mercy secures the mediatorial throne of Jesus. He who is Most High in
every sense, engages all his infinite perfections to maintain the throne
of grace upon which our King in Zion reigns. He was not moved _from_ his
purpose, nor _in_ his sufferings, nor _by_ his enemies, nor shall he be
moved _from_ the completion of his designs. He is the same yesterday,
to-day, and for ever. Other empires are dissolved by the lapse of years,
but eternal mercy maintains his growing dominion evermore; other kings
fail because they rest upon an arm of flesh, but our monarch reigns on
in splendour because he trusteth in Jehovah. It is a great display of
divine mercy to men that the throne of King Jesus is still among them:
nothing but divine mercy could sustain it, for human malice would
overturn it to-morrow if it could. We ought to trust in God for the
promotion of the Redeemer’s kingdom, for in Jehovah the King himself
trusts: all unbelieving methods of action, and especially all reliance
upon mere human ability, should be for ever discarded from a kingdom
where the monarch sets the example of walking by faith in God.
8. “_Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall
find out those that hate thee._” The destruction of the wicked is a
fitting subject for joy to the friends of righteousness; hence here, and
in most scriptural songs, it is noted with calm thanksgiving. “Thou hast
put down the mighty from their seats,” is a note of the same song which
sings, “and hast exalted them of low degree.” We pity the lost for they
are men, but we cannot pity them as enemies of Christ. None can escape
from the wrath of the victorious King, nor is it desirable that they
should. Without looking for his flying foes he will find them with his
hand, for his presence is about and around them. In vain shall any hope
for escape, he will find out all, and be able to punish all, and that
too with the ease and rapidity which belong to the warrior’s right hand.
The finding out relates, we think, not only to the discovery of the
hiding-places of the haters of God, but to the touching of them in their
tenderest parts, so as to cause the severest suffering. When he appears
to judge the world hard hearts will be subdued into terror, and proud
spirits humbled into shame. He who has the key of human nature can touch
all its springs at his will, and find out the means of bringing the
utmost confusion and terror upon those who aforetime boastfully
expressed their hatred of him.
9. “_Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger._”
They themselves shall be an oven to themselves, and so their own
tormentors. Those who burned with anger against thee shall be burned by
thine anger. The fire of sin will be followed by the fire of wrath. Even
as the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah went up to heaven, so shall the
enemies of the Lord Jesus be utterly and terribly consumed. Some read
it, “thou shalt put them as it were into a furnace of fire.” Like
faggots cast into an oven they shall burn furiously beneath the anger of
the Lord; “they shall be cast into a furnace of fire, there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.” These are terrible words, and those
teachers do not well who endeavour by their sophistical reasonings to
weaken their force. Reader, never tolerate slight thoughts of hell, or
you will soon have low thoughts of sin. The hell of sinners must be
fearful beyond all conception, or such language as the present would not
be used. Who would have the Son of God to be his enemy when such an
overthrow awaits his foes? The expression, “the time of thine anger,”
reminds us that as now is the time of his grace, so there will be a set
time for his wrath. The judge goes upon assize at an appointed time.
There is a day of vengeance of our God; let those who despise the day of
grace remember this day of wrath.
“_The Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour
them._” Jehovah will himself visit with his anger the enemies of his
Son. The Lord Jesus will, as it were, judge by commission from God,
whose solemn assent and co-operation shall be with him in his sentences
upon impenitent sinners. An utter destruction of soul and body, so that
both shall be swallowed up with misery, and be devoured with anguish, is
here intended. Oh, the wrath to come! The wrath to come! Who can endure
it? Lord, save us from it, for Jesu’s sake.
10. “_Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth._” Their life’s work
shall be a failure, and the result of their toil shall be
disappointment. That in which they prided themselves shall be forgotten;
their very names shall be wiped out as abominable, “_and their seed from
among the children of men_.” Their posterity following in their
footsteps shall meet with a similar overthrow, till at last the race
shall come to an end. Doubtless the blessing of God is often handed down
by the righteous to their sons, as almost a heirloom in the family,
while the dying sinner bequeaths a curse to his descendants. If men will
hate the Son of God, they must not wonder if their own sons meet with no
favour.
