poor, neither hath he hid his face from me; but when I cried unto him,
he heard me.”_ Let him, therefore, that desires to be of the seed of
Israel, and to rejoice in the grace of the gospel, become poor, for this
is a fixed truth, our God is one that has respect unto the poor! And
observe the fulness and diligence of the prophet. He was not content
with having said “will not despise,” but adds, “and will not abhor;” and
again, “will not turn away his face;” and again, “will hear.” And then
he adds himself as an example, saying “When I cried,” as our translation
has it. As if he had said, “Behold ye, and learn by my example, who have
been made the most vile of all men, and numbered among the wicked; when
I was despised, cast out, rejected, behold! I was held in the highest
esteem, and taken up, and heard. Let not this state of things,
therefore, after this, my encouraging example, frighten you; the gospel
requires a man to be such a character before it will save him.” These
things, I say, because our weakness requires so much exhortation, that
it might not dread being humbled, nor despair when humbled, and thus
might, after the bearing of the cross, receive the salvation.—_Martin
Luther._
_Verse 25.—“My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation,”_ etc.
The joy and gratitude of our adorable Lord rise to such a height at this
great deliverance, his heart so overflows with fresh and blessed
consciousness of his heavenly Father’s nearness, that he again pours
forth the expression of his praise. By its repetition, he teaches us
that this is not a temporary burst of gratitude, but an abiding
determination, a full and settled resolution.—_John Stevenson._
_Verse 25.—“In the great congregation.”_ Saints are fittest witnesses of
sacred duties. That which, in Psa. cxvi. 14, is implied under this
particle of restraint, “his,” in “the presence of all his people,” is in
Psa. xxii. 25, more expressly noted by a more apparent description,
thus: “_I will pay my vows before them that fear him._” None but true
saints do truly fear God. 1. This property of God’s people, that they
fear the Lord, showeth that they will make the best use of such sacred,
solemn duties performed in their presence. They will glorify God for
this your zeal; they will join their spirits with your spirit in this
open performance of duty; they will become followers of you, and learn
of you to vow and pay unto the Lord, and that openly, publicly. 2. As
for others, they are no better than such hogs and dogs as are not meet
to have such precious pearls and holy things cast before them, lest they
trample them under their feet.—_William Gouge._
_Verse 26.—“The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the
Lord that seek him; your heart shall live for ever.”_ A spiritual
banquet is prepared in the church for the “_meek_” and lowly in heart.
The death of Christ was the sacrifice for sin; his flesh is meat indeed,
and his blood is drink indeed. The poor in spirit feed on this
provision, in their hearts by faith, and are _satisfied_, and thus,
whilst they “_seek_” the _Lord_, they “_praise_” him also, and their
“_hearts_” (or souls), are preserved unto eternal life.—_“Practical
Illustrations of the Book of Psalms,” 1836._
_Verse 26.—“The meek.”_ Bonaventure engraved this sweet saying of our
Lord, “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,” in his study. O
that this saying was engraved upon all your foreheads, and upon all your
hearts!—_Charles Bradbury._
_Verse 26.—“They shall praise the Lord that seek him; your heart shall
live for ever.”_ Now, I would fain know the man that ever went about
to form such laws as should bind the _hearts_ of men, or prepare such
rewards as should reach the souls and consciences of men! Truly, if
any mortal man should make a law that his subjects should love him
with all their hearts and souls, and not dare, upon peril of his
greatest indignation, to entertain a traitorous thought against his
royal person, but presently confess it to him, or else he would be
avenged on him, he would deserve to be more laughed at for his pride
and folly, than Xerxes for casting his fetters into the Hellespont, to
chain the waves into his obedience; or Caligula, that threatened the
air, if it durst rain when he was at his pastimes, who durst not
himself so much as look into the air when it thundered. Certainly a
madhouse would be more fit for such a person than a throne, who should
so far forfeit his reason, as to think that the thoughts and hearts of
men were within his jurisdiction.—_William Gurnall._
_Verse 26.—“Your heart,”_ that is, not your outward man, but the hidden
man of the heart (Ezek. xxxvi. 26); the new man which is created after
the image of God in righteousness and true holiness, “_shall live for
ever_.” The life which animates it is the life of the Spirit of
God.—_John Stevenson._
_Verse 27.—“All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the
Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.”_
This passage is a prediction of the conversion of the Gentiles. It
furnishes us with two interesting ideas; the nature of true
conversion—and the extent of it under the reign of the Messiah. 1. The
NATURE of true conversion:—It is to “_remember_”—to “_turn to the
Lord_”—and to “_worship before him_.” This is a plain and simple
process. Perhaps the first religious exercise of mind of which we are
conscious is reflection. A state of unregeneracy is a state of
forgetfulness. God is forgotten. Sinners have lost all just sense of his
glory, authority, mercy, and judgment; living as if there were no God,
or as if they thought there was none. But if ever we are brought to be
the subjects of true conversion, we shall be brought to remember these
things. This divine change is fitly expressed by the case of the
prodigal, who is said to have _come to himself_, or to his right mind.
