against the servants of the devil. “_For without cause_”—without my
having injured, assailed, or provoked them; out of their own spontaneous
malice “_have they hid for me their net in a pit_,” even as men hunt for
their game with cunning and deception. Innocent persons have often been
ruined by traps set for them, into which they have fallen as guilelessly
as beasts which stumble into concealed pits, and are taken as in a net.
It is no little thing to be able to feel that the enmity which assails
us is undeserved—uncaused by any wilful offence on our part. Twice does
David assert in one verse that his adversaries plotted against him
“_without cause_.” Net-making and pit-digging require time and labour,
and both of these the wicked will expend cheerfully if they may but
overthrow the people of God. Fair warfare belongs to honourable men, but
the assailants of God’s church prefer mean, ungenerous schemes, and so
prove their nature and their origin. We must all of us be on our guard,
for gins and pitfalls are still the favourite weapons of the powers of
evil.
8. “_Let destruction come upon him at unawares._” This tremendous
imprecation is frequently fulfilled. God’s judgments are often sudden
and signal. Death enters the persecutor’s house without pausing to knock
at the door. The thunderbolt of judgment leaps from its hiding-place,
and in one crash the wicked are broken for ever. “_And let his net that
he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall._”
There is a _lex talionis_ with God which often works most wonderfully.
Men set traps and catch their own fingers. They throw up stones, and
they fall upon their own heads. How often Satan outwits himself, and
burns his fingers with his own coals! This will doubtless be one of the
aggravations of hell, that men will torment themselves with what were
once the fond devices of their rebellious minds. They curse and are
cursed; they kick the pricks and tear themselves; they pour forth floods
of fire, and it burns them within and without.
9. “_And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord._” Thus rescued, David
ascribes all the honour to the Judge of the right; to his own valorous
arm he offers no sacrifice of boasting. He turns away from his
adversaries to his God, and finds a deep unbroken joy in Jehovah, and in
that joy his spirit revels. “_It shall rejoice in his salvation._” We do
not triumph in the destruction of others, but in the salvation given to
us of God. Prayer heard should always suggest praise. It were well if we
were more demonstrative in our holy rejoicings. We rob God by
suppressing grateful emotions.
10. As if the tongue were not enough to bless God with, David makes
every limb vocal—“_All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto
thee?_” His whole anatomy he would make resonant with gratitude. Those
bones which were to have been broken by my enemies shall now praise God;
every one of them shall bring its tribute, ascribing unrivalled
excellence to Jehovah the Saviour of his people. Even if worn to skin
and bone, yet my very skeleton shall magnify the Lord, “_which
deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor
and the needy from him that spoileth him_.” God is the champion, the
true knight-errant of all oppressed ones. Where there is so much
condescension, justice, kindness, power, and compassion, the loftiest
songs should be rendered. Come, dear reader, have you not been delivered
from sin, Satan, and death, and will not you bless the Redeemer? You
were poor and weak, but in due time Christ sought you, and set you free.
O magnify the Lord to-day, and speak well of his name.
11 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge _things_ that
I knew not.
12 They rewarded me evil for good _to_ the spoiling of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing _was_ sackcloth:
I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own
bosom.
14 I behaved myself as though _he had been_ my friend _or_ brother:
I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth _for his_ mother.
15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves
together: _yea_, the abjects gathered themselves together against
me, and I knew _it_ not; they did tear _me_, and ceased not:
16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with
their teeth.
17 LORD, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their
destructions, my darling from the lions.
18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise
thee among much people.
11. “_False witnesses did rise up._” This is the old device of the
ungodly, and we must not wonder if it be used against us as against our
Master. To please Saul, there were always men to be found mean enough to
impeach David. “_They laid to my charge things that I knew not._” He had
not even a thought of sedition; he was loyal even to excess; yet they
accused him of conspiring against the Lord’s anointed. He was not only
innocent, but ignorant of the fault alleged. It is well when our hands
are so clean that no trace of dirt is upon them.
12. “_They rewarded me evil for good._” This is devilish; but men have
learned the lesson well of the old Destroyer, and practise it most
perfectly. “_To the spoiling of my soul._” They robbed him of comfort,
and even would have taken his life had it not been for special rescues
from the hand of God. The wicked would strip the righteous naked to
their very soul: they know no pity. There are only such limits to human
malice as God himself may see fit to place.
13. “_But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth._”
David had been a man of sympathy; he had mourned when Saul was in ill
health, putting on the weeds of sorrow for him as though he were a near
and dear friend. His heart went into mourning for his sick master. “_I
humbled my soul with fasting._” He prayed for his enemy, and made the
sick man’s case his own, pleading and confessing as if his own personal
sin had brought on the evil. This showed a noble spirit in David, and
greatly aggravated the baseness of those who now so cruelly persecuted
him. “_And my prayer returned into mine own bosom._” Prayer is never
lost: if it bless not those for whom intercession is made, it shall
bless the intercessors. Clouds do not always descend in showers upon the
same spot from which the vapours ascended, but they come down somewhere;
and even so do supplications in some place or other yield their showers
of mercy. If our dove find no rest for the sole of her foot among our
enemies, it shall fly into our bosoms and bring an olive branch of peace
in its mouth. How sharp is the contrast all through this Psalm between
the righteous and his enemies! We must be earnest to keep the line of
demarcation broad and clear.
14. “_I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother_:” I
waited on him assiduously, comforted him affectionately, and sympathised
with him deeply. This may refer to those days when David played on the
harp, and chased away the evil spirit from Saul. “_I bowed down heavily,
as one that mourneth for his mother._” He bowed his head as mourners do.
