Hospital, as to the effect of grief upon the eye, we received the
above, with much other valuable information, from GEORGE CRITCHETT,
Esq., the senior medical officer. The courtesy of this gentleman, and
of the secretary of that noble institution, deserves especial mention.
Footnote 6:
Robert Browning.
Footnote 7:
Robert Browning.
PSALM XXXII.
TITLE.—A Psalm of David, Maschil. _That David wrote this gloriously
evangelic Psalm is proved not only by this heading, but by the words of
the apostle Paul, in Romans_ iv. 6, 7, 8. _“Even as David also
describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works,” etc. Probably his deep repentance over his
great sin was followed by such blissful peace, that he was led to pour
out his spirit in the soft music of this choice song. In the order of
history it seems to follow the fifty-first._ Maschil _is a new title to
us, and indicates that this is an instructive or didactic Psalm. The
experience of one believer affords rich instruction to others, it
reveals the footsteps of the flock, and so comforts and directs the
weak. Perhaps it was important in this case to prefix the word, that
doubting saints might not imagine the Psalm to be the peculiar utterance
of a singular individual, but might appropriate it to themselves as a
lesson from the Spirit of God. David promised in the fifty-first Psalm
to teach transgressors the Lord’s ways, and here he does it most
effectually. Grotius thinks that this Psalm was meant to be sung on the
annual day of the Jewish expiation, when a general confession of their
sins was made._
DIVISION.—_In our reading we have found it convenient to note the
benediction of the pardoned, verses 1, 2; David’s personal confession,
3, 4, 5; and the application of the case to others, 6, 7. The voice of
God is heard by the forgiven one in 8, 9; and the Psalm then concludes
with a portion for each of the two great classes of men, 10, 11._
EXPOSITION.
Blessed _is he whose_ transgression _is_ forgiven, _whose_ sin _is_
covered.
2 Blessed _is_ the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and
in whose spirit _there is_ no guile.
1. “_Blessed._” Like the sermon on the mount, this Psalm begins with
beatitudes. This is the second Psalm of benediction. The first Psalm
describes the result of holy blessedness, the thirty-second details the
cause of it. The first pictures the tree in full growth, this depicts it
in its first planting and watering. He who in the first Psalm is a
reader of God’s book, is here a suppliant at God’s throne accepted and
heard. “_Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven._” He is now
blessed, and ever shall be. Be he ever so poor, or sick, or sorrowful,
he is blessed in very deed. Pardoning mercy is of all things in the
world most to be prized, for it is the only and sure way to happiness.
To hear from God’s own Spirit the words, “_absolvo te_” is joy
unspeakable. Blessedness is not in this case ascribed to the man who has
been a diligent lawkeeper, for then it would never come to us, but
rather to a lawbreaker, who by grace most rich and free has been
forgiven. Self-righteous Pharisees have no portion in this blessedness.
Over the returning prodigal, the word of welcome is here pronounced, and
the music and dancing begin. A full, instantaneous, irreversible pardon
of transgression turns the poor sinner’s hell into heaven, and makes the
heir of wrath a partaker in blessing. The word rendered forgiven is in
the original _taken off_, or _taken away_, as a burden is lifted or a
barrier removed. What a lift is here! It cost our Saviour a sweat of
blood to bear our load, yea, it cost him his life to bear it quite away.
Samson carried the gates of Gaza, but what was that to the weight which
Jesus bore on our behalf? “_Whose sin is covered._” Covered by God, as
the ark was covered by the mercy-seat, as Noah was covered from the
flood, as the Egyptians were covered by the depths of the sea. What a
cover must that be which hides away for ever from the sight of the
all-seeing God all the filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit! He who
has once seen sin in its horrible deformity, will appreciate the
happiness of seeing it no more for ever. Christ’s atonement is the
propitiation, the covering, the making an end of sin; where this is seen
and trusted in, the soul knows itself to be now accepted in the Beloved,
and therefore enjoys a conscious blessedness which is the antepast of
heaven. It is clear from the text that a man may _know_ that he is
pardoned: where would be the blessedness of an unknown forgiveness?
