by David to be sung in the temple in time of thunder, which is not
unlikely. There are writers who make God to be the nominative case to
the verb speaketh; and render it thus, _in his temple doth he utter all
his glory_. As much as to say, much of his glory God uttereth in his
thunder, but all in his temple, for whatsoever there he speaketh with
his mouth he fulfilleth it with his hand.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 9 (last clause)._—David speaking in the former part of the Psalm
of the effects of natural thunder only, towards the close of the Psalm
applieth it to the Word of God, while he saith, “_And in his temple doth
every one speak of his glory_;” that is, the word and ordinances of God,
ministered in his church or temple, will put every one to acknowledge
and speak of the glorious power of God, even much more than the mighty
thunder which soundeth in our ears, or the subtle lightning which
flasheth in our eyes. There is far more royal power in the thunder of
the Word, than in the word of thunder. This terrifieth only to
conviction, but that terrifieth to salvation; for after God speaks
terror there in his threatenings, he speaks comfort in the promises; and
when he hath affrighted us with a sense of our sins and of his wrath due
to us for our sins, as with an horrible tempest, he presently refresheth
us with the gentle gales of revealed grace, and with the pleasant
amiable sunshine of his favour by Jesus Christ.—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verse 11.—“The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will
bless his people with peace;”_ _i.e._, he is in war their strength, and
their felicity in peace; in war he is the Author of all that power
wherewith they are enabled to oppose and overcome potent enemies; and in
peace, he is their truly felicitating good, and makes them, by his own
vouchsafed presence, a truly blessed people.—_John Howe._
_Verse 11.—“The Lord will bless his people with peace.”_ Though some
precious souls that have closed with Christ, and embraced the gospel, be
not at present brought to rest in their own consciences, but continue
for awhile under some dissatisfaction and trouble in their own spirits,
yet even then they have _peace_ of conscience in a threefold respect;
_in pretio_, _in promisso_, _in semine_. First, every true believer hath
peace of conscience _in pretio_; the gospel puts that price into his
hand, which will assuredly purchase it, and that is the blood of Christ.
We say that is gold which is worth gold, which we may anywhere exchange
for gold; such is the blood of Christ; it is peace of conscience,
because the soul that hath this may exchange it for this. God himself
cannot deny the poor creature that prays on these terms: Lord, give me
peace of conscience; here is Christ’s blood, the price of it. That which
could pay the debt, surely can procure the receipt. Peace of conscience
is but a discharge under God’s hand, that the debt due to divine justice
is fully paid. The blood of Christ hath done that the greater for the
believer, it shall therefore do this the less. If there were such a rare
potion that did infallibly procure health to every one that takes it, we
might safely say, as soon as the sick man hath drunk it down, that he
hath drunk his health, it is in him, though at present he doth not feel
himself to have it: in time it will appear. Secondly, _In promisso_.
Every true believer hath peace of conscience in the promise, and that we
count as good as ready money in the purse, which we have sure bond for.
“_The Lord will bless his people with peace._” He is resolved on it, and
then who shall hinder it? It is worth your reading the whole Psalm, to
see what weight the Lord gives to this sweet promise, for the
encouragement of our faith in expecting the performance thereof. Nothing
more hard to enter into the heart of a poor creature (when all is in an
uproar in his bosom, and his conscience threatening nothing but fire and
sword, wrath, vengeance, from God for his sins), than thoughts or hopes
of peace and comfort. Now the Psalm is spent in showing what great
things God can do, and that with no more trouble to himself than a word
speaking, “_The voice of the Lord is full of majesty_” (verse 4), “It
breaks the cedars, it divides the flames, it shakes the wilderness, it
makes the hinds to calve.” This God that doth all this, promiseth _to
bless his people with peace_, outward and inward; for without this
inward peace, though he might give them peace, yet could he never bless
them with peace as he there undertakes. A sad peace, were it not, to
have quiet streets, but cutting of throats in our houses? yet infinitely
more sad to have peace both in our streets and houses, but war and blood
in our guilty consciences. What peace can a poor creature taste or
relish, while the sword of God’s wrath lies at the throat of conscience?
