hearts are equally fashioned by the Lord, kings’ hearts as well as the
hearts of beggars. The text does not mean that all hearts are created
originally alike by God, such a statement would scarcely be true, since
there is the utmost variety in the constitutions and dispositions of
men. All men equally owe the possession of life to the Creator, and have
therefore no reason to boast themselves. What reason has the vessel to
glorify itself in presence of the potter? “_He considereth all their
works._” Not in vain doth God see men’s acts: he ponders and judges
them. He reads the secret design in the outward behaviour, and resolves
the apparent good into its real elements. This consideration foretokens
a judgment when the results of the divine thoughts will be meted out in
measures of happiness or woe. Consider thy ways, O man, for God
considers them!
16. “_There is no king saved by the multitude of an host._” Mortal power
is a fiction, and those who trust in it are dupes. Serried ranks of
armed men have failed to maintain an empire, or even to save their
monarch’s life when a decree from the court of heaven has gone forth for
the empire’s overthrow. The all-seeing God preserves the poorest of his
people when they are alone and friendless, but ten thousand armed men
cannot ensure safety to him whom God leaves to destruction. “_A mighty
man is not delivered by much strength._” So far from guarding others,
the valiant veteran is not able to deliver himself. When his time comes
to die, neither the force of his arms nor the speed of his legs can save
him. The weakest believer dwells safely under the shadow of Jehovah’s
throne, while the most mighty sinner is in peril every hour. Why do we
talk so much of our armies and our heroes? the Lord alone has strength,
and let him alone have praise.
17. “_An horse is a vain thing for safety._” Military strength among the
Orientals lay much in horses and scythed chariots, but the Psalmist
calls them a lie, a deceitful confidence. Surely the knight upon his
gallant steed may be safe, either by valour or by flight? Not so, his
horse shall bear him into danger or crush him with its fall. “_Neither
shall he deliver any by his great strength._” Thus the strongest
defences are less than nothing when most needed. God only is to be
trusted and adored. Sennacherib with all his cavalry is not a match for
one angel of the Lord, Pharaoh’s horses and chariots found it vain to
pursue the Lord’s anointed, and so shall all the leaguered might of
earth and hell find themselves utterly defeated when they rise against
the Lord and his chosen.
18. “_Behold._” For this is a greater wonder than hosts and horses, a
surer confidence than chariots or shields. “_The eye of the Lord is upon
them that fear him._” That eye of peculiar care is their glory and
defence. None can take them at unawares, for the celestial watcher
foresees the designs of their enemies, and provides against them. They
who fear God need not fear anything else; let them fix their eye of
faith on him, and his eye of love will always rest upon them. “_Upon
them that hope in his mercy._” This one would think to be a small
evidence of grace, and yet it is a valid one. Humble hope shall have its
share as well as courageous faith. Say, my soul, is not this an
encouragement to thee? Dost thou not hope in the mercy of God in Christ
Jesus? Then the Father’s eye is as much upon thee as upon the elder born
of the family. These gentle words, like soft bread, are meant for babes
in grace, who need infants’ food.
19. “_To deliver their soul from death._” The Lord’s hand goes with his
eye; he sovereignly preserves those whom he graciously observes. Rescues
and restorations hedge about the lives of the saints; death cannot touch
them till the King signs his warrant and gives him leave, and even then
his touch is not so much mortal as immortal; he doth not so much kill us
as kill our mortality. “_And to keep them alive in famine._” Gaunt
famine knows its master. God has meal and oil for his Elijahs somewhere.
“Verily thou shalt be fed” is a divine provision for the man of faith.
The Preserver of men will not suffer the soul of the righteous to
famish. Power in human hands is outmatched by famine, but God is good at
a pinch, and proves his bounty under the most straitened circumstances.
Believer, wait upon thy God in temporals. His eye is upon thee, and his
hand will not long delay.
20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he _is_ our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in
his holy name.
