it. This is another version of the prayer, “Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”
“_Let me not be ashamed._” This is the one fear which like a ghost
haunted the Psalmist’s mind. He trembled lest his faith should become
the subject of ridicule through the extremity of his affliction. Noble
hearts can brook anything but shame. David was of such a chivalrous
spirit, that he could endure any torment rather than to be put to
dishonour. “_For I put my trust in thee._” And therefore the name of God
would be compromised if his servants were deserted; this the believing
heart can by no means endure.
21. “_Let integrity and uprightness preserve me._” What better practical
safeguards can a man require? If we do not prosper with these as our
guides, it is better for us to suffer adversity. Even the ungodly world
admits that “honesty is the best policy.” The heir of heaven makes
assurance doubly sure, for apart from the rectitude of his public life,
he enlists the guardian care of heaven in secret prayer: “_for I wait on
thee_.” To pretend to wait on God without holiness of life is religious
hypocrisy, and to trust to our own integrity without calling upon God is
presumptuous atheism. Perhaps the integrity and uprightness referred to
are those righteous attributes of God, which faith rests upon as a
guarantee that the Lord will not forfeit his word.
22. “_Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles._” This is a very
comprehensive prayer, including all the faithful and all their trials.
Sorrow had taught the Psalmist sympathy, and given him communion with
the tried people of God; he therefore remembers them in his prayers.
_Israel_, the tried, the wrestling, the conquering hero, fit
representative of all the saints. Israel in Egypt, in the wilderness, in
wars with Canaanites, in captivity, fit type of the church militant on
earth. Jesus is the Redeemer from trouble as well as sin, he is a
complete Redeemer, and from every evil he will rescue every saint.
Redemption by blood is finished: O God, send us redemption by power.
Amen and Amen.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—This is the first of the seven alphabetical Psalms, the
others being the 34th, 37th, 111th, 112th, 119th, and 145th. They are
specimens of that acrostic mode of writing which seems to have been once
so fashionable among the Jews, as is testified by numerous instances of
such composition, which are to be met with in their works. Other poetic
artifices were likewise adopted. We find many instances of poems being
so constructed, that a prayer name, or some particular sentiment, would
be not unfrequently expressed by the initial letters of the verses. See
Bartolocci’s “Bibliotheca Rabbinica,” vol. ii. p. 260, where examples of
such artifices are cited.—_George Phillips, B.D., in “The Psalms in
Hebrew with a Commentary,” 1846._
_Whole Psalm._—This is the first fully _alphabetic_ Psalm.... The only
lesson which the use of the _alphabetic_ form may teach is this:—that
the Holy Spirit was willing to throw his words into all the moulds of
human thought and speech; and whatever ingenuity man may exhibit in
intellectual efforts, he should consecrate these to his Lord, making him
the “_Alpha and Omega_” of his pursuits.—_Andrew A. Bonar._
_Whole Psalm._—Saving grace is a secret that no man knows but the elect
and the elect cannot know it neither without special illumination:—1.
Special showing—“_Shew me thy ways, O Lord_,” saith David. 2. Barely
showing will not serve the turn, but there must be a special
teaching—“_Teach me thy paths_,” ver. 4. 3. Bare teaching will not avail
neither, but there must be a special inculcative teaching—“_Teach me in
thy ways_,” to ver. 8. 4. Inculcative teaching will not do the deed
neither, but there must be a special directive teaching—“_Guide in
judgment and teach_,” ver. 9. 5. Directive teaching will not be
sufficient neither, but there must be a special manu-ductive
teaching—“_Lead me forth in thy truth, and teach me_,” ver. 5. 6.
Manu-ductive teaching will not be effectual, but there must be also a
special, choice teaching, a determination of the very will, an elective
teaching—“_Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose_,” verse
12. And what secret is this? not common grace, for that is not the
secret of the elect, but special and peculiar grace. 1. The special
grace of prayer—“_Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul_,” verse 1. 2.
A special grace of faith—“_My God, I trust in thee_,” ver. 2. 3. A
special grace of repentance—“_Remember not the sins of my youth_,” etc.,
verse 7. 4. A special grace of hope—“_My hope is in thee_,” verse 21. 5.