Clearly it is a matter of knowledge, for it is the ground of comfort.
2. “_Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity._” The
word blessed is in the plural, _oh, the blessednesses!_ the double joys,
the bundles of happiness, the mountains of delight! Note the three words
so often used to denote our disobedience: transgression, sin, and
iniquity, are the three-headed dog at the gates of hell, but our
glorious Lord has silenced its barkings for ever against his own
believing ones. The trinity of sin is overcome by the Trinity of heaven.
Non-imputation is of the very essence of pardon: the believer sins, but
his sin is not reckoned, not accounted to him. Certain divines froth at
the mouth with rage against imputed righteousness, be it ours to see our
sin not imputed, and to us may there be as Paul words it, “Righteousness
imputed without works.” He is blessed indeed who has a substitute to
stand for him to whose account all his debts may be set down. “_And in
whose spirit there is no guile._” He who is pardoned, has in every case
been taught to deal honestly with himself, his sin, and his God.
Forgiveness is no sham, and the peace which it brings is not caused by
playing tricks with conscience. Self-deception and hypocrisy bring no
blessedness, they may drug the soul into hell with pleasant dreams, but
into the heaven of true peace they cannot conduct their victim. Free
from guilt, free from guile. Those who are justified from fault are
sanctified from falsehood. A liar is not a forgiven soul. Treachery,
double-dealing, chicanery, dissimulation, are lineaments of the devil’s
children, but he who is washed from sin is truthful, honest, simple, and
childlike. There can be no blessedness to tricksters with their plans,
and tricks, and shuffling, and pretending: they are too much afraid of
discovery to be at ease; their house is built on the volcano’s brink,
and eternal destruction must be their portion. Observe the three words
to describe sin, and the three words to represent pardon, weigh them
well, and note their meanings. (See note at the end.)
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the
day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is
turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou
forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
David now gives us his own experience: no instructor is so efficient as
one who testifies to what he has personally known and felt. He writes
well who like the spider spins his matter out of his own bowels.
3. “_When I kept silence._” When through neglect I failed to confess, or
through despair dared not to do so, “_my bones_,” those solid pillars of
my frame, the strongest portions of my bodily constitution, “_waxed
old_,” began to decay with weakness, for my grief was so intense as to
sap my health and destroy my vital energy. What a killing thing is sin!
It is a pestilent disease! A fire in the bones! While we smother our sin
it rages within, and like a gathering wound swells horribly and torments
terribly. “_Through my roaring all the day long._” He was silent as to
confession, but not as to sorrow. Horror at his great guilt, drove David
to incessant laments, until his voice was no longer like the articulate
speech of man, but so full of sighing and groaning, that it resembled
the hoarse roaring of a wounded beast. None know the pangs of conviction
but those who have endured them. The rack, the wheel, the flaming fagot
are ease compared with the Tophet which a guilty conscience kindles
within the breast: better suffer all the diseases which flesh is heir
to, than lie under the crushing sense of the wrath of almighty God. The
Spanish inquisition with all its tortures was nothing to the inquest
which conscience holds within the heart.
4. “_For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me._” God’s finger can
crush us—what must his hand be, and that pressing heavily and
continuously! Under terrors of conscience, men have little rest by
night, for the grim thoughts of the day dog them to their chambers and
haunt their dreams, or else they lie awake in a cold sweat of dread.
God’s hand is very helpful when it uplifts, but it is awful when it
presses down: better a world on the shoulder, like Atlas, than God’s
hand on the heart, like David. “_My moisture is turned into the drought
of summer._” The sap of his soul was dried, and the body through
sympathy appeared to be bereft of its needful fluids. The oil was almost
gone from the lamp of life, and the flame flickered as though it would
soon expire. Unconfessed transgression, like a fierce poison, dried up
the fountain of the man’s strength, and made him like a tree blasted by
the lightning, or a plant withered by the scorching heat of a tropical
sun. Alas! for a poor soul when it has learned its sin but forgets its
Saviour, it goes hard with it indeed. “_Selah._” It was time to change
the tune, for the notes are very low in the scale, and with such hard
usage, the strings of the harp are out of order: the next verse will
surely be set to another key, or will rehearse a more joyful subject.