20. “_Our soul waiteth for the Lord._” Here the godly avow their
reliance upon him whom the Psalm extols. To wait is a great lesson. To
be quiet in expectation, patient in hope, single in confidence, is one
of the bright attainments of a Christian. Our soul, our life, must hang
upon God; we are not to trust him with a few gewgaws, but with all we
have and are. “_He is our help and our shield._” Our help in labour, our
shield in danger. The Lord answereth all things to his people. He is
their all in all. Note the three “_ours_” in the text. These holdfast
words are precious. Personal possession makes the Christian man; all
else is mere talk.
21. “_For our hearts shall rejoice in him._” The duty commended and
commanded in the first verse is here presented to the Lord. We, who
trust, cannot but be of a glad heart, our inmost nature must triumph in
our faithful God. “_Because we have trusted in his holy name._” The root
of faith in due time bears the flower of rejoicing. Doubts breed sorrow,
confidence creates joy.
22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Here is a large and comprehensive prayer to close with. It is an appeal
for “_mercy_,” which even joyful believers need; and it is sought for in
a proportion which the Lord has sanctioned. “According to your faith be
it unto you,” is the Master’s word, and he will not fall short of the
scale which he has himself selected. Yet, Master, do more than this when
hope is faint, and bless us far above what we ask or even think.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—A thanksgiving of the church triumphant in the latter
ages, for her final deliverance, by the overthrow of Antichrist and his
armies.—_Samuel Horsley._
_Whole Psalm._—Let us follow the holy man a moment in his meditation.
His Psalm is not composed in scholastic form, in which the author
confines himself to fixed rules; and, scrupulously following a
philosophical method, lays down principles, and infers consequences.
However, he establishes principles, the most proper to give us sublime
ideas of the Creator; and he speaks with more precision of the works and
attributes of God than the greatest philosophers have spoken of them.
How absurdly have the philosophers treated of _the origin of the world_!
How few of them have reasoned conclusively on this important subject!
Our prophet solves the important question by one single principle; and,
what is more remarkable, this principle, which is nobly expressed,
carries the clearest evidence with it. The principle is this: “By the
word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the
breath of his mouth,” verse 6. This is the most rational account that
was ever given of the creation of the world. The world is the work of a
self-efficient will, and it is this principle alone that can account for
its creation. The most simple appearances in nature are sufficient to
lead us to this principle. Either my will is self-efficient, or there is
some other being whose will is self-efficient. What I say of myself, I
say of my parents; and what I affirm of my parents I affirm of my more
remote ancestors, and of all the finite creatures from whom they derived
their existence. Most certainly, either finite beings have a
self-efficient will, which it is impossible to suppose, for a finite
creature with a self-efficient will is a contradiction: either, I say, a
finite creature has a self-efficient will, or there is a First Cause who
has a self-efficient will; and that there is such a Being is the
principle of the Psalmist; “By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”
If philosophers have reasoned inconclusively on the origin of the world,
they have spoken of _its government_ with equal uncertainty. The
Psalmist determined this question with great facility, by a single
principle, which results from the former, and which, like the former,
carries its evidence with it. “The Lord looketh from heaven; he
considereth all the works of all the inhabitants of the earth,” verses
13, 14. This is the doctrine of providence. And on what is the doctrine
of providence founded? On this principle: God “fashioneth their hearts
alike,” verse 15. Attend a moment to the evidence of this reasoning, my
brethren. The doctrine of providence expressed in these words, “God
considereth the works of the inhabitants of the earth,” is a necessary
consequence of his principle, “God fashioneth their hearts alike;” and
this principle is a necessary consequence of that which the Psalmist had
before laid down to account for the origin of the world. Yes, from the
doctrine of God the Creator of men, follows that of God the inspector,
the director, rewarder, and the punisher of their actions. One of the
most specious objections that has ever been opposed to the doctrine of
providence, is a contrast between the grandeur of God and the meanness
of men. How can such an insignificant creature as man be the object of
the care and attention of such a magnificent being as God? No objection
can be more specious, or, in appearance, more invincible. The distance
between the meanest insect and the mightiest monarch, who treads and
crushes reptiles to death without the least regard to them, is a very
imperfect image of the distance between God and man. That which proves
that it would be beneath the dignity of a monarch to observe the motions
of ants, or worms, to interest himself in their actions, to punish, or
to reward them, seems to demonstrate, that God would degrade himself
were he to observe, to direct, to punish, to reward mankind, who are
infinitely inferior to him. But one fact is sufficient to answer this
specious objection: that is, that God has created mankind. Does God
degrade himself more by governing than by creating mankind? Who can
persuade himself that a wise Being has given to intelligent creatures
faculties capable of obtaining knowledge and virtue, without willing
that they should endeavour to acquire knowledge and virtue? Or who can
imagine, that a wise Being, who wills that his intelligent creatures
should acquire knowledge and virtue, will not punish them if they
neglect those acquisitions; and will not show by the distribution of his
benefits that he approves their endeavours to obtain them?