11. “_For they intended evil against thee._” God takes notice of
intentions. He who would, but could not, is as guilty as he who did.
Christ’s church and cause are not only attacked by those who do not
understand it, but there are many who have the light and yet hate it.
Intentional evil has a virus in it which is not found in sins of
ignorance; now as ungodly men with malice aforethought attack the gospel
of Christ, their crime is great, and their punishment will be
proportionate. The words “_against thee_” show us that he who intends
evil against the poorest believer means ill to the King himself: let
persecutors beware.
“_They imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to
perform._” Want of power is the clog on the foot of the haters of the
Lord Jesus. They have the wickedness to _imagine_, and the cunning to
_devise_, and the malice to _plot_ mischief, but blessed be God, they
fail in ability; yet they shall be judged as to their hearts, and the
will shall be taken for the deed in the great day of account. When we
read the boastful threatenings of the enemies of the gospel at the
present day, we may close our reading by cheerfully repeating, “_which
they are not able to perform_.” The serpent may hiss, but his head is
broken; the lion may worry, but he cannot devour; the tempest may
thunder, but cannot strike. Old Giant Pope bites his nails at the
pilgrims, but he cannot pick their bones as aforetime. Growling forth a
hideous “non possumus,” the devil and all his allies retire in dismay
from the walls of Zion, for the Lord is there.
12. “_Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt
make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them._” For
a time the foes of God may make bold advances, and threaten to overthrow
everything, but a few ticks of the clock will alter the face of their
affairs. At first they advance impudently enough, but Jehovah meets them
to their teeth, and a taste of the sharp judgments of God speedily makes
them flee in dismay. The original has in it the thought of the wicked
being set as a butt for God to shoot at, a target for his wrath to aim
at. What a dreadful situation! As an illustration upon a large scale,
remember Jerusalem during the siege; and for a specimen in an
individual, read the story of the death-bed of Francis Spira. God takes
sure aim; who would be his target? His arrows are sharp and transfix the
heart; who would wish to be wounded by them? Ah, ye enemies of God, your
boastings will soon be over when once the shafts begin to fly!
13. “_Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength._” A sweet concluding
verse. Our hearts shall join in it. It is always right to praise the
Lord when we call to remembrance his goodness to his Son, and the
overthrow of his foes. The exaltation of the name of God should be the
business of every Christian; but since such poor things as we fail to
honour him as he deserves, we may invoke his own power to aid us. Be
high, O God, but do thou maintain thy loftiness by thine own
almightiness, for no other power can worthily do it.
“_So will we sing and praise thy power._” For a time the saints may
mourn, but the glorious appearance of their divine Helper awakens their
joy. Joy should always flow in the channel of praise. All the attributes
of God are fitting subjects to be celebrated by the music of our hearts
and voices, and when we observe a display of his _power_, we must extol
it. He wrought our deliverance alone, and he alone shall have the
praise.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—The last Psalm was a litany before the king went forth to
battle. This is apparently a _Te Deum_ on his return.—_J. J. Stewart
Perowne, B.D., in the “Book of Psalms: a New Translation, with
Introductions and Notes,” 1864._
_Whole Psalm._—The prayer which the church offers up at the conclusion
of the preceding Psalm now issues in a hymn of praise, the result of a
believing view of the glory which is to follow, when Messiah’s
sufferings are ended. This is one of the beautiful songs of which we
find many in Scripture, prepared by the Holy Spirit to awaken and
enliven the hopes and expectations of the church while she waits for the
Lord, and to give utterance to her joy at the time of his arrival. The
theme is Messiah’s exaltation and glory, and the time chosen for its
delivery is just the moment when darkness covered the earth, and all
nature seemed about to die with its expiring Lord. Scripture deals
largely in contrasts. It seems to be suitable to the human mind to turn
from one extreme to another. Man can endure any change, however violent
and contradictory, but a long continuance, a sameness either of joy or
sorrow, has a debilitating and depressing effect.—_R. H. Ryland._
_Whole Psalm._—“After this I looked ... and behold a throne was set in
heaven, and one sat on the throne.” Rev. iv. 1, 2. Such may be
considered as the description of this Psalm, after the foregoing prayer.