5. “_I acknowledged my sin unto thee._” After long lingering, the broken
heart bethought itself of what it ought to have done at the first, and
laid bare its bosom before the Lord. The lancet must be let into the
gathering ulcer before relief can be afforded. The least thing we can
do, if we would be pardoned, is to acknowledge our fault; if we are too
proud for this we doubly deserve punishment. “_And mine iniquity have I
not hid._” We must confess the guilt as well as the fact of sin. It is
useless to conceal it, for it is well known to God; it is beneficial to
us to own it, for a full confession softens and humbles the heart. We
must as far as possible unveil the secrets of the soul, dig up the
hidden treasure of Achan, and by weight and measure bring out our sins.
“_I said._” This was his fixed resolution. “_I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord._” Not to my fellow men or to the high
priest, but unto Jehovah; even in those days of symbol the faithful
looked to God alone for deliverance from sin’s intolerable load, much
more now, when types and shadows have vanished at the appearance of the
dawn. When the soul determines to lay low and plead guilty, absolution
is near at hand; hence we read, “_And thou forgavest the iniquity of my
sin._” Not only was the sin itself pardoned, but the iniquity of it; the
virus of its guilt was put away, and that at once, so soon as the
acknowledgment was made. God’s pardons are deep and thorough: the knife
of mercy cuts at the roots of the ill weed of sin. “_Selah._” Another
pause is needed, for the matter is not such as may be hurried over.
“Pause, my soul, adore and wonder,
Ask, O why such love to me?
Grace has put me in the number
Of the Saviour’s family.
Hallelujah!
Thanks, eternal thanks, to thee.”
6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time
when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they
shall not come nigh unto him.
7 Thou _art_ my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble;
thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
6. “_For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time
when thou mayest be found._” If the Psalmist means that _on account_ of
God’s mercy others would become hopeful, his witness is true. Remarkable
answers to prayer very much quicken the prayerfulness of other godly
persons. Where one man finds a golden nugget others feel inclined to
dig. The benefit of our experience to others should reconcile us to it.
No doubt the case of David has led thousands to seek the Lord with
hopeful courage who, without such an instance to cheer them, might have
died in despair. Perhaps the Psalmist meant for this favour or the like
all godly souls would seek, and here, again, we can confirm his
testimony, for all will draw near to God in the same manner as he did
when godliness rules their heart. The mercy seat is the way to heaven
for all who shall ever come there. There is, however, a set time for
prayer, beyond which it will be unavailing; between the time of sin and
the day of punishment mercy rules the hour, and God may be found, but
when once the sentence has gone forth pleading will be useless, for the
Lord will not be found by the condemned soul. O dear reader, slight not
the accepted time, waste not the day of salvation. The godly pray while
the Lord has promised to answer, the ungodly postpone their petitions
till the Master of the house has risen up and shut to the door, and then
their knocking is too late. What a blessing to be led to seek the Lord
before the great devouring floods leap forth from their lairs, for then
when they do appear we shall be safe. “_Surely in the floods of great
waters they shall not come nigh unto him._” The floods shall come, and
the waves shall rage, and toss themselves like Atlantic billows;
whirlpools and waterspouts shall be on every hand, but the praying man
shall be at a safe distance, most surely secured from every ill. David
was probably most familiar with those great land-floods which fill up,
with rushing torrents, the beds of rivers which at other times are
almost dry: these overflowing waters often did great damage, and, as in
the case of the Kishon, were sufficient to sweep away whole armies. From
sudden and overwhelming disasters thus set forth in metaphor the true
suppliant will certainly be held secure. He who is saved from sin has no
need to fear anything else.