not peace with God himself. Therefore Christ purchased peace of pardon,
to obtain peace of conscience for his pardoned ones, and accordingly
hath bequeathed it in the promise to them, “Peace I leave with you, my
peace I give unto you.” John xiv. 27. Where you see he is both the
testator to leave, and the executor of his own will, to give out with
his own hands what his love hath left believers; so that there is no
fear but his will shall be performed to the full, seeing himself lives
to see it done. Thirdly, _In semine_. Every believer hath this inward
peace in the seed. “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for
the upright in heart.” Psalm xcvii. 11. Where sown, but in the
believer’s own bosom, when principles of grace and holiness were cast
into it by the Spirit of God? Hence it is called “the peaceable fruit of
righteousness.” Heb. xii. 11. It shoots as naturally from holiness, as
any fruit in its kind doth from the seed proper to it. It is, indeed,
most true, that the seed runs and ripens into this fruit sooner in some
than it doth in others. This spiritual harvest comes not alike soon to
all, no more than the other that is outward doth; but here is the
comfort—whoever hath a seed-time of grace pass over his soul, shall have
his harvest-time also of joy.—_William Gurnall._
_Verse 11.—“Peace.”_ There is a threefold “peace,” _externa_, _interna_,
_æterna_; temporal, spiritual, celestial peace. There is outward peace,
the _blessing_; inward peace, the _grace_; and everlasting peace, of
_glory_. And as in a stately palace there is a lodge or court that leads
into the inmost goodly rooms, so external peace is the entrance or
introduction to the inward lodgings of the sweet peace of conscience and
of that eternal rest in which our peace in heaven shall be happy,
inasmuch as external peace affords us many accommodations and helps to
the gaining and obtaining both the one and the other.—_Ephraim Udall_,
1642.
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Verse 1._—The duty of ascribing our strength and the honour of it to
God; the penalty of neglecting to do so; the pleasure of so doing.
_Verse 1._—National glorying should be in the Lord.
_Verse 2 (first clause)._—Royal dues, the royal treasury, loyal subjects
paying their dues, the king receiving them. Smugglers and preventive
men.
_Verse 2 (second clause)._—Inspired ritualism. What to do? “_Worship._”
Whom? “_The Lord._” How? “_In the beauty of holiness._” Absence of all
allusions to place, time, order, words, form, vestments, etc.
_Verse 3._—God’s voice heard in trouble and above trouble, or in great
personal and national calamities.
_Verse 4._—Power and majesty of the gospel. Illustrated by succeeding
verses.
_Verse 4 (last clause)._—“The majestic voice.” See Spurgeon’s Sermons,
No. 87.
_Verse 5._—The breaking power of the gospel.
_Verse 6._—The unsettling power of the gospel.
_Verse 7._—The fire which goes with the word. This is a wide subject.
_Verse 8._—The arousing and alarming of godless places by the preaching
of the word.
_Verse 9._—The revealing power of the word of God in the secrets of
man’s heart, and its regenerating force.
_Verse 9 (last clause)._—I. Matchless temple. II. Unanimous worship.
III. Forcible motive. IV. General enthusiasm, “_glory_.” See Comment.
_Verse 10._—The ever-present and undisturbed government of God.
_Verse 11._—The twin blessings from the same source; their connection,
and their consummation.
_Verse 11._—The two wills, the two blessings, the one people, the one
Lord.
Footnote 2:
“The friend and disciple of Newton.”
PSALM XXX.
TITLE.—A Psalm and Song at the Dedication of the House of David; _or
rather_, A Psalm; a Song of Dedication for the House. By David. _A song
of faith since the house of Jehovah, here intended, David never lived to
see. A Psalm of praise, since a sore judgment had been stayed, and a
great sin forgiven. From our English version it would appear that this
Psalm was intended to be sung at the building of that house of cedar
which David erected for himself, when he no longer had to hide himself
in the Cave of Adullam, but had become a great king. If this had been
the meaning, it would have been well to observe that it is right for the
believer when removing, to dedicate his new abode to God. We should call
together our Christian friends, and show that where we dwell, God
dwells, and where we have a tent, God has an altar. But as the song
refers to the temple, for which it was David’s joy to lay by in store,
and for the site of which he purchased in his later days the floor of
Ornan, we must content ourselves with remarking the holy faith which
foresaw the fulfilment of the promise made to him concerning Solomon.
Faith can sing_—
“Glory to thee for all the grace
I have not tasted yet.”