But further, true conversion consists not only in remembering but in
“_turning to the Lord_.” This part of the passage is expressive of a
cordial relinquishment of our idols, whatever they have been, and an
acquiescence in the gospel way of salvation by Christ alone. Once more,
true conversion to Christ will be accompanied with the “_worship_” of
him. Worship, as a religious exercise, is the homage of the heart,
presented to God according to his revealed will.... 2. The EXTENT of
conversion under the kingdom or reign of the Messiah: “_All the ends of
the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of
the nations shall worship before him._” It was fit that the accession of
the Gentiles should be reserved for the gospel day, that it might grace
the triumph of Christ over his enemies, and appear to be what it is,
“the travail of his soul.” This great and good work, begun in the
apostles’ days, _must_ go on, and “must increase,” till “_All the ends
of the world shall remember and turn_,” and “_all the kindreds of the
nations shall worship before him_.” Conversion work has been
_individual_; God has gathered sinners one by one. Thus it is at present
with us; but it will not be thus always. People will flock to Zion as
doves to their windows. Further, conversion work has hitherto been
circumscribed within certain parts of the world. But the time will come
when “all the kindreds of the earth” shall worship. These hopes are not
the flight of an ardent imagination; they are founded on the true
sayings of God. Finally, while we are concerned for the world, let us
not forget our own souls. So the whole world be saved and we lost, what
will it avail us?—_Condensed from Andrew Fuller._
_Verse 27._—“_All the ends of the world shall_ REMEMBER”—this is a
remarkable expression. It implies that man has forgotten God. It
represents all the successive generations of the world as but _one_, and
then it exhibits that one generation, as if it had been once in
paradise, suddenly remembering the Lord whom it had known there, but had
long forgotten.... The converted nations, we learn by this verse, will
not only obtain remembrance of their past loss, but will also be filled
with the knowledge of present duty.—_John Stevenson._
_Verse 27.—“All the nations of the world”_ (יִוְכְּרוּ _jizkeru_, the
same Hebrew root with אַוְכִּיר _azkir_) “_shall remember_;” why? what
is that? or what shall they remember? Even this: they shall turn to
the Lord, and worship him, in his name, in his ordinances; as is
explained in the words following of the verse: “_And all the families
of the nations_” (וְיִשְׁתַּחֲזוּ _jishtachavu_, “shall bow” down
themselves, or) “_worship before thee_,” etc. And so in Psalm lxxxvi.
