the goodness of God. You cannot see except by tasting for yourself; but
if you taste you shall see, for this, like Jonathan’s honey, enlightens
the eyes. “_That the Lord is good._” You can only know this really and
personally by experience. There is the banquet with its oxen and
fatlings; its fat things full of marrow, and wines on the lees well
refined; but their sweetness will be all unknown to you except you make
the blessings of grace your own, by a living, inward, vital
participation in them. “_Blessed is the man that trusteth in him._”
Faith is the soul’s taste; they who test the Lord by their confidence
always find him good, and they become themselves blessed. The second
clause of the verse, is the argument in support of the exhortation
contained in the first sentence.
9. “_O fear the Lord, ye his saints._” Pay to him humble childlike
reverence, walk in his laws, have respect to his will, tremble to offend
him, hasten to serve him. Fear not the wrath of men, neither be tempted
to sin through the virulence of their threats; fear God and fear nothing
else. “_For there is no want to them that fear him._” Jehovah will not
allow his faithful servants to starve. He may not give luxuries, but the
promise binds him to supply necessaries, and he will not run back from
his word. Many whims and wishes may remain ungratified, but real wants
the Lord will supply. The fear of the Lord or true piety is not only the
duty of those who avow themselves to be saints, that is, persons set
apart and consecrated for holy duties, but it is also their path of
safety and comfort. Godliness hath the promise of the life which now is.
If we were to die like dogs, and there were no hereafter, yet were it
well for our own happiness’ sake to fear the Lord. Men seek a patron and
hope to prosper; he prospers surely who hath the Lord of Hosts to be his
friend and defender.
10. “_The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger._” They are fierce,
cunning, strong, in all the vigour of youth, and yet they sometimes howl
in their ravenous hunger, and even so crafty, designing, and oppressing
men, with all their sagacity and unscrupulousness, often come to want;
yet simple-minded believers, who dare not act as the greedy lions of
earth, are fed with food convenient for them. To trust God is better
policy than the craftiest politicians can teach or practise. “_But they
that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing._” No really good thing
shall be denied to those whose first and main end in life is to seek the
Lord. Men may call them fools, but the Lord will prove them wise. They
shall win where the world’s wiseacres lose their all, and God shall have
the glory of it.
11 Come ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of
the LORD.
12 What man _is he that_ desireth life, _and_ loveth _many_ days,
that he may see good?
13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
11. “_Come, ye children._” Though a warrior and a king, the Psalmist was
not ashamed to teach children. Teachers of youth belong to the true
peerage; their work is honourable, and their reward shall be glorious.
Perhaps the boys and girls of Gath had made sport of David in his
seeming madness, and if so, he here aims by teaching the rising race to
undo the mischief which he had done aforetime. Children are the most
hopeful persons to teach—wise men who wish to propagate their principles
take care to win the ear of the young. “_Hearken unto me: I will teach
you the fear of the Lord._” So far as they can be taught by word of
mouth, or learned by the hearing of the ear, we are to communicate the
faith and fear of God, inculcating upon the rising generation the
principles and practices of piety. This verse may be the address of
every Sabbath School teacher to his class, of every parent to his
children. It is not without instruction in the art of teaching. We
should be winning and attractive to the youngsters, bidding them “come,”
and not repelling them with harsh terms. We must get them away, apart
from toys and sports, and try to occupy their minds with better
pursuits; for we cannot well teach them while their minds are full of
other things. We must drive at the main point always, and keep the fear
of the Lord ever uppermost in our teachings, and in so doing we may
discreetly cast our own personality into the scale by narrating our own
experiences and convictions.
12. Life spent in happiness is the desire of all, and he who can give
the young a receipt for leading a happy life deserves to be popular
among them. Mere existence is not life; the art of living, truly,
really, and joyfully living, it is not given to all men to know. To
teach men how to live and how to die, is the aim of all useful religious
instruction. The rewards of virtue are the baits with which the young
are to be drawn to morality. While we teach piety to God we should also
dwell much upon morality towards man.
13. “_Keep thy tongue from evil._” Guard with careful diligence that
dangerous member, the tongue, lest it utter evil, for that evil will
recoil upon thee, and mar the enjoyment of thy life. Men cannot spit
forth poison without feeling some of the venom burning their own flesh.