_Throughout this Psalm there are indications that David had been greatly
afflicted both personally and relatively, after having, in his
presumption, fancied himself secure. When God’s children prosper one
way, they are generally tried another, for few of us can bear unmingled
prosperity. Even the joys of hope need to be mixed with the pains of
experience, and the more surely so when comfort breeds carnal security
and self-confidence. Nevertheless, pardon soon followed repentance, and
God’s mercy was glorified. The Psalm is a song, and not a complaint. Let
it be read in the light of the last days of David, when he had numbered
the people, and God had chastened him, and then in mercy had bidden the
angel sheathe his sword. On the floor of Ornan, the poet received the
inspiration which glows in this delightful ode. It is the Psalm of the
numbering of the people, and of the dedication temple which commemorated
the staying of the plague._
DIVISION.—_In verses 1, 2, and 3, David extols the Lord for delivering
him. Verses 4 and 5 he invites the saints to unite with him in
celebrating divine compassion. In 6 and 7 he confesses the fault for
which he was chastened, 8-10 repeats the supplication which he offered,
and concludes with commemorating his deliverance and vowing eternal
praise._
EXPOSITION.
I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not
made my foes to rejoice over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast
kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit.
1. “_I will extol thee._” I will have high and honourable conceptions of
thee, and give them utterance in my best music. Others may forget thee,
murmur at thee, despise thee, blaspheme thee, but “I will extol thee,”
for I have been favoured above all others. I will extol thy name, thy
character, thine attributes, thy mercy to me, thy great forbearance to
my people; but, especially will I speak well of thyself; “I will extol
thee,” O Jehovah, this shall be my cheerful and constant employ. “_For
thou hast lifted me up._” Here is an antithesis, “I will exalt thee, for
thou hast exalted me.” I would render according to the benefit received.
The Psalmist’s praise was reasonable. He had a reason to give for the
praise that was in his heart. He had been drawn up like a prisoner from
a dungeon, like Joseph out of the pit, and therefore he loved his
deliverer. Grace has uplifted us from the pit of hell, from the ditch of
sin, from the Slough of Despond, from the bed of sickness, from the
bondage of doubts and fears: have we no song to offer for all this? How
high has our Lord lifted us? Lifted us up into the children’s place, to
be adopted into the family; lifted us up into union with Christ, “to sit
together with him in heavenly places.” Lift high the name of our God,
for he has lifted us above the stars. “_And hast not made my foes to
rejoice over me._” This was the judgment which David most feared out of
the three evils; he said, let me fall into the hand of the Lord, and not
into the hand of man. Terrible indeed were our lot if we were delivered
over to the will of our enemies. Blessed be the Lord, we have been
preserved from so dire a fate. The devil and all our spiritual enemies
have not been permitted to rejoice over us; for we have been saved from
the fowler’s snare. Our evil companions, who prophesied that we should
go back to our old sins, are disappointed. Those who watched for our
halting, and would fain say, “Aha! Aha! So would we have it!” have
watched in vain until now. O happy they whom the Lord keeps so
consistent in character that the lynx eyes of the world can see no real
fault in them. Is this our case? let us ascribe all the glory to him who
has sustained us in our integrity.
2. “_O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me._” David
sent up prayers for himself and for his people when visited with the
pestilence. He went at once to head-quarters, and not roundabout to
fallible means. God is the best physician, even for our bodily
infirmities. We do very wickedly and foolishly when we forget God. It
was a sin in Asa that he trusted to physicians and not to God. If we
must have a physician, let it be so, but still let us go to our God
first of all; and, above all, remember that there can be no power to
heal in medicine of itself; the healing energy must flow from the divine
hand. If our watch is out of order, we take it to the watchmaker; if
body or soul be in an evil plight, let us resort to him who created
them, and has unfailing skill to put them in right condition. As for our
spiritual diseases, nothing can heal these evils but the touch of the
Lord Christ: if we do but touch the hem of his garment, we shall be made
whole, while if we embrace all other physicians in our arms, they can do
us no service. “_O Lord my God._” Observe the covenant name which faith
uses—“_my God_.” Thrice happy is he who can claim the Lord himself to be
his portion. Note how David’s faith ascends the scale; he sang “O Lord”
in the first verse, but it is “O Lord my God,” in the second. Heavenly
heart-music is an ascending thing, like the pillars of smoke which rose
from the altar of incense. “_I cried unto thee._” I could hardly pray,
but I cried; I poured out my soul as a little child pours out its
desires. I cried to my God: I knew to whom to cry; I did not cry to my
friends, or to any arm of flesh. Hence the sure and satisfactory
result—“_Thou hast healed me_.” I know it. I am sure of it. I have the
evidence of spiritual health within me now: glory be to thy name! Every
humble suppliant with God who seeks release from the disease of sin,
shall speed as well as the Psalmist did, but those who will not so much
as seek a cure, need not wonder if their wounds putrefy and their soul
dies.
