which is used in the first sentence. Already the sweet singer has drawn
nearer to his heavenly helper, for he makes bold to grasp him with the
hand of assured possession, calling him, my God. Oh the more than
celestial music of that word—“_my God!_” It is to be observed that the
Psalmist does not deny expression to those gracious feelings with which
God had favoured him; he does not fall into loathsome mock modesty, but
finding in his soul a desire to seek the Lord he avows it; believing
that he had a rightful interest in Jehovah he declares it, and knowing
that he had confidence in his God he professes it; “_O my God, I trust
in thee_.” Faith is the cable which binds our boat to the shore, and by
pulling at it we draw ourselves to the land; faith unites us to God, and
then draws us near to him. As long as the anchor of faith holds there is
no fear in the worst tempest; if that should fail us there would be no
hope left. We must see to it that our faith is sound and strong, for
otherwise prayer cannot prevail with God. Woe to the warrior who throws
away his shield; what defence can be found for him who finds no defence
in God? “_Let me not be ashamed._” Let not my disappointed hopes makes
me feel ashamed of my former testimonies to thy faithfulness. Many were
on the watch for this. The best of men have their enemies, and should
pray against them that they may not see their wicked desires
accomplished. “_Let not mine enemies triumph over me._” Suffer no wicked
mouth to make blasphemous mirth out of my distresses by asking “Where is
thy God?” There is a great jealousy in believers for the honour of God,
and they cannot endure that unbelievers should taunt them with the
failure of their expectations from the God of their salvation. All other
trusts will end in disappointment and eternal shame, but our confidences
shall never be confounded.
3. “_Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed._” Suffering enlarges
the heart by creating the power to sympathize. If we pray eagerly for
ourselves, we shall not long be able to forget our fellow-sufferers.
None pity the poor like those who have been or are still poor, none have
such tenderness for the sick as those who have been long in ill health
themselves. We ought to be grateful for occasional griefs if they
preserve us from chronic hard-heartedness; for of all afflictions, an
unkind heart is the worst, it is a plague to its possessor, and a
torment to those around him. Prayer when it is of the Holy Ghost’s
teaching is never selfish; the believer does not sue for monopolies for
himself, but would have all in like case to partake of divine mercy with
him. The prayer may be viewed as a promise; our Heavenly Father will
never let his trustful children find him untrue or unkind. He will ever
be mindful of his covenant. “_Let them be ashamed which transgress
without cause._” David had given his enemies no provocation; their
hatred was wanton. Sinners have no justifiable reason or valid excuse
for transgressing; they benefit no one, not even themselves by their
sins; the law against which they transgress is not harsh or unjust; God
is not a tyrannical ruler, providence is not a bondage: men sin because
they will sin, not because it is either profitable or reasonable to do
so. Hence shame is their fitting reward. May they blush with penitential
shame now, or else they will not be able to escape the everlasting
contempt and the bitter shame which is the promotion of fools in the
world to come.
4. “_Shew me thy ways, O Lord._” Unsanctified natures clamour for their
own way, but gracious spirits cry, “Not my will, but thine be done.” We
cannot at all times discern the path of duty, and at such times it is
our wisdom to apply to the Lord himself. Frequently the dealings of God
with us are mysterious, and then also we may appeal to him as his own
interpreter, and in due time he will make all things plain. Moral,
providential and mental forms of guidance are all precious gifts of a
gracious God to a teachable people. The second petition, “_teach me thy
paths_,” appears to mean more than the first, and may be illustrated by
the case of a little child who should say to his father, “Father, first
tell me which is the way, and then teach my little trembling feet to
walk in it.” What weak dependent creatures we are! How constantly we cry
to the Strong for strength!
5. “_Lead me in thy truth, and teach me._” The same request as in the
last verse. The little child having begun to walk, asks to be still led
onward by its parent’s helping hand, and to be further instructed in the
alphabet of truth. Experimental teaching is the burden of this prayer.