“He who in the preceding Psalm,” says St. Jerome, “was prayed for as
having taking the form of a servant, in this is King of kings, and Lord
of lords.”—_Isaac Williams._
_Whole Psalm._—I am persuaded that there is not one who consents to the
application of the preceding Psalm to Christ in his trouble, who will
fail to recognise in this, Christ in his triumph. There he was in the
dark valley—the valley of Achor; now he is on the mount of Zion; there
he was enduring sorrow and travail; now he remembers no more the
anguish, for joy that a spiritual seed is born into the world; there he
was beset with deadly enemies, who encompassed him on every side; but
here he has entered upon that which is written in Psalm lxxviii. 65, 66,
“Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that
shouteth by reason of wine. And he smote his enemies in the hinder
parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.”—_Hamilton Verschoyle._
_Whole Psalm._—As you have already observed in the heading of this
Psalm, it is said to have been composed by David. He wrote of himself in
the third person, and as “_the king_.” He penned the Psalm, not so much
for his own use, as for his people’s. It is, in fact, a national anthem,
celebrating the majesty and glory of David, but ascribing both to
God—expressing confidence in David’s future, but building that
confidence upon God alone.—_Samuel Martin, in “Westminster Chapel
Pulpit,” 1860._
_Verse 1.—“Thy strength ... thy salvation.”_ So you have two words,
“_virtus_ and _salus_,” strength and salvation. Note them well; for not
_virtus_ without _salus_, nor _salus_ without _virtus_, neither without
the other is full, nor both without _Tua Domine_. _In virtute_ is well,
so it have _in salute_ after it. For not in strength alone is there
matter of joy, every way considered. No, not in _God’s strength_, if it
have not _salvation_ behind it. Strength, not to smite us down, but
strength to deliver; this is the joyful side. Now turn it the other way.
As strength, if it end in salvation, is just cause for joy, so
salvation, if it go with strength, makes joy yet more joyful; for it
becomes a strong salvation, a mighty deliverance.—_Launcelot Andrews
(Bishop), 1555-1626, in “Conspiracie of the Gowries.”_
_Verse 1.—“In thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice.”_ Oh, it is
good rejoicing in the strength of that arm which shall never wither, and
in the shadow of those wings which shall never cast their feathers! in
him that is not there yesterday and here to-day, but the same yesterday,
to-day, and for ever! For as he is, so shall the joy be.—_Launcelot
Andrews._
_Verse 2.—“Thou hast given him the desire of his soul.”_ He desired to
eat the passover, and to lay down his life when he would and again when
he would to take it; and thou hast given it to him. “_And hast not
deprived him of the good pleasure of his lips._” “My peace,” saith he,
“I leave with you;” and it was done.—_Augustine, in loc._
_Verse 2 (first clause)._—Good men are sure to have out their prayers
either in money, or in money’s worth, as they say—in that very thing, or
a better.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 2.—“Selah.”_ See pp. 23, 26, 27, 35, 307.