A special grace of continual living in God’s sight, and dependence upon
God—“_Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord_,” verse 15. 6. Which is the
root of all God’s special and eternal favour and mercy—“_Remember, O
Lord thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been
ever of old_,” verse 6; even God’s special mercy to him in particular,
verse 11.—_William Fenner, in “Hidden Manna,” 1626._
_Whole Psalm._—In these four Psalms which immediately follow one another
we may find the soul of David presented in all the several postures of
piety—_lying_, _standing_, _sitting_, _kneeling_. In the twenty-second
Psalm, he is _lying_ all along, _falling_ flat on his face, low
_grovelling_ on the ground, even almost entering into a degree of
despair. Speaking of himself in the history of Christ in the mystery,
“My God. why hast thou forsaken me?” In the twenty-third Psalm, he is
_standing_, and through God’s favour, in despite of his foes, trampling
and triumphing over all opposition; “The Lord is my shepherd, therefore
shall I lack nothing.” In the twenty-fourth Psalm he is _sitting_, like
a doctor in his chair, or a professor in his place, reading a lecture of
divinity, and describing the character of that man—how he must be
accomplished—“who shall ascend into the holy hill,” and hereafter be
partaker of happiness. In this twenty-fifth Psalm, he is _kneeling_,
with hands and voice lifted up to God, and on these two hinges the whole
Psalm turneth; the one is a hearty beseeching of God’s mercy, the other
a humble bemoaning of his own misery.—_Thomas Fuller._
_Verse 1.—“Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.”_ _The lifting up of
the heart_ presupposeth a former dejection of his soul. The soul of man
is pressed down with sin and with the cares of this world, which, as
lead doth the net, draweth it so down, that it cannot mount above till
God send spiritual prayers, as cork to the net, to exalt it; which arise
out of faith, as the flame doth out of the fire, and which must be free
of secular cares, and all things pressing down, which showeth unto us
that worldlings can no more pray than a mole is able to fly. But
Christians are as eagles which mount upward. Seeing then the heart of
man by nature is fixed to the earth, and of itself is no more able to
rise therefrom than a stone which is fixed in the ground, till God
raises it by his power, word, and workmen; it should be our principal
petition to the Lord, that it would please him to draw us, that we might
run after him; that he would exalt and lift up our hearts to heaven,
that they may not lie still in the puddle of this earth.—_Archibald
Symson._
_Verse 1.—“Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.”_ A godly man prays
as a builder builds. Now a builder first layeth a foundation, and
because he cannot finish in one day, he comes the second day, and finds
the frame standing that he made the first day, and then he adds a second
day’s work; and then he comes a third day and finds his two former days’
work standing; then he proceeds to a third day’s work, and makes walls
to it, and so he goes on till his building be finished. So prayer is the
building of the soul till it reach up to heaven; therefore a godly heart
prays, and reacheth higher and higher in prayer, till at last his
prayers reach up to God.—_William Fenner._
_Verse 1.—“Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul:”_ _unto thee_ in the
fulness of thy merits, _unto thee_ in the riches of thy grace; _unto
thee_ in the embraces of thy love and comforts of thy Spirit; _unto
thee_, that thy thorns may be my crown, thy blood my balsam, thy curse
my blessing, thy death my life, thy cross my triumph. Thus is my “life
hid with Christ in God;” and if so, then where should be my soul, but
where is my life? And, therefore, “_unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my
soul_.” ... O make good thy name of Lord unto me; as Lord, rebuke Satan
and restrain all earthly and carnal affections, that they do not once
dare to whisper a temptation to my soul, a distraction to my thoughts,
whilst I am in communion with thee, in prayer at thy holy ordinance. Do
thou as Lord, rule me by thy grace, govern me by thy Spirit, defend me
by thy power, and crown me with thy salvation. Thou Lord, the preserver
of heaven and earth, “thou openest thy hand, and satisfiest the desire
of every living thing.” Psalm cxlv. 16. O open now thine hand, thy
bosom, thy bounty, thy love, and satisfy the desires of my longing soul,
which I here “_lift up unto thee_.”—_Robert Mossom, 1657._
_Verse 1.—“Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.”_ Cyprian saith,
that in the primitive times the minister was wont to prepare the
people’s minds to pray, by prefacing, _Sursum corda_, lift up your
hearts. The Jews at this day write upon the walls of their synagogues
these words, _Tephillah belo cavannah ceguph belo neshamah_; that is, A
prayer without the intention of the affection is like a body without a
soul. And yet their devotion is a mere outside, saith one—a brainless
head and a soulless body: “This people draweth nigh to me with their
lips, but their heart is far from me.” Isaiah xxix. 13. A carnal man can