Lead me according to thy truth, and prove thyself faithful; lead me into
truth that I may know its preciousness, lead me by the way of truth that
I may manifest its spirit. David knew much, but he felt his ignorance
and desired to be still in the Lord’s school; four times over in these
two verses he applies for a scholarship in the college of grace. It were
well for many professors if instead of following their own devices, and
cutting out new paths of thought for themselves, they would enquire for
the good old ways of God’s own truth, and beseech the Holy Ghost to give
them sanctified understandings and teachable spirits. “_For thou art the
God of my salvation._” The Three-One Jehovah is the Author and Perfector
of salvation to his people. Reader, is he the God of _your_ salvation?
Do you find in the Father’s election, in the Son’s atonement, and in the
Spirit’s quickening all the grounds of your eternal hopes? If so, you
may use this as an argument for obtaining further blessings; if the Lord
has ordained to save you, surely he will not refuse to instruct you in
his ways. It is a happy thing when we can address the Lord with the
confidence which David here manifests, it gives us great power in
prayer, and comfort in trial. “_On thee do I wait all the day._”
Patience is the fair handmaid and daughter of faith; we cheerfully wait
when we are certain that we shall not wait in vain. It is our duty and
our privilege to wait upon the Lord in service, in worship, in
expectancy, in trust all the days of our life. Our faith will be tried
faith, and if it be of the true kind, it will bear continued trial
without yielding. We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we
remember how long and how graciously he once waited for us.
6. “_Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kindnesses._”
We are usually tempted in seasons of affliction to fear that our God has
forgotten us, or forgotten his usual kindness towards us; hence the soul
doth as it were put the Lord in remembrance, and beseech him to
recollect those deeds of love which once he wrought towards it. There is
a holy boldness which ventures thus to deal with the Most High, let us
cultivate it; but there is also an unholy unbelief which suggests our
fears, let us strive against it with all our might. What gems are those
two expressions, “_tender mercies and loving-kindnesses_”! They are the
virgin honey of language; for sweetness no words can excel them; but as
for the gracious favours which are intended by them, language fails to
describe them.
“When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I’m lost
In wonder, love and praise.”
If the Lord will only do unto us in the future as in the past, we shall
be well content. We seek no change in the divine action, we only crave
that the river of grace may never cease to flow.
“_For they have been ever of old._” A more correct translation would be
“from eternity.” David was a sound believer in the doctrine of God’s
eternal love. The Lord’s loving-kindnesses are no novelties. When we
plead with him to bestow them upon us, we can urge use and custom of the
most ancient kind. In courts of law men make much of precedents, and we
may plead them at the throne of grace. “Faith,” saith Dickson, “must
make use of experiences and read them over unto God out of the register
of a sanctified memory, as a recorder to him who cannot forget.” With an
unchangeable God it is a most effectual argument to remind him of his
ancient mercies and his eternal love. By tracing all that we enjoy to
the fountain-head of everlasting love we shall greatly cheer our hearts,
and those do us but sorry service who try to dissuade us from meditating
upon election and its kindred topics.
7 “_Remember not the sins of my youth._” Sin is _the_ stumbling-block.
This is the thing to be removed. Lord, pass an act of oblivion for all
my sins, and especially for the hot-blooded wanton follies of my younger
years. Those offences which we remember with repentance God forgets, but
if we forget them, justice will bring them forth to punishment. The
world winks at the sins of young men, and yet they are not so little
after all; the bones of our youthful feastings at Satan’s table will
stick painfully in our throats when we are old men. He who presumes upon
his youth is poisoning his old age. How large a tear may wet this page
as some of us reflect upon the past! “_Nor my transgressions._” Another
word for the same evils. Sincere penitents cannot get through their
confessions at a gallop; they are constrained to use many bemoanings,
for their swarming sins smite them with so innumerable griefs. A painful
sense of any one sin provokes the believer to repentance for the whole
mass of his iniquities. Nothing but the fullest and clearest pardon will
satisfy a thoroughly awakened conscience. David would have his sins not
only forgiven, but forgotten.
“_According to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O
Lord._” David and the dying thief breathe the same prayer, and doubtless
they grounded it upon the same plea, viz, the free grace and unmerited
goodness of Jehovah. We dare not ask to have our portion measured from
the balances of justice, but we pray to be dealt with by the hand of
mercy.