_Verse 3.—“For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou
settest a crown of pure gold on his head.”_ The Son of God could not be
more ready to ask for the blessings of the divine goodness, than the
Father was to give them; and his disposition is the same towards all his
adopted sons. Christ, as King and Priest, weareth a crown of glory,
represented by the purest and most resplendent of metals—gold. He is
pleased to esteem his saints, excelling in different virtues, as the
rubies, the sapphires, and the emeralds, which grace and adorn that
crown. Who would not be ambitious of obtaining a place therein?—_George
Horne._
_Verse 3.—“Thou hast prevented him with the blessings of goodness.”_ As
if he should say, “Lord, I never asked a kingdom, I never thought of a
kingdom, but thou hast prevented me with the blessings of thy
goodness.”... From whence I take up this note or doctrine, that it is a
sweet thing and worthy of all our thankful acknowledgments, to be
prevented with the blessings of God’s goodness, or God’s good
blessings.... It is no new thing for God to walk in a way of preventing
love and mercy with the children of men. Thus he hath always dealt, doth
deal, and will deal; thus he hath always dealt with the world, with the
nations of the world, with great towns and places, with families, and
with particular souls.... As for particular souls, you know how it was
with Matthew the publican, sitting at the receipt of custom. “Come and
follow me,” says Christ; preventing of him. And you know how it was with
Paul: “I was a blasphemer, and I was a persecutor, but I obtained
mercy.” How so? Did he seek it first? ‘No,’ says he, ‘I went breathing
out threatenings against the people of God, and God met me, and
un-horsed me; God prevented me with his grace and mercy.’ Thus Paul. And
pray tell me what do you think of that whole chapter of Luke—the
fifteenth? There are three parables: the parable of the lost groat, of
the lost sheep, and of the lost son. The woman lost her groat, and swept
to find it, but did the groat make first towards the woman, or the woman
make after the groat first? The shepherd lost his sheep, but did the
sheep make first after the shepherd, or the shepherd after the sheep?
Indeed, it is said concerning the lost son, that he first takes up a
resolution, “I will return home to my father,” but when his father saw
him afar off, he ran and met him, and embraced him, and welcomed him
home. Why? But to show that the work of grace and mercy shall be all
along carried on in a way of preventing love.—_Condensed from William
Bridge, 1600-1670._
_Verse 3.—“For thou hast prevented him with the blessings of
sweetness.”_ Because he had first quaffed the blessing of thy sweetness,
the gall of our sins did not hurt him.—_Augustine._
_Verse 3.—“Thou preventest him.”_ The word “_prevent_” is now generally
used to represent the idea of hindrance. “_Thou preventest him_,” would
mean commonly, “Thou hinderest him.” But here the word “prevent” means
_to go before_. Thou goest before him with the blessings of thy goodness
as a pioneer, to make crooked ways straight, and rough places smooth;
or, as one who strews flowers in the path of another, to render the way
beautiful to the eye and pleasant to the tread.—_Samuel Martin._
_Verse 3 (first clause)._—The text is an acknowledgment of God’s
goodness. God had anticipated David’s wants; and he writes. “_Thou
preventest_—thou goest before him—_with goodness_.” The words
“_blessings of goodness_” suggest that God’s gifts are God’s love
embodied and expressed. And this greatly enhances the value of our
blessings—that they are cups as full of God and of God’s kindness as of
happiness and blessedness.—_Samuel Martin._
_Verse 3 (first clause)._—A large portion of our blessing is given us
before our asking or seeking. Existence, reason, intellect, a birth in a
Christian land, the calling of our nation to the knowledge of Christ,
and Christ himself, with many other things, are unsought bestowed on
men, as was David’s right to the throne on him. No one ever asked for a
Saviour till God of his own motion promised “the seed of the
woman.”—_William S. Plumer._
_Verse 3.—“Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.”_ Christ may
be said to have a fourfold glory, or crown. 1. As God co-essential with
the Father; “the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image
of his person.” Heb. i. 2, 3. 2. He hath a crown and glory as Mediator,
in respect of the power, authority, and glory wherewith he is invested
as God’s great deputy, and anointed upon the hill of Zion, having power,
and a rod of iron, even in reference to enemies. 3. He hath a crown and
glory in respect of the manifestation of his glory in the executing of
his offices, when he makes his mediatory power and glory apparent in
particular steps: thus sometimes he is said _to take his power to him_