as little _lift up his heart_ in prayer, as a mole can fly. A David
finds it a hard task; since the best heart is lumpish, and naturally
beareth downwards, as the poise of a clock, as the lead of a net. Let us
therefore “lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset
us;” and pray to God to draw us up to himself, as the loadstone doth the
iron.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 1._—“_Unto thee_ I lift up my _soul_.” This follows by a natural
consequence after the sublime appeal in the foregoing Psalm to the gates
of heaven to _lift up_ their heads to receive Christ, the Lord of hosts
and the King of glory, ascending into heaven. As the Collect for
Ascension-day expresses it, “Grant, O Lord, that like as we do believe
thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended into the
heavens, so we may also in _heart_ and _mind_ thither _ascend_;” and for
the Sunday after Ascension, “O God, who hast _exalted_ thine only Son
with great triumph to thy kingdom in heaven, send thy Holy Ghost to
comfort us, and _exalt us_ to the same place, whither our Saviour Christ
is gone before.”—_Christopher Wordsworth, in loc._
_Verse 1.—“I lift up my soul,”_ alluding to the sacrifices, which were
wont to be _lifted up_. Hence prayers not answered, not accepted, are
said to be stopped from ascending. Lam. iii. 44. When you met with such
expressions in the Old Testament concerning prayer, you must still
understand them to be allusions to the sacrifices, because the
sacrifices were _lifted up_ and did ascend.—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verse 1.—“My soul.”_ But how shall I call it mine, seeing it is thine,
thine by purchase, thine having bought it with thy blood? Yea, is it not
thy spouse whom thou hast wedded to thyself by thy Spirit through faith?
And is not this holy sacrament the marriage feast? If so, sure then, my
Jesus, I was lost in myself, till found in thee; and therefore my soul
is now, and not till now, truly mine, in being wholly thine; so that I
can say with confidence, “_I lift up my soul unto thee_.”—_Robert
Mossom._
_Verse 2, 3._—When David had prayed, “_O my God, I trust in thee; let me
not be ashamed!_” In the next verse, as if conscious to himself that his
prayers were too restrictive, narrow, and niggardly, he enlargeth the
bounds thereof, and builds them on a broader bottom, “_Yea, let none
that wait on thee be ashamed_.” Thus it is that charity in the midst of
our religious devotions must have _rehoboth_ (room enough to expatiate
in). Our petitions must not be pent or confined to our own private good,
but extended to the benefit of all God’s servants, in what condition
soever.—_Thomas Fuller._
_Verse 3.—“Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed.”_ To wit, neither
by their own disappointments, nor mine. For this last some add, because
if he should fail of his hopes, he knew this would be a great
discouragement of others.—_Arthur Jackson, M.A., 1593-1666._
_Verse 3.—“Let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.”_ All
persons who transgress, do it, in some sense, without cause; since they
cannot excuse or justify their conduct. God is so amiable and excellent
in every part of his great name, that he deserves our constant reverence
and love. His law is so holy, just, and good, and all his precepts
concerning all things so righteous and calculated to make us happy, that
the mouth of every transgressor must be stopped. Hence we all must be
covered with shame, if dealt with according to our deserts, for all have
sinned. But since God has promised to be merciful to those who truly
repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel, shame will be the
portion of those only who wilfully persist in their wickedness, and
refuse to return to God by Jesus Christ. These then are the persons whom
the Psalmist speaks of as transgressing without cause, and doubtless
these have no cloak for their sin.—_William Richardson, 1825._
_Verse 3.—“Let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.”_ Let
shame be sent to the right owner, even to those that deal disloyally,
unprovoked on my part. And so it was; for Achitophel hanged himself,
Absalom was trussed up by the hand of God, and dispatched by Joab; the
people that conspired with him, partly perished by the sword, and partly
fled home, much ashamed of their enterprise. Oh, the power of prayer!
what may not the saints have for asking?—_John Trapp._
_Verse 4.—“Shew me thy ways, O Lord,”_ etc. There are the “_ways_” of
men, and the “_ways_” of God; the “_paths_” of sin, and the “_paths_” of
righteousness: there are “_thy ways_,” and there are _my_ ways; _thine_
the ways of truth, _mine_ the ways of error; _thine_ which are good in
thine eyes, and _mine_ which are good in mine eyes; _thine_ which lead
to heaven, _mine_ which lead to hell. Wherefore, “_Shew me thy ways, O
Lord; teach me thy paths_,” lest I mistake mine own ways for thine; yea,
lead me in the truth, and teach me, lest I turn out of thy ways into
mine own: “_shew me thy ways_,” by the ministry of thy word; “_teach me
thy paths_,” in the guidance of thy Spirit, “_lead me in thy truth_,” by
the assistance of thy grace.—_Robert Mossom._
_Verses 4, 5, 9._—Do what you know, and God will teach you what to do.