9, “All nations whom thou hast made shall come” (וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ
_vejishtachavu_) “and they shall worship before thee;” and how shall
they do so? Even by recording, remembering, and making mention of the
glory of thy name; as in the words following (וִיבַבְּרוּ לִשְׁמֶךָ
_vicabbedu lishmecha_,) “and shall glorify thy name.”—_William
Strong’s “Saints’ Communion with God,” 1656._
_Verses 27, 28._—The one undeviating object of the Son all through was,
the glory of the Father: he came to do his will, and he fulfilled it
with all the unvarying intensity of the most heavenly affection. What,
then, will not be the exuberant joy of his heart, when in his glorious
kingdom, he shall see the Father beyond all measure glorified?... The
praise and honour and blessing which will be yielded to the Father in
that day through him, so that God shall be all in all, will make him
feel he underwent not a sorrow too much for such a precious
consummation.... Every note of thanksgiving which ascends to the Father,
whether from the fowls of the air, or the beasts of the field, or the
fishes of the sea, or the hills, or the mountains, or the trees of the
forest, or the rivers of the valleys—all shall gladden his heart, as
sweet in the ears of God, for the sake of him who redeemed even them
from the curse, and restored to them a harmony more musical than burst
from them on the birthday of their creation. And man! renewed and
regenerated man! for whose soul the blood was spilt, and for the
redemption of whose body death was overcome, how shall the chorus of his
thanksgiving, in its intelligent and articulate hallelujahs, be the
incense which that Saviour shall still love to present unto the Father,
a sweet-smelling savour through himself, who, that he might sanctify his
people by his own blood, suffered without the camp. How are the channels
choked up or impaired in this evil world, wherein the praises and glory
of our God should flow as a river! How will Christ then witness, to the
delight of his soul, all cleared and restored! No chill upon the heart,
no stammering in the tongue, in his Father’s praises! No understanding
dull, or eye feeble, in the apprehension of his glory! No hand unready,
or foot stumbling, in the fulfilling of his commandments. God, the glory
of his creatures: his glory their service and their love; and _all_ this
the reward to Jesus of once suffering himself.—_C. J. Goodhart, M.A., in
“Bloomsbury Lent Lectures,” 1848._
_Verse 29.—“And they shall bow that go down into the dust; their soul
liveth not;”_ that is, _whose soul liveth not_, by an Hebraism; it being
meant, that he who is of most desperate condition, being without hope of
life and salvation, his sins are so notorious, shall “eat” also of this
feast, and be turned to God to “worship” and serve him; being thus
plucked out of the jaws of death and everlasting destruction, as it
were, being before this very hour ready to seize upon him. The new
translation, “_None can keep alive his own soul_,” as it agreeth not
with the Hebrew, so it makes the sense more perplexed. By “_him that
goeth down to the dust, whose soul liveth not_,” some understand the
most miserably poor, who have nothing to feed upon, whereby their life
may be preserved, yet shall feed also of this feast as well as the rich,
and praise God. Ainsworth is for either spiritually poor and miserable,
because most wicked, or worldly poor; and there is an exposition of
Basil’s, understanding by the rich, the rich in faith and grace,
touching which, or the rich properly so called, he is indifferent. But
because it is said, “_The fat of the earth_,” I prefer the former, and
that the close of the verse may best answer to the first part; the
latter by “_those that are going to the dust_,” understand the miserably
poor. So that there is a commonplace of comfort for all, both richest,
and poorest, if they be subjects of God’s kingdom of grace: their souls
shall be alike fed by him and saved.—_John Mayer._
_Verse 29.—“All they that go down to the dust;”_ either those who stand
quivering on the brink of the grave, or those who occupy the humble,
sequestered walks of life. As the great and opulent of the earth are
intended in the first clause, it is not by any means unnatural to
suppose that the image of going “_down to the dust_,” is designed to
represent the poor and mean of mankind, who are unable to support
themselves, and to provide for their multiplied necessities. If the
grave be alluded to, as is thought by many eminent divines, the
beautiful sentiment of the verse will be, that multitudes of dying
sinners shall be brought to worship Jehovah, and that those who cannot
save or deliver themselves shall seek that shelter which none can find
but those who approach the mercy-seat. “Rich and poor,” as Bishop Horne
observes, “are invited”—that is, to “worship God;” “and the hour is
coming when all the race of Adam, as many as sleep in the ‘dust’ of the
earth, unable to raise themselves from thence, quickened and called
forth by the voice of the Son of Man, must bow the knee to King
Messiah.”—_John Morison._
_Verse 29._—To be brought to the dust, is, first, a circumlocution or
description of death: “_Shall the dust praise thee, shall it declare thy
truth?_” Psalm xxx. 9. That is shall I praise thee when I am among the
dead? “_What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit?_”
Not that profit, sure, I cannot bring thee in the tribute of praise when
my life’s gone out. Secondly, to be brought to the dust is a description
of any low and poor condition. “_All they that be fat upon earth_” (that
is, the great and mighty), “_shall eat and worship_” “_all they that go
down to the dust_” (that is, the mean and base), “_shall bow before
him_.” As if he had said, rich and poor, high and low, the king and the
beggar, have alike need of salvation by Jesus Christ, and must submit
unto him, that they may be saved, for, as it there follows, “_none can
keep alive his own soul_.” The captivity of the Jews in Babylon is
expressed under those notions of _death_, and of _dwelling in the dust_
(Isaiah xxvi. 19); to show how low, that no power but his who can raise
the dead, could work their deliverance.—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verse 29.—“None can keep alive his own soul.”_ And yet we look back to
our conversion, and its agonies of earnestness, its feelings of deep,
helpless dependence—of Christ’s being absolutely our daily, hourly
need—supplier—as a _past_ something—a stage of spiritual life which is
_over_. And we are satisfied to have it so. The Spirit of God moved over
our deadness, and breathed into us the breath of life. My soul became _a
living soul_. But was this enough? God’s word says, No. “None can _keep
alive_ his own soul.” My heart says, No. Truth must ever answer to
truth. I cannot (ah! have I not tried, and failed?) I cannot _keep
alive_ my own soul. We cannot live upon ourselves. Our physical life is
kept up by supply from without—air, food, warmth. So must the spiritual
life. Jesus gives, Jesus feeds us day by day, else must the life fade
out and die. “None can _keep alive_ his own soul.” It is not enough to
be made alive. I must be fed, and guided, and taught, and kept in life.