Unenlightened philosophers have treated of _the attributes of God_ with
as much abstruseness as they have written of his works. The moral
attributes of God, as they are called in the schools, were mysteries
which they could not unfold. These may be reduced to two classes;
attributes of _goodness_, and attributes of _justice_. Philosophers, who
have admitted these, have usually taken that for granted which they
ought to have proved. They collected together in their minds all
perfections; they reduced them all to one object which they denominated
_a perfect being_: and supposing, without proving, that a perfect being
existed, they attributed to him, without proof, everything that they
considered as a perfection. The Psalmist shows by a surer way that there
is a God supremely just and supremely good. It is necessary, in order to
convince a rational being of the justice and goodness of God, to follow
such a method as that which we follow to prove his existence. When we
would prove the existence of God, we say, there are creatures, therefore
there is a Creator. In like manner, when we would prove that a Creator
is a just and a good being, we say, there are qualities of goodness and
justice in creatures, therefore he, from whom these creatures derive
their existence, is a being just and good. Now, this is the reasoning of
the Psalmist in this Psalm: “The Lord loveth righteousness and judgment:
the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord” (verse 5); that is to
say, it is impossible to consider the works of the Creator, without
receiving evidence of his goodness. And the works of nature which
demonstrate the goodness of God, prove his justice also; for God has
created us with such dispositions, that we cannot enjoy the gifts of his
goodness without obeying the laws of his righteousness. The happiness of
an individual who procures a pleasure by disobeying the laws of equity,
is a violent happiness, which cannot be of long duration; and the
prosperity of public bodies, when it is founded in iniquity, is an
edifice which, with its basis, will be presently sunk and gone.
But what we would particularly remark is, that _the excellent principles
of the Psalmist, concerning God, are not mere speculations_; but truths
from which he derives practical inferences; and he aims to extend their
influence beyond private persons, even to legislators and conquerors.
One would think, considering the conduct of mankind, that the
consequences, which are drawn from the doctrines of which we have been
speaking, belong to none but to the dregs of the people; that lawgivers
and conquerors have a plan of morality peculiar to themselves, and are
above the rules to which other men must submit. Our prophet had other
notions. What are his maxims of policy? They are all included in these
words: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom
he hath chosen for his own inheritance,” verse 12. What are his military
maxims? They are all included in these words: “There is no king saved by
the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much
strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver
any by his great strength,” verses 16, 17. Who proposes these maxims? A
hermit, who never appeared on the theatre of the world? or a man
destitute of the talents necessary to shine there? No: one of the wisest
of kings; one of the most bold and able generals: a man whom God has
self-elected to govern his chosen people, and to command those armies
which fought the most obstinate battles, and gained the most complete
victories. Were I to proceed in explaining the system of the Psalmist, I
might prove, that as he had a right to infer the doctrine of providence
from the works of nature, and that of the moral attributes of God from
the works of creation; so from the doctrines of the moral attributes of
God, of providence, and of the works of creation, he had a right to
conclude, that no conquerors or lawgivers could be truly happy but those
who acted agreeably to the laws of the just and good Supreme.—_James
Saurin._
_Verse 1.—“Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous.”_ _Exult, ye righteous,
in Jehovah!_ The Hebrew verb, according to the etymologists, originally
means to dance for joy, and is therefore a very strong expression for
the liveliest exultation.—_J. A. Alexander._