“_And thy lips from speaking guile._” Deceit must be very earnestly
avoided by the man who desires happiness. A crafty schemer lives like a
spy in the enemy’s camp, in constant fear of exposure and execution.
Clean and honest conversation, by keeping the conscience at ease,
promotes happiness, but lying and wicked talk stuffs our pillow with
thorns, and makes life a constant whirl of fear and shame. David had
tried the tortuous policy, but he here denounces it, and begs others as
they would live long and well to avoid with care the doubtful devices of
guile.
14. “_Depart from evil._” Go away from it. Not merely take your hands
off, but yourself off. Live not near the pest-house. Avoid the lion’s
lair, leave the viper’s nest. Set a distance between yourself and
temptation. “_And do good._” Be practical, active, energetic,
persevering in good. Positive virtue promotes negative virtue; he who
does good is sure to avoid evil. “_Seek peace._” Not merely prefer it,
but with zeal and care endeavour to promote it. Peace with God, with
thine own heart, with thy fellow man, search after this as the
merchantman after a precious pearl. Nothing can more effectually promote
our own happiness than peace; strife awakens passions which eat into the
heart with corroding power. Anger is murder to one’s own self, as well
as to its objects. “_And pursue it._” Hunt after it, chase it with eager
desire. It may soon be lost, indeed, nothing is harder to retain, but do
your best, and if enmity should arise let it be no fault of yours.
Follow after peace when it shuns you; be resolved not to be of a
contentious spirit. The peace which you thus promote will be returned
into your own bosom, and be a perennial spring of comfort to you.
15 The eyes of the LORD _are_ upon the righteous, and his ears _are
open_ unto their cry.
16 The face of the LORD _is_ against them that do evil, to cut off
the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 _The righteous_ cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them
out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD _is_ nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and
saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
19 Many _are_ the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD
delivereth him out of them all.
20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous
shall be desolate.
22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them
that trust in him shall be desolate.
15. “_The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous._” He observes them
with approval and tender consideration; they are so dear to him that he
cannot take his eyes off them; he watches each one of them as carefully
and intently as if there were only that one creature in the universe.
“_His ears are open unto their cry._” His eyes and ears are thus both
turned by the Lord towards his saints; his whole mind is occupied about
them: if slighted by all others they are not neglected by him. Their cry
he hears at once, even as a mother is sure to hear her sick babe; the
cry may be broken, plaintive, unhappy, feeble, unbelieving, yet the
Father’s quick ear catches each note of lament or appeal, and he is not
slow to answer his children’s voice.
16. “_The face of the Lord is against them that do evil._” God is not
indifferent to the deeds of sinners, but he sets his face against them,
as we say, being determined that they shall have no countenance and
support, but shall be thwarted and defeated. He is determinately
resolved that the ungodly shall not prosper; he sets himself with all
his might to overthrow them. “_To cut off the remembrance of them from
the earth._” He will stamp out their fires, their honour shall be turned
into shame, their names forgotten or accursed. Utter destruction shall
be the lot of all the ungodly.
17. “_The righteous cry._” Like Israel In Egypt, they cry out under the
heavy yoke of oppression, both of sin, temptation, care and grief. “_And
the Lord heareth_;” he is like the night-watchman, who no sooner hears
the alarm-bell than he flies to relieve those who need him. “_And
delivereth them out of all their troubles._” No net of trouble can so
hold us that the Lord cannot free us. Our afflictions may be numerous
and complicated, but prayer can set us free from them all, for the Lord
will show himself strong on our behalf.
18. “_The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart._” Near in
friendship to accept and console. Broken hearts think God far away, when
he is really most near to them; their eyes are holden so that they see
not their best friend. Indeed, he is with them, and in them, but they
know it not. They run hither and thither, seeking peace in their own
works, or in experiences, or in proposals and resolutions, whereas the
Lord is nigh them, and the simple act of faith will reveal him. “_And
saveth such as be of a contrite spirit._” What a blessed token for good
is a repentant, mourning heart! Just when the sinner condemns himself,
the Lord graciously absolves him. If we chasten our own spirits the Lord
will spare us. He never breaks with the rod of judgment those who are
already sore with the rod of conviction. Salvation is linked with
contrition.