Mother, who hast brought a living babe into the world, is your work
done? Will you not nurse it, and feed it, and care for it, that it may
be _kept alive_? Lord, I am this babe. I live indeed, for I can crave
and cry. Leave me not, O my Saviour. Forsake not the work of thine own
hands. In thee I live. Hold me, carry me, feed me, let me abide in thee.
“For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the
nations. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they
that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive
his own soul.” In our work for God, we need to remember this. Is not the
conversion, the arousing of sinners, the great, and with many, the sole
aim in working for God? Should it be so? Let us think of this other
work. Let us help to _keep alive_. Perhaps it is less distinguished, as
it may be less distinguished to feed a starving child than to rescue a
drowning man. But let us walk less by sight, more by faith. Let us not
indeed neglect to call to life those who are spiritually dead. But oh!
let us watch for the more hidden needs of the living—the fading,
starving, fainting souls, which yet can walk and speak, and cover their
want and sorrow. Let us be fellow-workers with God in _all_ his work.
And with a deep heart-feeling of the need of _constant_ life supplies
from above, let us try how often, how freely, we may be made the
channels of those streams of the “water of life,”—for “none can keep
alive his own soul.”—_Mary B. M. Duncan, in “Bible Hours,” 1866._
_Verse 29._—Having considered the vastness and glory of the prospect,
our Lord next contemplates the reality and minuteness of its
accomplishment. He sets before his mind individual cases and particular
facts. He appears to look upon this picture of the future as we do upon
a grand historical painting of the past. It seems natural to gaze with
silent admiration on the picture as a whole, then to fix the attention
on particular groups, and testify our sense of the general excellence,
by expatiating on the truth and beauty of the several parts.—_John
Stevenson._
_Verse 30.—“A seed shall serve him.”_ This figurative expression
signifies Christ and his people, who yield true obedience to God—they
are called by this name in a spiritual and figurative, but most
appropriate sense. The idea is taken from the operations of the
husbandman who carefully reserves every year a portion of his grain for
seed. Though it be small, compared with all the produce of his harvest,
yet he prizes it very highly and estimates it by the value of that crop
which it may yield in the succeeding autumn. Nor does he look only to
the quantity, he pays particular regard to the quality of the seed. He
reserves only the best, nay, he will put away his own if spoiled, that
he may procure better. The very smallest quantity of really good seed,
is, to him, an object of great desire, and if by grievous failure of
crops, he should not be able to procure more than a single grain, yet
would he accept it thankfully, preserve it carefully, and plant it in
the most favourable soil. Such is the source from which the metaphor is
taken.—_John Stevenson._
_Verse 31.—“And shall declare his righteousness.”_ The occupation of the
seed is to “_declare_,” to testify from their own experience, from their
own knowledge and convictions, that grand subject, theme, or lesson,
which they have learned.... They will declare the righteousness of God
the Holy Ghost in his convictions of sin, in his reproofs of conscience,
in his forsaking of the impenitent, and in his abiding with the
believer. And in a special manner, they will declare the righteousness
of God the Son, during his human life, in his sufferings, and death, as
man’s surety, by which he “magnified the law, and made it honourable”
(Isa. xlii. 21), and on account of which they are able to address him by
this name, “The Lord our Righteousness.” (Jer. xxiii. 6.)—_John
Stevenson._
_Verse 31.—“A people that shall be born.”_ What is this? What people is
there that is not born? According to my apprehensions I think this is
said for this reason—because the people of other kings are formed by
laws, by customs, and by manners; by which, however, you can never move
a man to true righteousness: it is only a fable of righteousness, and a
mere theatrical scene or representation. For even the law of Moses could
form the people of the Jews unto nothing but unto hypocrisy. But the
people of this King are not formed by laws to make up an external
appearance, but they are begotten by water and by the Spirit unto a new
creature of truth.—_Martin Luther._
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Whole Psalm._—The volume entitled “Christ on the Cross,” by Rev. J.