Do what you know to be your _present_ duty, and God will acquaint you
with your _future_ duty as it comes to be _present_. Make it your
business to avoid _known omissions_, and God will keep you from feared
commissions. This rule is of great moment, and therefore I will charge
it upon you by express Scripture. “_Shew me thy ways, O Lord_,” _i.e._,
those way wherein I cannot err. “_Teach me thy paths_,” _i.e._, that
narrow path which is too commonly unknown, those commands that are most
strict and difficult, verse 5. “_Lead me in thy truth, and teach me_,”
_i.e._, teach me evidently, that I may not be deceived; so teach me,
that I may not only know thy will, but do it. Here’s his prayer, but
what grounds hath he to expect audience? “_For thou art the God of my
salvation_,” _q.d._, thou Lord, wilt save me, and therefore do not
refuse to teach me. “_On thee do I wait all the day_,” _i.e._, the whole
day, and every day. Other arguments are couched in the following verses,
but _what_ answer? verse 9, “_The meek will he guide in judgment: and
the meek will he teach his way_,” _i.e._, those that submit their neck
to his yoke, those that are not conceited that they can guide
themselves; in necessary, great, and weighty matters they shall not
err.—_Samuel Annesley, D.D., (1620-1696), in “Morning Exercises at
Cripplegate.”_
_Verse 5.—“Lead me in thy truth, and teach me.”_ The soul that is
unsatiable in prayer, he proceeds, he gets near to God, he gains
something, he winds up his heart higher. As a child that seeth the
mother have an apple in her hand, and it would fain have it, it will
come and pull at the mother’s hand for it: now she lets go one finger,
and yet she holds it, and then he pulls again; and then she lets go
another finger, and yet she keeps it, and then the child pulls again,
and will never leave pulling and crying till it hath got it from its
mother. So a child of God, seeing all graces to be in God, he draws near
to the throne of grace begging for it, and by his earnest and faithful
prayers he opens the hands of God to him; God dealing as parents to
their children, holds them off for awhile; not that he is unwilling to
give, but to make them more earnest with God, to draw them the nearer to
himself.—_William Fenner._
_Verse 5.—“On thee do I wait all the day.”_ We must “_wait all the
day_.” 1. Though it be a _long_ day, though we be kept waiting a great
while, quite beyond our own reckoning; though when we have waited long,
we are still put to wait longer, and are bid, with the prophet’s
servant, to go yet seven times (1 Kings xviii. 43), before we perceive
the least sign of mercy coming.... 2. Though it be a _dark_ day, yet let
us wait upon God “_all the day_.” Though while we are kept waiting for
what God will do, we are kept in the dark concerning what he is doing,
and what is best for us to do, yet let us be content to wait in the
dark. Though we see not our signs, though there is none to tell us how
long, yet let us resolve to wait, how long soever it may be; for though
what God doth we know not now, yet we shall know hereafter when the
mystery of God shall be finished.... 3. Though it be a _stormy_ day, yet
we must wait upon God “_all the day_.” Though we are not only becalmed,
and do not get forward, but though the wind be contrary, and drive us
back; nay, though it be boisterous, and the church be tossed with
tempests, and ready to sink, yet we must hope the best, yet we must
wait, and weather the storm by patience. It is some comfort that Christ
is in the ship; the church’s cause is Christ’s own cause, he has
espoused it, and he will own it; he is embarked in the same bottom with
his people, and therefore why are you fearful?... _To wait on God_,
is—1. To live a life of desire towards God; to wait on him as the beggar
waits on his benefactor, with earnest desires to receive supplies from
him, as the sick and sore at Bethesda’s pool waited for the stirring of
the water, and attended in the porches with desire to be helped in and
healed.... 2. It is to live a life of delight in God, as the lover waits
on his beloved. Desire is love in motion, as a bird upon the wing;
delight is love at rest, as a bird upon the nest; now, though our desire
must still be so towards God, as that we must be wishing for more of
God, yet our delight must be so in God, as that we must never wish for
more than God.... 3. It is to live a life of dependence on God, as the
child waits on his father, whom he has confidence in, and on whom he
casts all his care. To wait on God is to expect all good to come to us
from him, as the worker of all good for us and in us, the giver of all
good to us, and the protector of us from all evil. Thus David explains
himself (Psalm lxii. 5), “My soul, wait thou only upon God,” and
continue still to do so, for “my expectation is from him.”.... 4. It is
to live a life of devotedness to God, as the servant waits on his
master, ready to observe his will, and to do his work, and in everything
to consult his honour and interest. To wait on God is entirely and
unreservedly to refer ourselves to his wise and holy directions and
disposals, and cheerfully to acquiesce in them, and comply with them.