19. “_Many are the afflictions of the righteous._” Thus are they made
like Jesus their covenant Head. Scripture does not flatter us like the
story books with the idea that goodness will secure us from trouble; on
the contrary, we are again and again warned to expect tribulation while
we are in this body. Our afflictions come from all points of the
compass, and are as many and as tormenting as the mosquitoes of the
tropics. It is the earthly portion of the elect to find thorns and
briers growing in their pathway, yea, to lie down among them, finding
their rest broken and disturbed by sorrow. BUT, blessed _but_, how it
takes the sting out of the previous sentence! “_But the Lord delivereth
him out of them all._” Through troops of ills Jehovah shall lead his
redeemed scatheless and triumphant. There is an end to the believer’s
affliction, and a joyful end too. None of his trials can hurt so much as
a hair of his head, neither can the furnace hold him for a moment after
the Lord bids him come forth of it. Hard would be the lot of the
righteous if this promise, like a bundle of camphire, were not bound up
in it, but this sweetens all. The same Lord who sends the afflictions
will also recall them when his design is accomplished, but he will never
allow the fiercest of them to rend and devour his beloved.
20. “_He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken._” David had
come off with kicks and cuffs, but no broken bones. No substantial
injury occurs to the saints. Eternity will heal all their wounds. Their
real self is safe; they may have flesh-wounds, but no part of the
essential fabric of their being shall be broken. This verse may refer to
frequent providential protections vouchsafed to the saints; but as good
men have had broken limbs as well as others, it cannot absolutely be
applied to bodily preservations; but must, it seems to me, be
spiritually applied to great injuries of soul, which are for ever
prevented by divine love. Not a bone of the mystical body of Christ
shall be broken, even as his corporeal frame was preserved intact.
Divine love watches over every believer as it did over Jesus; no fatal
injury shall happen to us, we shall neither be halt nor maimed in the
kingdom, but shall be presented after life’s trials are over without
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, being preserved in Christ Jesus, and
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
21. “_Evil shall slay the wicked._” Their adversities shall be killing;
they are not medicine, but poison. Ungodly men only need rope enough and
they will hang themselves; their own iniquities shall be their
punishment. Hell itself is but evil fully developed, torturing those in
whom it dwells. Oh! happy they who have fled to Jesus to find refuge
from their former sins, such, and such only will escape. “_And they that
hate the righteous shall be desolate._” They hated the best of company,
and they shall have none; they shall be forsaken, despoiled, wretched,
despairing. God makes the viper poison itself. What desolation of heart
do the damned feel, and how richly have they deserved it!
22. “_The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants._”—with price and with
power, with blood and with water. All providential helps are a part of
the redemption by power, hence the Lord is said still to redeem. All
thus ransomed belong to him who bought them—this is the law of justice
and the verdict of gratitude. Joyfully will we serve him who so
graciously purchases us with his blood, and delivers us by his power.
“_And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate._” Faith is the
mark of the ransomed, and wherever it is seen, though in the least and
meanest of the saints, it ensures eternal salvation. Believer, thou
shalt never be deserted, forsaken, given up to ruin. God, even thy God
is thy guardian and friend, and bliss is thine.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Title._—_Abimelech_ was king of Gath, the same with Achish, 1 Sam. xxi.
20: who either had two names, or this of Abimelech, as it should seem,
was a common name to all the kings of the Philistines (see Gen. xx. 2;
xxvi. 8); as Pharaoh was to the Egyptian kings and Cæsar to the Roman
emperors: the name signifies a _father-king_, or _my father-king_, or a
_royal father_; as kings should be the fathers of their country: before
him _David changed his behaviour_, his taste, sense, or reason: he
imitated a madman.—_John Gill._
_Whole Psalm._—(This Psalm is alphabetical). The Alphabetical Psalms,
the _psalmi abcedarii_, as the Latin fathers called them, are nine in
number; and I cannot help thinking it is a pity that, except in the
single instance of the hundred and nineteenth, no hint of their
existence should have been suffered to appear in our authorised version.