7. “_Thou art my hiding place._” Terse, short sentences make up this
verse, but they contain a world of meaning. Personal claims upon our God
are the joy of spiritual life. To lay our hand upon the Lord with the
clasp of a personal “my” is delight at its full. Observe that the same
man who in the fourth verse was oppressed by the presence of God, here
finds a shelter in him. See what honest confession and full forgiveness
will do! The gospel of substitution makes him to be our refuge who
otherwise would have been our judge. “_Thou shalt preserve me from
trouble._” Trouble shall do me no real harm when the Lord is with me,
rather it shall bring me much benefit, like the file which clears away
the rust, but does not destroy the metal. Observe the three tenses, we
have noticed the sorrowful past, the last sentence was a joyful present,
this is a cheerful future. “_Thou shalt compass me about with songs of
deliverance._” What a golden sentence! The man is encircled in song,
surrounded by dancing mercies, all of them proclaiming the triumphs of
grace. There is no breach in the circle, it completely rings him round;
on all sides he hears music. Before him hope sounds the cymbals, and
behind him gratitude beats the timbrel. Right and left, above and
beneath, the air resounds with joy, and all this for the very man who, a
few weeks ago, was roaring all the day long. How great a change! What
wonders grace has done and still can do! “_Selah._” There was need of a
pause, for love so amazing needs to be pondered, and joy so great
demands quiet contemplation, since language fails to express it.
8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt
go; I will guide thee with mine eye.
9 Be ye not as the horse, _or_ as the mule, _which_ have no
understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest
they come near unto thee.
8. “_I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt
go._” Here the Lord is the speaker, and gives the Psalmist an answer to
his prayer. Our Saviour is our instructor. The Lord himself deigns to
teach his children to walk in the way of integrity, his holy word and
the monitions of the Holy Spirit are the directors of the believer’s
daily conversation. We are not pardoned that we may henceforth live
after our own lusts, but that we may be educated in holiness and trained
for perfection. A heavenly training is one of the covenant blessings
which adoption seals to us: “All thy children shall be taught by the
Lord.” Practical teaching is the very best of instruction, and they are
thrice happy who, although they never sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and
are ignorant of Aristotle, and the ethics of the schools, have
nevertheless learned to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. “_I will
guide thee with mine eye._” As servants take their cue from the master’s
eye, and a nod or a wink is all that they require, so should we obey the
slightest hints of our Master, not needing thunderbolts to startle our
incorrigible sluggishness, but being controlled by whispers and
love-touches. The Lord is the great overseer, whose eye in providence
overlooks everything. It is well for us to be the sheep of his pasture,
following the guidance of his wisdom.
9. “_Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no
understanding._” Understanding separates man from a brute—let us not act
as if we were devoid of it. Men should take counsel and advice, and be
ready to run where wisdom points them the way. Alas! we need to be
cautioned against stupidity of heart, for we are very apt to fall into
it. We who ought to be as the angels, readily become as the beasts.
“_Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near
unto thee._” It is much to be deplored that we so often need to be
severely chastened before we will obey. We ought to be as a feather in
the wind, wafted readily in the breath of the Holy Spirit, but alas! we
lie like motionless logs, and stir not with heaven itself in view. Those
cutting bits of affliction show how hard-mouthed we are, those bridles
of infirmity manifest our headstrong and wilful manners. We should not
be treated like mules if there were not so much of the ass about us. If
we will be fractious, we must expect to be kept in with tight rein. Oh
for grace to obey the Lord willingly, lest like the wilful servant, we
are beaten with many stripes. Calvin renders the last words, “Lest they
kick against thee,” a version more probable and more natural, but the
passage is confessedly obscure—not, however, in its general sense.
10 Many sorrows _shall be_ to the wicked: but he that trusteth in
the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for
joy, all _ye that are_ upright in heart.