Stevenson, has a sermon upon every verse. We give the headings, they are
suggestive. _Verse 1._ The Cry. 2. The Complaint. 3. The Acknowledgment.
4-6. The Contrast. 6. The Reproach. 7. The Mockery. 8. The Taunt. 9, 10.
The Appeal. 11. The Entreaty. 12, 13. The Assault. 14. The Faintness.
15. The Exhaustion. 16. The Piercing. 17. The Emaciation. 17. The
Insulting Gaze. 18. The Partition of the Garments and Casting Lots.
19-21. The Importunity. 21. The Deliverance. 22. The Gratitude. 23. The
Invitation. 24. The Testimony. 25. The Vow. 26. The Satisfaction of the
Meek; the Seekers of the Lord praising Him; the Eternal Life. 27. The
Conversion of the World. 28. The Enthronement. 29. The Author of the
Faith. 30. The Seed. 31. The Everlasting Theme and Occupation. The
Finish of the Faith.
_Verse 1._—The Saviour’s dying cry.
_Verse 2.—Unanswered prayer._ Enquire the reasons for it; encourage our
hope concerning it; urge to continuance in importunity.
_Verse 3._—Whatever God may do, we must settle it in our minds that he
is holy and to be praised.
_Verse 4._—God’s faithfulness in past ages a plea for the present.
_Verses 4, 5._—Ancient saints. I. Their life. “_They trusted._” II.
Their practice. “_They cried._” III. Their experience. “_Were not
confounded._” IV. Their voice to us.
_Verses 6-18._—Full of striking sentences upon our Lord’s sufferings.
_Verse 11._—A saint’s troubles, his arguments in prayer.
_Verse 20.—“My darling.”_ A man’s soul to be very dear to him.
_Verse 21 (first clause).—“Lion’s mouth.”_ Men of cruelty. The devil.
Sin. Death. Hell.
_Verse 22._—Christ as a brother, a preacher, and a precentor.
_Verse 22._—A sweet subject, a glorious preacher, a loving relationship,
a heavenly exercise.
_Verse 23.—A threefold duty_, “praise him,” “glorify him;” “fear him;”
_towards one object_, “the Lord;” _for three characters_, “ye that fear
him, seed of Jacob, seed of Israel,” _which are but one person_.
_Verse 23._—Glory to God the fruit of the tree on which Jesus died.
_Verse 24._—A consoling fact in history attested by universal
experience.
_Verse 24 (first clause)._—A common fear dispelled.
_Verse 25._—Public praise. I. A delightful exercise—“praise.” II. A
personal participation—“My praise.” III. A fitting object—“of thee.” IV.
A special source—“from thee.” V. An appropriate place—“in the great
congregation.”
_Verse 25 (second clause).—Vows._ What vows to make, when and how to
make them, and the importance of paying them.
_Verse 26.—Spiritual feasting._ The guests, the food, the host, and the
satisfaction.
_Verse 26 (second clause).—Seekers who shall be singers._ Who they are?
What they shall do? When? and what is the reason for expecting that they
shall?
_Verse 27 (last clause).—Life everlasting._ What lives? Source of life.
Manner of life. Why for ever? What occupation? What comfort to be
derived from it?
_Verse 27._—Nature of true conversion, and extent of it under the reign
of the Messiah.—_Andrew Fuller._
_Verse 27._—The universal triumph of Christianity certain.
_Verse 27._—The order of conversion. See the Exposition.
_Verse 28._—The empire of the Kings of kings as it is, and as it shall
be.
_Verse 29._—Grace for the rich, grace for the poor, but all lost without
it.
_Verse 29 (last clause)._—A weighty text upon the vanity of
self-confidence.
_Verse 30._—The perpetuity of the church.
_Verse 30 (last clause)._—Church history, the marrow of all history.
_Verse 31._—Future prospects for the church. I. Conversions certain. II.
Preachers promised. III. Succeeding generations blest. IV. Gospel
published. V. Christ exalted.
Footnote 14:
Reprinted in Nichol’s Series of Commentaries.
Footnote 15:
Septuagint version.
PSALM XXIII.