3. “_O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave._” Mark, it is
not, “I hope so;” but it is, “_Thou hast; thou hast; thou hast_”—three
times over. David is quite sure, beyond a doubt, that God has done great
things for him, whereof he is exceeding glad. He had descended to the
brink of the sepulchre, and yet was restored to tell of the forbearance
of God; nor was this all, he owned that nothing but grace had kept him
from the lowest hell, and this made him doubly thankful. To be spared
from the grave is much; to be delivered from the pit is more; hence
there is growing cause for praise, since both deliverances are alone
traceable to the glorious right hand of the Lord, who is the only
preserver of life, and the only Redeemer of our souls from hell.
4 Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the
remembrance of his holiness.
5 For his anger _endureth_ but a moment; in his favour is life;
weeping may endure for a night, but joy _cometh_ in the morning.
4. “_Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his._” “Join my song; assist me
to express my gratitude.” He felt that he could not praise God enough
himself, and therefore he would enlist the hearts of others. “_Sing unto
the Lord, O ye saints of his._” David would not fill his choir with
reprobates, but with sanctified persons, who could sing from their
hearts. He calls to you, ye people of God, because ye are _saints_: and
if sinners are wickedly silent, let your holiness constrain _you_ to
sing. You are _his_ saints—chosen, blood-bought, called, and set apart
for God; sanctified on purpose that you should offer the daily sacrifice
of praise. Abound ye in this heavenly duty. “_Sing unto the Lord._” It
is a pleasing exercise; it is a profitable engagement. Do not need to be
stirred up so often to so pleasant a service. “_And give thanks._” Let
your songs be grateful songs, in which the Lord’s mercies shall live
again in joyful remembrance. The very remembrance of the past should
tune our harps, even if present joys be lacking. “_At the remembrance of
his holiness._” Holiness is an attribute which inspires the deepest awe,
and demands a reverent mind; but still give thanks at the remembrance of
it. “Holy, holy, holy!” is the song of seraphim and cherubim; let us
join it not dolefully, as though we trembled at the holiness of God, but
cheerfully, as humbly rejoicing in it.
5. “_For his anger endureth but a moment._” David here alludes to those
dispensations of God’s providence which are the chastisement ordered in
his paternal government towards his erring children, such as the plague
which fell upon Jerusalem for David’s sins; these are but short
judgments, and they are removed as soon as real penitence sues for
pardon and presents the great and acceptable sacrifice. What a mercy is
this, for if the Lord’s wrath smoked for a long season, flesh would
utterly fail before him. God puts up his rod with great readiness as
soon as its work is done; he is slow _to_ anger and swift to end it. If
his temporary and fatherly anger be so severe that it had need be short,
what must be the terror of eternal wrath exercised by the Judge towards
his adversaries? “_In his favour is life._” As soon as the Lord looked
favourably upon David, the city lived, and the king’s heart lived too.
We die like withered flowers when the Lord frowns, but his sweet smile
revives us as the dews refresh the fields. His favour not only sweetens
and cheers life, but it is life itself, the very essence of life. Who
would know life, let him seek the favour of the Lord. “_Weeping may
endure for a night_;” but nights are not for ever. Even in the dreary
winter the day-star lights his lamp. It seems fit that in our nights the
dews of grief should fall. When the Bridegroom’s absence makes it dark
within, it is meet that the widowed soul should pine for a renewed sight
of the Well-beloved. “_But joy cometh in the morning._” When the Sun of
Righteousness comes, we wipe our eyes, and joy chases out intruding
sorrow. Who would not be joyful that knows Jesus? The first beams of the
morning bring us comfort when Jesus is the day-dawn, and all believers
know it to be so. Mourning only lasts till morning: when the night is
gone the gloom shall vanish. This is adduced as a reason for saintly
singing, and forcible reason it is; short nights and merry days call for
the psaltery and harp.