_Verse 1.—“Rejoice, O ye righteous:”_ not in yourselves, for that is not
safe, but “_in the Lord_.”—_Augustine._
_Verse 1.—“Praise is comely for the upright.”_ Praise is not comely for
any but the godly. A profane man stuck with God’s praise is like a
dunghill stuck with flowers. Praise in the mouth of a sinner is like an
oracle in the mouth of a fool: how uncomely is it for him to praise God,
whose whole life is a dishonouring of God? It is as indecent for a
wicked man to praise God, who goes on in sinful practices, as it is for
an usurer to talk of living by faith, or for the devil to quote
Scripture. The godly are only fit to be choristers in God’s praise; it
is called, “the garment of praise.” Isaiah lxi. 3. The garment sits
handsome only on a saint’s back.—_Thomas Watson._
_Verse 1._—This Psalm is coupled with the foregoing one by the
_catchword_ with which it opens, which is a repetition of the
exhortation with which the preceding ends, “_Rejoice in the Lord, ye
righteous_;” “Shout for joy, all ye _upright_.”—_Christopher
Wordsworth._
_Verse 1._—He pleaseth God whom God pleaseth.—_Augustine._
_Verse 2.—“Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery
and an instrument of ten strings.”_ Here we have the first mention of
musical instruments in the Psalms. It is to be observed that the early
fathers almost with one accord protest against their use in churches; as
they are forbidden in the Eastern church to this day, where yet, by the
consent of all the singing is infinitely superior to anything that can
be heard in the West.—_J. M. Neale._
_Verse 2.—“Harp;” “Psaltery,”_ etc. Our church does not use musical
instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, that she may
not seem to Judaise.—_Thomas Aquinas._ It was only permitted to the
Jews, as sacrifice was, for the heaviness and grossness of their souls.
God condescended to their weakness, because they were lately drawn off
from idols: but now instead of organs, we may use our own bodies to
praise him withal.—_Chrysostom._ The use of singing with instrumental
music was not received in the Christian churches as it was among the
Jews in their infant state, but only the use of plain song.—_Justin
Martyr._
_Verse 2 (last clause)._—It is said that David praised God upon “_an
instrument of ten strings_;” and he would never have told how many
strings there were, but that without all doubt he made use of them all.
God hath given all of us bodies, as it were, instruments of many
strings; and can we think it music good enough to strike but one string,
to call upon him with our tongues only? No, no; when the still sound of
the heart by holy thoughts, and the shrill sound of the tongue by holy
words, and the loud sound of the hands by pious works, do all join
together, that is God’s concert, and the only music wherewith he is
affected.—_Sir Richard Baker._
_Verse 3.—“Sing unto him.”_ I. Singing is the music of _nature_. The
Scriptures tell us the mountains sing (Isa. lv. 12); the valleys sing
(Ps. lxv. 13); the trees of the wood sing (1 Chron. xvi. 33); nay, the
air is the bird’s music room, they chant their musical notes. II.
Singing is the music of _ordinances_. Augustine reports of himself, that
when he came to Milan and heard the people sing, he wept for joy in the
church to hear that pleasing melody. And Beza confesses that at his
first entrance into the congregation, and hearing them sing the
ninety-first Psalm, he felt himself exceedingly comforted, and did
retain the sound of it afterwards upon his heart. The Rabbins tell us
that the Jews, after the feast of the Passover was celebrated, sang the
hundred-and-eleventh and five following Psalms; and our Saviour and his
apostles sang a hymn immediately after the blessed Supper. Matt. xxvi.
30. III. Singing is the music of _saints_. 1. They have performed this
duty in their greatest _numbers_. Ps. cxlix. 1, 2. 2. In their greatest
_straits_. Isa. xxvi. 19. 3. In their greatest _flight_. Isa. xlii. 10,
11. 4. In their greatest _deliverances_. 5. In their greatest
_plenties_. Isa. lxv. 14. In all these changes singing hath been their
stated duty and delight. And indeed it is meet that the saints and
servants of God should sing forth their joys and praises to the Lord
Almighty: every attribute of him can set both their song and their tune.