The servant that waits on his master, chooseth not his own way, but
follows his master step by step. Thus must we wait on God, as those that
have no will of our own but what is wholly resolved into his, and must
therefore study to accommodate ourselves to his.—_Condensed from Matthew
Henry, on “Communion with God.”_
_Verse 5.—“On thee do I wait all the day.”_ “_On thee_,” whose hand of
bounty, whose bosom of love, yea, whose bowels of mercy are not only
opened, but enlarged to all humble penitents. “_On thee do I wait_,”
_wait_ to hear the secret voice of thy Spirit, speaking peace unto my
conscience, _wait_ to feel the reviving vigour of thy grace, quickening
mine obedience; _wait_ to see the subduing power of thy Holy Spirit
quelling my rebellious sin; _wait_ to feel the cheering virtue of thy
heavenly comforts, refreshing my fainting soul; for all these thy
blessings, “_O thou God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the
day_.” “_All the day_:” being never satisfied with thy goodness, as not
more eagerly to long after thy heavenly fulness; wherefore now refresh
my faintings, quench not my desires; but the more freely thou givest,
let me the more eagerly covet; the more sweet is thy mercy, let be the
more eager my longings, that so my whole life on earth may be a
continual breathing after that eternal fellowship and communion with
thee in heaven; thus, thus, _let me wait_, even all my life, _all the
day_.—_Robert Mossom._
_Verse 6.—“Thy tender mercies.”_ Oh, how does one deep call upon
another! The depth of my multiplied miseries, calls, loudly calls, upon
the depth of thy manifold mercies; even _that mercy_ whereby thou dost
pardon my sin and help mine infirmities; _that mercy_ whereby thou dost
sanctify me by thy grace, and comfort me by thy Spirit; _that mercy_
whereby thou dost deliver me from hell, and possess me of heaven.
“_Remember, O Lord_,” all those thy mercies, _thy tender mercies_, which
have been “_of old_” unto thy saints.—_Robert Mossom._
_Verse 6.—“Thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses ... have been
ever of old.”_ Let the ancientness of divine love draw up our hearts to
a very dear and honourable esteem of it. Pieces of antiquity, though of
base metal, and otherwise of little use or value, how venerable are they
with learned men! and ancient charters, how careful are men to preserve
them; although they contain but temporary privileges, and sometimes but
of trivial moment! How then should the great charter of heaven, so much
older than the world, be had in everlasting remembrance, and the
thoughts thereof be very precious to us; lying down, rising up, and all
the day long accompanying of us!... That which is from everlasting shall
be to everlasting; if the root be eternal, so are the branches....
Divine love is an eternal fountain that never leaves running while a
vessel is empty or capable of holding more; and it stands open to all
comers: therefore, come; and if ye have not sufficient of your own, go
and borrow vessels, empty vessels, not a few; “pay your debts out of it,
and live on the rest” (2 Kings iv. 7), to eternity.—_Elisha Coles on
“God’s Sovereignty,” 1678._
_Verse 7.—“Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions.”_
In the first place, considering that he had not begun only of late to
commit sin, but that he had for a long time heaped up sin upon sin, he
bows himself, if we may so speak, under the accumulated load; and, in
the second place, he intimates, that if God should deal with him
according to the rigour of the law, not only the sins of yesterday, or
of a few days, would come into judgment against him, but all the
instances in which he had offended, even from his infancy, might now
with justice be laid to his charge. As often, therefore, as God
terrifies us by his judgments and the tokens of his wrath, let us call
to our remembrance, not only the sins which we have lately committed,
but also all the transgressions of our past life, proving to us the
ground of renewed shame and renewed lamentation.—_John Calvin._