8 Good and upright _is_ the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in
the way.
9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his
way.
10 All the paths of the LORD _are_ mercy and truth unto such as keep
his covenant and his testimonies.
These three verses are a meditation upon the attributes and acts of the
Lord. He who toils in the harvest field of prayer should occasionally
pause awhile and refresh himself with a meal of meditation.
8. “_Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in
the way._” Here the goodness and the rectitude of the divine character
are beheld in friendly union; he who would see them thus united in bonds
of perfect amity must stand at the foot of the cross and view them
blended in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. It is no less true than
wonderful that through the atonement the justice of God pleads as
strongly as his grace for the salvation of the sinners whom Jesus died
to save. Moreover, as a good man naturally endeavours to make others
like himself, so will the Lord our God in his compassion bring sinners
into the way of holiness and conform them to his own image; thus the
goodness of our God leads us to expect the reclaiming of sinful men. We
may not conclude from God’s goodness that he will save those sinners who
continue to wander in their own ways, but we may be assured that he will
renew transgressors’ hearts and guide them into the way of holiness. Let
those who desire to be delivered from sin take comfort from this. God
himself will condescend to be the teacher of sinners. What a ragged
school is this for God to teach in! God’s teaching is practical; he
teaches sinners not only the doctrine, but _the way_.
9. “_The meek will he guide in judgment._” Meek spirits are in high
favour with the Father of the meek and lowly Jesus, for he sees in them
the image of his only-begotten Son. They know their need of guidance,
and are willing to submit their own understandings to divine will, and
therefore the Lord condescends to be their guide. Humble spirits are in
this verse endowed with a rich inheritance; let them be of good cheer.
Trouble puts gentle spirits to their wits’ ends, and drives them to act
without discretion, but grace comes to the rescue, enlightens their mind
to follow that which is just, and helps them to discern the way in which
the Lord would have them to go. Proud of their own wisdom fools will not
learn, and therefore miss their road to heaven, but lowly hearts sit at
Jesu’s feet, and find the gate of glory, for “_the meek will he teach
his way_.” Blessed teacher! Favoured scholar! Divine lesson! My soul, be
thou familiar with the whole.
10. This is a rule without an exception. God is good to those that be
good. Mercy and faithfulness shall abound towards those who through
mercy are made faithful. Whatever outward appearances may threaten we
should settle it steadfastly in our minds that while grace enables us to
obey the Lord’s will we need not fear that Providence will cause us any
real loss. There shall be mercy in every unsavoury morsel, and
faithfulness in every bitter drop; let not our hearts be troubled, but
let us rest by faith in the immutable covenant of Jehovah, which is
ordered in all things and sure. Yet this is not a general truth to be
trampled upon by swine, it is a pearl for a child’s neck. Gracious
souls, by faith resting upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus, _keep_
the _covenant_ of the Lord, and, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit,
they walk in _his testimonies_; these will find all things co-working
for their good, but to the sinner there is no such promise. Keepers of
the covenant shall be kept by the covenant; those who follow the Lord’s
commands shall find the Lord’s mercy following them.
11 For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it _is_
great.
This sentence of prayer would seem out of place were it not that prayer
is always in its place, whether in season or out of season. Meditation
having refreshed the Psalmist, he falls to his weighty work again, and
wrestles with God for the remission of his sin. “_For thy name’s sake, O
Lord._” Here is a blessed, never-failing plea. Not for our sakes or our
merits’ sake, but to glorify thy mercy, and to show forth the glory of
thy divine attributes. “_Pardon mine iniquity._” It is confessed, it is
abhorred, it is consuming my heart with grief; Lord forgive it; let
thine own lips pronounce my absolution. “_For it is great._” It weighs
so heavily upon me that I pray thee remove it. Its greatness is no
difficulty with thee, for thou art a great God, but the misery which it
causes to me is my argument with thee for speedy pardon. Lord, the
patient is sore sick, therefore, heal him. To pardon a great sinner will
bring thee great glory, therefore for thy name’s sake pardon me. Observe
how this verse illustrates the logic of faith, which is clean contrary
to that of a legal spirit; faith looks not for merit in the creature,
but hath regard to the goodness of the Creator; and instead of being
staggered by the demerits of sin it looks to the precious blood, and
pleads all the more vigorously because of the urgency of the case.