IV. Singing is the music of _angels_. Job tells us, “the morning stars
sang together,” chap. xxxviii. 7. Now these “morning stars,” as Pineda
tells us, are the angels; to which the Chaldee paraphrase accords,
naming these morning stars, _aciem angelorum_, an host of angels. Nay,
when this heavenly host was sent to proclaim the birth of our dearest
Jesus, they deliver their message in this raised way of duty. Luke ii.
13. They were αἰνούντες, delivering their messages in a laudatory
singing, the whole company of angels making a musical quire. Nay, in
heaven there is the angels’ joyous music; they there sing hallelujahs to
the Most High, and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne. Rev. v. 11. V.
Singing is the music of _heaven_; the glorious saints and angels accent
their praises this way, and make one harmony in their state of
blessedness; and this is the music of the bride-chamber. The saints who
were tuning here their Psalms, are now singing their hallelujahs in a
louder strain, and articulating their joys, which here they could not
express to their perfect satisfaction; here they laboured with drowsy
hearts, and faltering tongues; but in glory these impediments are
removed, and nothing is left to jar their joyous celebration.—_John
Wells, in “Morning Exercises.”_
_Verse 3.—“A new song.”_ That is to say, a _new_ and recent composition
on account of recent benefits; or constantly new songs, song succeeding
song as daily new material for divine praise offers itself to the
attentive student of the works of God. Or _new_, that is, always fresh
and full of life, and renewed as new occasions offer themselves: as Job
says, “My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.” Or
_new_, _i.e._, not common but rare and exquisite; as the new name in
Rev. ii. 17; the new commandment, John xiii. 34. Or this respects the
gospel state, wherein is a new covenant (Heb. viii. 8), a new Jerusalem
(Rev. xxi. 2), a new man (Eph. ii. 15), and all things new. 2 Cor. v.
17. _New_, on account of its matter being unknown of men: as in Rev.
xiv. 3, “They sung a new song, and no man could learn that song but the
hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the
earth.” _New_ may be used in opposition to old. The song of Moses is
old, and of the Lamb is new.—_Martin Geier (1614-1681), in “Poli
Synopsis Criticorum.”_
_Verse 3.—“Sing unto him a new song.”_ Put off oldness: ye know the new
song. A new man, a New Testament, a new song. A new song belongeth not
to men that are old; none learn that but new men, renewed through grace
from oldness, and belonging now to the New Testament, which is the
kingdom of heaven.—_Augustine._
_Verse 3.—“A new song;”_ namely, sung with such fervency of affections
as novelties usually bring with them; or, always new, seeing God’s
graces never wax old; or, sung by the motion of this new spirit of
grace, which doth not so much look after the old benefits of the
creation as after the new benefit of the redemption in Christ, which
reneweth all things. Ps. xl. 3, and xcvi. 1; Rev. v. 9, and xiv.
3.—_John Diodati._
_Verse 3.—“Sing unto him a new song.”_ It is a melancholy proof of the
decline of the church, when the exhortation to sing a new song is no
longer attended to: in such a case, there is need of the greatest care
to prevent the old ones falling into oblivion.—_E. W. Hengstenberg._
_Verse 3.—“Play skilfully.”_ It is not an easy matter to praise God
aright; it must be done _corde_, _ore_, _opere_, with the very best of
the best.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 4.—“The word of the Lord is right.”_ His word of promise given to
the church. The divine revelation to all setting forth what is to be
believed, hoped for, and done. The decrees of God and his penal
judgments. The whole counsel and determination of God in the creation
and government of the world. “_Is right_,” without defect or error. The
word _right_ is opposed to _tortuous_; it means true or certain.—_John
de Pineda (1577-1637); D. H. Mollerus (1639), and others, in Synopsis._
_Verse 4.—“All his works are done in truth.”_
_Truth_ is in each flower
As well as in the solemnest things of God:
_Truth_ is the voice of nature and of time—
_Truth_ is the startling monitor within us—
Nought is without it, it comes from the stars,
The golden sun, and every breeze that blows—
_Truth_, it is God! and God is everywhere!
_William Thomas Bacon._