(Rev. xi. 17); and is said _to be crowned_ when the white horse of the
gospel rides in triumph. Rev. vi. 2. The last step of this glory will be
in the day of judgment; in short, this consists in his exercising his
former power committed to him as Mediator. 4. There is a crown and glory
which is in a manner put on him by particular believers, when he is
glorified by them, not by adding anything to his infinite glory, but by
their acknowledging of him to be so.—_James Durham, 1622-1658._
_Verse 3._—The “_crown of pure gold_” has respect to his exaltation at
the right hand of God, where he is crowned with glory and honour, and
this “_crown_” being of “_pure gold_,” denotes the purity, glory,
solidity, and perpetuity of his kingdom.—_John Gill._
_Verse 4.—“He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of
days for ever and ever.”_ The glory of God is concerned in Christ’s
living for ever. 1. The glory of his _faithfulness_: for eternal life
and blessedness were pledged to Immanuel in covenant as the reward of
his work (Psalm cx. 1-4; Isaiah ix. 6, 7, etc.); and it was in the
anticipation and confident hope of this, that he “endured the cross,
despising the shame.” Heb. xii. 2; Psalm xvi. 8-11. 2. The glory of his
_justice_. The justice of God was honoured and fully satisfied in all
its righteous demands by the death of Christ. His subsequent life is the
expression on the part of God of that satisfaction. His perpetual life
is a permanent declaration that in him and his finished work the
everlasting righteousness of Jehovah rests for ever satisfied. Death can
“never more have dominion over him:” for to inflict the penalty again
would be a violation of justice. 3. The glory of his _grace_. The glory
of this grace he now lives actively to promote. John xvii. 2. By living
“_ever_” at God’s right hand, he appears as an eternal memorial of God’s
love in making him our Mediator and Substitute—our Saviour from sin and
wrath; and his permanent appearance there will keep all heaven
perpetually in mind that “by the grace of God they are what they are,”
owing all to the sovereign mercy of God through Jesus Christ. He shall
appear as the blessed medium through which all the gifts and joys of
salvation shall flow to the guilty for evermore. Thus the power of God
and all his moral attributes secure the perpetuity of the life of the
risen and exalted Saviour.—_Ralph Wardlaw, D.D._
_Verse 4.—“He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him.”_ He asked a
resurrection saying “Father, glorify thy Son;” and thou gavest it him,
“_Length of days for ever and ever._” The prolonged ages of this world
which the church was to have, and after them an eternity, world without
end.—_Augustine._
_Verse 4.—“He asked life of thee,”_ etc. Thus God is better to his
people than their prayers; and when they ask but one blessing, he
answereth them as Naaman did Gehazi, with Nay, take two. Hezekiah asked
but one life, and God gave him fifteen years, which we reckon at two
lives and more. He giveth liberally and like himself; as great Alexander
did when he gave the poor beggar a city; and when he sent his
schoolmaster a ship full of frankincense, and bade him sacrifice
freely.—_John Trapp._
_Verses 4-8._—If David had before been without the symbol of his royal
dignity, namely, the diadem, he was the more justified in praising the
goodness of God, which had now transferred it from the head of an enemy
to his own.—_Augustus F. Tholuck._
_Verse 5.—“His glory is great in thy salvation.”_—I remember one dying
and hearing some discourses of Jesus Christ; “Oh,” said she, “speak more
of this—let me hear more of this—be not weary of telling his praise; I
long to see him, how should I but long to hear of him?” Surely I cannot
say too much of Jesus Christ. On this blessed subject no man can
possibly hyperbolise. Had I the tongues of men and angels, I could never
fully set forth Christ. It involves an eternal contradiction, that the
creature can see to the bottom of the Creator. Suppose all the sands on
the sea-shore, all the flowers, herbs, leaves, twigs of trees in woods
and forests, all the stars of heaven, were all rational creatures; and
had they that wisdom, and tongues of angels to speak of the loveliness,
beauty, glory, and excellency of Christ, as gone to heaven, and sitting
at the right hand of his Father, they would, in all their expressions,
stay millions of miles on this side Jesus Christ. Oh, the loveliness,
beauty, and glory of his countenance! Can I speak, or you hear of such a
Christ? And are we not all in a burning love, in a seraphical love, or
at least in a conjugal love? O my heart, how is it thou art not love
sick? How is it thou dost not charge the daughters of Jerusalem as the
spouse did: “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem if ye find my
beloved, that ye shall tell him, that I _am_ sick of love.” Cant. v.
8.—_Isaac Ambrose._