10. “_Many sorrows shall be to the wicked._” Like refractory horses and
mules, they have many cuts and bruises. Here and hereafter the portion
of the wicked is undesirable. Their joys are evanescent, their sorrows
are multiplying and ripening. He who sows sin will reap sorrow in heavy
sheaves. Sorrows of conscience, of disappointment, of terror, are the
sinner’s sure heritage in time, and then for ever sorrows of remorse and
despair. Let those who boast of present sinful joys, remember the shall
be of the future, and take warning. “_But he that trusteth in the Lord,
mercy shall compass him about._” Faith is here placed as the opposite of
wickedness, since it is the source of virtue. Faith in God is the great
charmer of life’s cares, and he who possesses it, dwells in an
atmosphere of grace, surrounded with a body-guard of mercies. May it be
given to us of the Lord at all times to believe in the mercy of God,
even when we cannot see traces of its working, for to the believer,
mercy is as all-surrounding as omniscience, and every thought and act of
God is perfumed with it. The wicked have a hive of wasps around them,
_many sorrows_; but we have a swarm of bees storing honey for us.
11. “_Be glad._” Happiness is not only our privilege, but our duty.
Truly we serve a generous God, since he makes it a part of our obedience
to be joyful. How sinful are our rebellious murmurings! How natural does
it seem that a man blest with forgiveness should be glad! We read of one
who died at the foot of the scaffold of overjoy at the receipt of his
monarch’s pardon; and shall we receive the free pardon of the King of
kings and yet pine in inexcusable sorrow? “_In the Lord._” Here is the
directory by which gladness is preserved from levity. We are not to be
glad in sin, or to find comfort in corn, and wine, and oil, but in our
God is to be the garden of our soul’s delight. That there is a God and
such a God, and that he is ours, ours for ever, our Father and our
reconciled Lord, is matter enough for a never-ending Psalm of rapturous
joy. “_And rejoice, ye righteous_,” redouble your rejoicing, peal upon
peal. Since God has clothed his choristers in the white garments of
holiness, let them not restrain their joyful voices, but sing aloud and
shout as those who find great spoil. “_And shout for joy, all ye that
are upright in heart._” Our happiness should be demonstrative; chill
penury of love often represses the noble flame of joy, and men whisper
their praises decorously where a hearty outburst of song would be far
more natural. It is to be feared that the church of the present day,
through a craving for excessive propriety, is growing too artificial; so
that enquirers’ cries and believers’ shouts would be silenced if they
were heard in our assemblies. This may be better than boisterous
fanaticism, but there is as much danger in the one direction as the
other. For our part, we are touched to the heart by a little sacred
excess, and when godly men in their joy overleap the narrow bounds of
decorum, we do not, like Michal, Saul’s daughter, eye them with a
sneering heart. Note how the pardoned are represented as upright,
righteous, and without guile; a man may have many faults and yet be
saved, but a false heart is everywhere the damning mark. A man of
twisting, shifty ways, of a crooked, crafty nature, is not saved, and in
all probability never will be; for the ground which brings forth a
harvest when grace is sown in it, may be weedy and waste, but our Lord
tells us it is _honest_ and good ground. Our observation has been that
men of double tongues and tricky ways are the least likely of all men to
be saved: certainly where grace comes it restores man’s mind to its
perpendicular, and delivers him from being doubled up with vice, twisted
with craft, or bent with dishonesty.
Reader, what a delightful Psalm! Have you, in perusing it, been able to
claim a lot in the goodly land? If so, publish to others the way of
salvation.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Title._—The term _Maschil_ is prefixed to thirteen Psalms. Our
translators have not ventured to do more, in the _text_, than simply
print the word in English characters; in the _margin_ however they
render it, as the Geneva version had done before them, “to give
instruction.” It would be going too far to affirm that this
interpretation is subject to no doubt. Some good Hebraists take
exception to it; so that, perhaps, our venerable translators did well to
leave it untranslated. Still, the interpretation they have set down in
the margin, as it is the most ancient, so it is sustained by the great
preponderance of authority. It agrees remarkably with the contents of
the thirty-second Psalm, which affords the earliest instance of its use,
for that Psalm is pre-eminently didactic. Its scope is to instruct the
convicted soul how to obtain peace with God, and be compassed about with
songs of deliverance.—_William Binnie, D.D., in “The Psalms: their
History, Teachings, and Use,” 1870._