I will not take it upon me to affirm, with Ewald, that no version is
faithful in which the acrostic is suppressed; but I do think that the
existence of such a remarkable style of composition ought to be
indicated in one way or another, and that some useful purposes are
served by its being actually reproduced in the translation. No doubt
there are difficulties in the way. The Hebrew Alphabet differs widely
from any of those now employed in Europe. Besides differences of a more
fundamental kind, the Hebrew has only twenty-two letters for our
twenty-six; and of the twenty-two a considerable number have no fellows
in ours. An exact reproduction of a Hebrew acrostic in an English
version is therefore impossible.—_William Binnie, D.D._
_Whole Psalm._—Mr. Hapstone has endeavoured to imitate the alphabetical
character of this Psalm in his metrical version. The letter answering to
F is wanting, and the last stanza begins with the letter answering to R.
One verse of his translation may suffice—
“=A=t all times bless Jehovah’s name will I;
His praise shall in my mouth be constantly:
=B=oast in Jehovah shall my soul henceforth;
Hear it, ye meek ones, and exult with mirth.”
_Verse 1.—“I will bless the Lord at all times.”_ Mr. Bradford, martyr,
speaking of Queen Mary, at whose cruel mercy he then lay, said, If the
queen be pleased to release me, I will thank her; if she will imprison
me, I will thank her; if she will burn me, I will thank her, etc. So
saith a believing soul: Let God do with me what he will, I will be
thankful.—_Samuel Clarke’s “Mirrour.”_
_Verse 1._—Should the whole frame of nature be unhinged, and all outward
friends and supporters prove false and deceitful, our worldly hopes and
schemes be disappointed, and possessions torn from us, and the floods of
sickness, poverty and disgrace overwhelm our soul with an impetuous tide
of trouble; the sincere lover of God, finding that none of these affects
his portion and the object of his panting desires, retires from them all
to God his refuge and hiding place, and there feels his Saviour
incomparably better, and more than equivalent to what the whole of the
universe can ever offer, or rob him of; and his tender mercies,
unexhausted fulness, and great faithfulness, yield him consolation and
rest; and enable him, what time he is afraid, to put his trust in him.
Thus we find the holy Psalmist expressing himself: “_I will bless the
Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my
mouth._”—_William Dunlop._
_Verse 1._—S. Basil tells us that the praise of God, once rightly
impressed as a seal on the mind, though it may not always be carried out
into action, yet in real truth causes us perpetually to praise God.—_J.
M. Neale’s Commentary._
_Verse 2.—“My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.”_ Not like the
boasting of the Pharisee, so hateful in the eyes of God, so offensive in
the ears of the humble; for _the humble can hear this boasting and be
glad_, which they would never do if it were not conformable to the rules
of humility. Can any boasting be greater than to say, “I can do all
things”? Yet in this boasting there is humility when I add, “In him that
strengtheneth me.” For though God likes not of boasting, yet he likes of
this boasting, which arrogates nothing to ourselves, but ascribes all to
him.—_Sir Richard Baker._
_Verses 2-6._—There is somewhat very striking and pleasing in the sudden
transitions, and the change of persons, that is observable in these few
verses. “_My soul shall boast_;” “_The humble shall hear_;” “_I sought
the Lord_;” “_They looked to him_;” “_This poor man cried_.” There is a
force and elegance in the very unconnection of the expressions, which,
had they been more closely tied by the proper particles, would have been
in a great measure lost. Things thus separated from each other, and yet
accelerated, discover, as Longinus observes, the earnestness and the
vehemency of the inward working of the mind; and though it may seem to
interrupt, or disturb the sentence, yet quickens and enforces
it.—_Samuel Chandler, D.D._
_Verse 3._—Venema remarks that after the affair with Achish, we are told
in 1 Samuel xxii. 1, “His brethren, and all his father’s house went down
to the cave Adullam unto him,” and these, together with those who were
in debt, and discontented with Saul’s government, formed a band of four
hundred men. To these his friends and comrades, he relates the story of
his escape, and bids them with united hearts and voices extol the
Lord.—_C. H. S._
_Verse 4.—“I sought the Lord, and he heard me.”_ God expects to hear
from you before you can expect to hear from him. If you restrain prayer,
it is no wonder the mercy promised is retained. Meditation is like the
lawyer’s studying the case in order to his pleading at the bar: when,
therefore, thou hast viewed the promise, and affected thy heart with the