12 What man _is_ he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the
way _that_ he shall choose.
13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the
earth.
14 The secret of the LORD _is_ with them that fear him; and he will
shew them his covenant.
15 Mine eyes _are_ ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet
out of the net.
12. “_What man is he that feareth the Lord?_” Let the question provoke
self-examination. Gospel privileges are not for every pretender. Art
thou of the seed royal or no? “_Him shall he teach in the way that he
shall choose._” Those whose hearts are right shall not err for want of
heavenly direction. Where God sanctifies the heart he enlightens the
head. We all wish to choose our way; but what a mercy is it when the
Lord directs that choice, and makes free-will to be good-will! If we
make our will God’s will, God will let us have our will. God does not
violate our will, but leaves much to our choice; nevertheless, he
instructs our wills, and so we choose that which is well-pleasing in his
sight. The will should be subject to law; there is a way which we should
choose, but so ignorant are we that we need to be taught, and so wilful
that none but God himself can teach us effectually.
13. He who fears God has nothing else to fear. “_His soul shall dwell at
ease._” He shall lodge in the chamber of content. One may sleep as
soundly in the little bed in the corner as in the Great Bed of Ware; it
is not abundance but content that gives true ease. Even here, having
learned by grace both to abound and to be empty, the believer dwells at
ease; but how profound will be the ease of his soul for ever! There he
will enjoy the “_otium cum dignitate_;” ease and glory shall go
together. Like a warrior whose battles are over, or a husbandman whose
barns are full, his soul shall take its ease, and be merry for ever.
“_His seed shall inherit the earth._” God remembers, Isaac for the sake
of Abraham, and Jacob for the sake of Isaac. Good men’s sons have a
goodly portion to begin the world with, but many of them, alas! turn a
father’s blessing into a curse. The promise is not broken because in
some instances men wilfully refuse to receive it; moreover, it is in its
spiritual meaning that it now holds good; our spiritual seed do inherit
all that was meant by “_the earth_,” or Canaan; they receive the
blessing of the new covenant. May the Lord make us the joyful parents of
many spiritual children, and we shall have no fears about their
maintenance, for the Lord will make each one of them princes in all the
earth.
14. “_The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him._” Some read it
“the friendship:” it signifies familiar intercourse, confidential
intimacy, and select fellowship. This is a great secret. Carnal minds
cannot guess what is intended by it, and even believers cannot explain
it in words, for it must be felt to be known. The higher spiritual life
is necessarily a path which the eagle’s eye hath not known, and which
the lion’s whelp has not travelled; neither natural wisdom nor strength
can force a door into this inner chamber. Saints have the key of
heaven’s hieroglyphics; they can unriddle celestial enigmas. They are
initiated into the fellowship of the skies; they have heard words which
it is not possible for them to repeat to their fellows. “_And he will
shew them his covenant._” Its antiquity, security, righteousness,
fulness, graciousness and excellence shall be revealed to their hearts
and understandings, and above all, their own part in it shall be sealed
to their souls by the witness of the Holy Spirit. The designs of love
which the Lord has to his people in the covenant of grace, he has been
pleased to show to believers in the Book of Inspiration, and by his
Spirit he leads us into the mystery, even the hidden mystery of
redemption. He who does not know the meaning of this verse, will never
learn it from a commentary; let him look to the cross for the secret
lies there.
15. “_Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord._” The writer claims to be
fixed in his trust, and constant in his expectation; he looks in
confidence and waits in hope. We may add to this look of faith and hope
the obedient look of service, the humble look of reverence, the admiring
look of wonder, the studious look of meditation and the tender look of
affection. Happy are those whose eyes are never removed from their God.
