; let the vicissitudes of our
circumstances do the same, and while we bless the God of our days of
joy, let us also extol him who giveth “songs in the night.”
The lesson of day and night is one which it were well if all men
learned. It should be among our day-thoughts and night-thoughts to
remember the flight of time, the changeful character of earthly things,
the brevity both of joy and sorrow, the preciousness of life, our utter
powerlessness to recall the hours once flown, and the irresistible
approach of eternity. Day bids us labour, night reminds us to prepare
for our last home; day bids us work for God, and night invites us to
rest in him; day bids us look for endless day, and night warns us to
escape from everlasting night.
3. “_There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard._”
Every man may hear the voices of the stars. Many are the languages of
terrestrials, to celestials there is but one, and that one may be
understood by every willing mind. The lowest heathen are without excuse,
if they do not discover the invisible things of God in the works which
he has made. Sun, moon, and stars are God’s travelling preachers; they
are apostles upon their journey confirming those who regard the Lord,
and judges on circuit condemning those who worship idols.
The margin gives us another rendering, which is more literal, and
involves less repetition; “_no speech, no words, their voice is not
heard_;” that is to say, their teaching is not addressed to the ear, and
is not uttered in articulate sounds; it is pictorial, and directed to
the eye and heart; it touches not the sense by which faith comes, for
faith cometh by hearing. Jesus Christ is called the Word, for he is a
far more distinct display of Godhead than all the heavens can afford;
they are, after all, but dumb instructors; neither star nor sun can
arrive at a word, but Jesus is the express image of Jehovah’s person,
and his name is the Word of God.
4. “_Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to
the end of the world._” Although the heavenly bodies move in solemn
silence, yet in reason’s ear they utter precious teachings. They give
forth no literal _words_, but yet their instruction is clear enough to
be so described. Horne says that the phrase employed indicates a
language of signs, and thus we are told that the heavens speak by their
significant actions and operations. Nature’s words are like those of the
deaf and dumb, but grace tells us plainly of the Father. By their line
is probably meant the _measure_ of their domain which, together with
their testimony, has gone out to the utmost end of the habitable earth.
No man living beneath the copes of heaven dwells beyond the bounds of
the diocese of God’s Court-preachers; it is easy to escape from the
light of ministers, who are as stars in the right hand of the Son of
Man; but even then men, with a conscience yet unseared, will find a
Nathan to accuse them, a Jonah to warn them, and an Elijah to threaten
them in the silent stars of night. To gracious souls the voices of the
heavens are more influential far, they feel the sweet influences of the
Pleiades, and are drawn towards their Father God by the bright bands of
Orion.
“_In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun._” In the midst of the
heavens the sun encamps, and marches like a mighty monarch on his
glorious way. He has no fixed abode, but as a traveller pitches and
removes his tent, a tent which will soon be taken down and rolled
together as a scroll. As the royal pavilion stood in the centre of the
host, so the sun in his place appears like a king in the midst of
attendant stars.
5. “_Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber._” A bridegroom
comes forth sumptuously apparelled, his face beaming with a joy which he
imparts to all around; such, but with a mighty emphasis, is the rising
Sun. “_And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race._” As a champion girt
for running cheerfully addresses himself to the race, so does the sun
speed onward with matchless regularity and unwearying swiftness in his
appointed orbit. It is but mere play to him; there are no signs of
effort, flagging or exhaustion. No other creature yields such joy to the
earth as her bridegroom the sun; and none, whether they be horse or
eagle, can for an instant compare in swiftness with that heavenly
champion. But all his glory is but the glory of God; even the sun shines
in light borrowed from the Great Father of Lights.
“Thou sun, of this great world both eye and soul,
Acknowledge Him thy greater; sound His praise
Both when thou climb’st, and when high noon hast gained
And when thou fall’st.”
6. “_His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto
the ends of it._” He bears his light to the boundaries of the solar
heavens, traversing the zodiac with steady motion, denying his light to
none who dwell within his range. “_And there is nothing hid from the
heat thereof._” Above, beneath, around, the heat of the sun exercises an
influence. The bowels of the earth are stored with the ancient produce
of the solar rays, and even yet earth’s inmost caverns feel their power.
Where light is shut out, yet heat and other more subtle influences find
their way.