riches of it, then fly thee to the throne of grace, and spread it before
the Lord.—_William Gurnall._
_Verse 4.—“He delivered me from all my fears.”_ To have delivered me
from all my troubles had been a great favour, but a far greater to
deliver me from all my fears; for where that would but have freed me
from present evil, this secures me from evil to come; that now I enjoy
not only tranquility, but security, a privilege only of the godly. The
wicked may be free from trouble, but can they be free from fear? No; God
knows, though they be not in trouble like other men, yet they live in
more fear than other men. Guiltiness of mind, or mind of the world,
never suffers them to be secure: though they be free sometimes from the
fit of an ague, yet they are never without a grudging; and (if I may use
the expression of poets) though they feel not always the whip of
Tysiphone, yet they feel always her terrors; and, seeing the Lord hath
done this for me, hath delivered me from all my fears, have I not cause,
just cause, to magnify him, and exalt his name?—_Sir Richard Baker._
_Verse 5.—“They looked unto him.”_ The more we can think upon our Lord,
and the less upon ourselves, the better. Looking to him, as he is seated
upon the right hand of the throne of God, will keep our heads, and
especially our hearts, steady when going through the deep waters of
affliction. Often have I thought of this when crossing the water
opposite the old place of Langholm. I found, when I looked down on the
water, I got dizzy; I therefore fixed my eyes upon a steady object on
the other side, and got comfortably through.—_David Smith, 1792-1867._
_Verse 6.—“This poor man cried.”_ The reasons of _crying_ are, 1. Want
cannot blush. The pinching necessity of the saints is not tied to the
law of modesty. Hunger cannot be ashamed. “I mourn in my complaint, and
make a noise,” saith David (Ps. lv. 2); and Hezekiah, “Like a crane or a
swallow, so did I chatter. I did mourn as a dove” (Isa. xxxviii. 14). “I
went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the
congregation” (Job. xxx. 28). 2. Though God hear prayer, only as prayer
offered in Christ, not because very fervent; yet fervour is a heavenly
ingredient in prayer. An arrow drawn with full strength hath a speedier
issue; therefore, the prayers of the saints are expressed by _crying_ in
Scripture. “O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not” (Ps.
xxii. 2). “At noon, will I pray, and cry aloud” (Ps. lv. 17). “In my
distress I cried to the Lord” (Ps. xviii. 6). “Unto thee have I cried, O
Lord” (Ps. lxxxviii. 13). “Out of the depths have I cried” (Ps. cxxx.
1). “Out of the belly of hell cried I” (Jonah ii. 2). “Unto thee will I
cry, O Lord my rock” (Ps. xxviii. 1). Yea, it goeth to somewhat more
than _crying_: “I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard” (Job xix. 7).
“Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer” (Lam. iii. 8). He
who may teach us all to pray, sweet Jesus, “In the days of his flesh,
when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and
tears” (Heb. v. 7); he prayed with war shouts. 3. And these prayers are
so prevalent, that God answereth them: “_This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his fears_” (Ps. xxxiv. 6). “My
cry came before him, even into his ears” (Ps. xviii. 6). The _cry_
addeth wings to the prayer, as a speedy post sent to court upon life and
death: “Our fathers cried unto thee, and were delivered” (Ps. xxii. 5).
“_The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth_” (Ps. xxxiv. 17).—_Samuel
Rutherford._
_Verse 7.—“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear
him, and delivereth them.”_ I will not rub the questions, whether these
angels can contract themselves, and whether they can subsist in a point,
and so stand together the better in so great a number, neither will I
trouble myself to examine whether they are in such-and-such a place in
their _substance_, or only in their _virtue_ and _operation_. But this
the godly man may assure himself of, that whensoever he shall want their
help, in spite of doors, and locks, and bars, he may have it in a
moment’s warning. For there is no impediment, either for want of power
because they are spirits, or from want of good will, both because it is
their duty, and because they bear an affection in him; not only
rejoicing at his first conversion (Luke xv. 10), but, I dare confidently
affirm, always disposed with abundance of cheerfulness to do anything
for him. I cannot let pass some words I remember of Origen’s to this
purpose, as I have them from his interpreter. He brings in the angels
speaking after this manner:—“If he (meaning the Son of God) went down,
and went down into a body, and was clothed with flesh, and endured its
infirmities and died for men, what do we stand still for? Come, let’s
all down from heaven together.”—_Zachary Bogan._