“The eye,” says Solomon, “is never satisfied with seeing,” but this
sight is the most satisfying in the world. “_For he shall pluck my feet
out of the net._” Observe the conflicting condition in which a gracious
soul may be placed, his eyes are in heaven and yet his feet are
sometimes in a net; his nobler nature ceases not to behold the glories
of God, while his baser parts are enduring the miseries of the world. A
net is the common metaphor for temptation. The Lord often keeps his
people from falling into it, and if they have fallen he rescues them.
The word “_pluck_” is a rough word, and saints who have fallen into sin
find that the means of their restoration are not always easy to the
flesh; the Lord plucks at us sharply to let us feel that sin is an
exceeding bitter thing. But what a mercy is here! Believer, be very
grateful for it. The Lord will deliver us from the cunning devices of
our cruel enemy, and even if through infirmity we have fallen into sin,
he will not leave us to be utterly destroyed but will pluck us out of
our dangerous state; though our feet are in the net, if our eyes are up
unto God, mercy certainly will interpose.
16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I _am_ desolate
and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: _O_ bring thou me out of
my distresses.
18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with
cruel hatred.
20 O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put
my trust in thee.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.
22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
16. His own eyes were fixed upon God, but he feared that the Lord had
averted his face from him in anger. Oftentimes unbelief suggests that
God has turned his back upon us. If we know that we turn to God we need
not fear that he will turn from us, but may boldly cry, “_Turn thee unto
me_.” The ground of quarrel is always in ourselves, and when that is
removed there is nothing to prevent our full enjoyment of communion with
God. “_Have mercy upon me._” Saints still must stand upon the footing of
mercy; notwithstanding all their experience they cannot get beyond the
publican’s prayer, “Have mercy upon me.” “_For I am desolate and
afflicted._” He was lonely and bowed down. Jesus was in the days of his
flesh in just such a condition; none could enter into the secret depths
of his sorrows, he trod the winepress alone, and hence he is able to
succour in the fullest sense those who tread the solitary path.
“Christ leads me through no darker rooms
Than he went through before;
He that into God’s kingdom comes,
Must enter by this door.”
17. “_The troubles of my heart are enlarged._” When trouble penetrates
the heart it is trouble indeed. In the case before us, the heart was
swollen with grief like a lake surcharged with water by enormous floods;
this is used as an argument for deliverance, and it is a potent one.
When the darkest hour of the night arrives we may expect the dawn; when
the sea is at its lowest ebb the tide must surely turn; and when our
troubles are enlarged to the greatest degree, then may we hopefully
pray, “_O bring thou me out of my distresses_.”
18. “_Look upon mine affliction and my pain._” Note the many trials of
the saints; here we have no less than six words all descriptive of woe.
“Desolate, and afflicted, troubles enlarged, distresses, affliction, and
pain.” But note yet more the submissive and believing spirit of a true
saint; all he asks for is, “Lord, look upon my evil plight;” he does not
dictate or even express a complaint; a look from God will content him,
and that being granted he asks no more. Even more noteworthy is the way
in which the believer under affliction discovers the true source of all
the mischief, and lays the axe at the root of it. “_Forgive all my
sins_,” is the cry of a soul that is more sick of sin than of pain, and
would sooner be forgiven than healed. Blessed is the man to whom sin is
more unbearable than disease, he shall not be long before the Lord shall
both forgive his iniquity and heal his diseases. Men are slow to see the
intimate connection between sin and sorrow, a grace-taught heart alone
feels it.
19. “_Consider mine enemies._” Watch them, weigh them, check them,
defeat them. “_For they are many._” They need the eyes of Argus to watch
them, and the arms of Hercules to match them, but the Lord is more than
sufficient to defeat them. The devils of hell and the evils of earth are
all vanquished when the Lord makes bare his arm. “_They hate me with
cruel hatred._” It is the breath of the serpent’s seed to hate; their
progenitor was a hater, and they themselves must needs imitate him. No
hate so cruel as that which is unreasonable and unjust. A man can
forgive one who has injured him, but one whom he has injured he hates
implacably. “Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves,”
is still our Master’s word to us.