6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
7 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong:
thou didst hide thy face, _and_ I was troubled.
6. “_In my prosperity._” When all his foes were quiet, and his
rebellious son dead and buried, then was the time of peril. Many a
vessel founders in a calm. No temptation is so bad as tranquility. “_I
said, I shall never be moved._” Ah! David, you said more than was wise
to say, or even to think, for God has founded the world upon the floods,
to show us what a poor, mutable, movable, inconstant world it is.
Unhappy he who builds upon it! He builds himself a dungeon for his
hopes. Instead of conceiving that we shall never be moved, we ought to
remember that we shall very soon be moved altogether. Nothing is abiding
beneath the moon. Because I happen to be prosperous to-day, I must not
fancy that I shall be in my high estate to-morrow. As in a wheel, the
uppermost spokes descend to the bottom in due course, so is it with
mortal conditions. There is a constant revolution; many who are in the
dust to-day shall be highly elevated to-morrow; while those who are now
aloft shall soon grind the earth. Prosperity had evidently turned the
Psalmist’s head, or he would not have been so self-confident. He stood
by grace, and yet forgot himself, and so met with a fall. Reader, is
there not much of the same proud stuff in all our hearts? let us beware
lest the fumes of intoxicating success get into our brains and make
fools of us also.
7. “_Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong._”
He ascribed his prosperity to the Lord’s favour—so far good, it is well
to own the hand of the Lord in all our stability and wealth. But observe
that the good in a good man is not unmingled good, for this was alloyed
with carnal security. His state he compares to a mountain, a molehill
would have been nearer—we never think too little of ourselves. He
boasted that his mountain stood strong, and yet he had before, in Psalm
xxix., spoken of Sirion and Lebanon as moving like young unicorns. Was
David’s state more firm than Lebanon? Ah, vain conceit, too common to us
all! How soon the bubble bursts when God’s people get conceit into their
heads, and fancy that they are to enjoy immutability beneath the stars,
and constancy upon this whirling orb. How touchingly and teachingly God
corrected his servant’s mistake: “_Thou didst hide thy face, and I was
troubled_.” There was no need to come to blows, a hidden face was
enough. This proves, first, that David was a genuine saint, for no
hiding of God’s face on earth would trouble a sinner; and, secondly,
that the joy of the saint is dependent upon the presence of his Lord. No
mountain, however firm, can yield us rest when our communion with God is
broken, and his face is concealed. However, in such a case, it is well
to be troubled. The next best thing to basking in the light of God’s
countenance, is to be thoroughly unhappy when that bliss is denied us.
“Lord, let me weep for nought for sin!
And after none but thee!
And then I would—O that I might,
A constant weeper be!”
8 I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.
9 What profit _is there_ in my blood, when I go down to the pit?
Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.
8. “_I cried to thee, O Lord._” Prayer is the unfailing resource of
God’s people. If they are driven to their wits’ end, they may still go
to the mercy-seat. When an earthquake makes our mountain tremble, the
throne of grace still stands firm, and we may come to it. Let us never
forget to pray, and let us never doubt the success of prayer. The hand
which wounds can heal: let us turn to him who smites us, and he will be
entreated of us. Prayer is better solace than Cain’s building a city, or
Saul’s seeking for music. Mirth and carnal amusements are a sorry
prescription for a mind distracted and despairing: prayer will succeed
where all else fails.
9. In this verse we learn the form and method of David’s prayer. It was
an argument with God, an urging of reasons, a pleading of his cause. It
was not a statement of doctrinal opinions, nor a narration of
experience, much less a sly hit at other people under pretence of
praying to God, although all these things and worse have been
substituted for holy supplication at certain prayer-meetings. He
wrestled with the angel of the covenant with vehement pleadings, and
therefore he prevailed. Head and heart, judgment and affections, memory
and intellect were all at work to spread the case aright before the Lord
of love. “_What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the
pit?_” Wilt thou not lose a songster from thy choir, and one who loves
to magnify thee? “_Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy
truth?_” Will there not be one witness the less to thy faithfulness and
veracity? Spare, then, thy poor unworthy one for thine own name sake!