The strongest natural grief was such as he felt when they were in
trouble. The mother usually wins the deepest love, and her loss is most
keenly felt: such was David’s grief. How few professors in these days
have such bowels of compassion; and yet under the gospel there should be
far more tender love than under the law. Had we more hearty love to
manhood, and care for its innumerable ills, we might be far more useful;
certainly we should be infinitely more Christ-like. “He prayeth best
that loveth best.”
15. “_But in mine adversity they rejoiced._” In my halting they were
delighted. My lameness was sport to them. Danger was near, and they sang
songs over my expected defeat. How glad are the wicked to see a good man
limp! “Now,” say they, “he will meet with his downfall.” “_And gathered
themselves together_,” like kites and vultures around a dying sheep.
They found a common joy in my ruin, and a recreation in my sorrow, and
therefore met together to keep the feast. They laid their heads together
to devise, and their tongues to deceive. “_Yea, the abjects gathered
themselves together against me._” Those who deserved horsewhipping,
fellows the soles of whose feet were needing the bastinado, came
together to plot, and held hole and corner meetings. Like curs around a
sick lion, the mean wretches taunted and insulted one whose name had
been their terror. The very cripples hobbled out to join the malicious
crew. How unanimous are the powers of evil; how heartily do men serve
the devil; and none decline his service because they are not endowed
with great abilities! “_I knew it not._” It was all done behind my back.
What a fluster the world may be in, and the cause of it all may not even
know that he has given offence. “_They did tear me, and ceased not._” It
is such dainty work to tear to pieces a good man’s character, that when
slanderers have their hand in they are loath to leave off. A pack of
dogs tearing their prey is nothing compared with a set of malicious
gossips mauling the reputation of a worthy man. That lovers of the
gospel are not at this time rent and torn as in the old days of Mary, is
to be attributed to the providence of God rather than to the gentleness
of men.
16. “_With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with
their teeth._” Like professional buffoons who grin around the banquet to
make sport, so they made a business of jeering at the good man; not,
however, out of mirth, but from violent, insatiable hatred. Like
cake-scoffers, or men who will jeer for a bit of bread, these hireling
miscreants persecuted David in order to get a bellyful for themselves
from Saul’s table: having moreover an inward grudge against the son of
Jesse because he was a better man than themselves.
Very forcibly might our Lord have used the words of these verses! Let us
not forget to see the Despised and Rejected of men here painted to the
life. Calvary and the ribald crew around the cross seem brought before
our eyes.
17. “_Lord, how long wilt thou look on?_” Why be a mere spectator? Why
so neglectful of thy servant? Art thou indifferent? Carest thou not that
we perish? We may thus reason with the Lord. He permits us this
familiarity. There is a time for our salvation, but to our impatience it
often seems to be very slow in coming; yet wisdom has ordained the hour,
and nothing shall delay it. “_Rescue my soul from their destructions._”
From their many devices; their multiplied assaults, be pleased to set me
free. “_My darling_,” my lovely, only, precious soul, do thou rescue
“_from the lions_.” His enemies were fierce, cunning, and strong as
young lions; God only could deliver him from their jaws, to God he
therefore addresses himself.
18. “_I will give thee thanks in the great congregation._” Notable
deliverances must be recorded, and their fame emblazoned. All the saints
should be informed of the Lord’s goodness. The theme is worthy of the
largest assembly; the experience of a believer is a subject fit for an
assembled universe to hear of. Most men publish their griefs, good men
should proclaim their mercies. “_I will praise thee among much people._”
Among friends and foes will I glorify the God of my salvation.
Praise—personal praise, public praise, perpetual praise—should be the
daily revenue of the King of heaven. Thus, for the second time, David’s
prayer ends in praise, as indeed all prayer should.
19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me:
_neither_ let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
20 For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters
against _them that are_ quiet in the land.
21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, _and_ said, Aha,
aha, our eye hath seen it.
22 _This_ thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O LORD, be not
far from me.
23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, _even_ unto my cause,
my God and my LORD.
24 Judge me, O LORD, my God, according to thy righteousness; and let
them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let
them not say, We have swallowed him up.
26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that
rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour
that magnify _themselves_ against me.
27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous
cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified,
which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness _and_ of thy
praise all the day long.
19. He earnestly prays that as they have no cause for their enmity, they
may have no cause for triumph either in his folly, sin, or overthrow.
“_Neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause._” The
winking of the eye was the low-bred sign of congratulation at the ruin
of their victim, and it may also have been one of their scornful
gestures as they gazed upon him whom they despised. To cause hatred is
the mark of the wicked, to suffer it causelessly is the lot of the
righteous. God is the natural Protector of all who are wronged, and he
is the enemy of all oppressors.
20. “_For they speak not peace._” They love it not; how can they speak
it? They are such troublers themselves that they cannot judge others to
be peaceable. Out of the mouth comes what is in the heart. Riotous men
charge others with sedition. “_They devise deceitful matters against
them that are quiet in the land._” David would fain have been an orderly
citizen, but they laboured to make him a rebel. He could do nothing
aright, all his dealings were misrepresented. This is an old trick of
the enemy to brand good men with S.S. on their cheeks, as sowers of
sedition, though they have ever been a harmless race, like sheep among
wolves. When mischief is meant, mischief is soon made. Unscrupulous
partisans could even charge Jesus with seeking to overturn Cæsar, much
more will they thus accuse his household. At this very hour, those who
stand up for the crown rights of King Jesus are called enemies of the
church, favourers of Popery, friends of Atheists, levellers, red
republicans, and it were hard to say what besides. Billingsgate and
Babylon are in league.
21. “_Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me._” As if they would
swallow him. Uttering great lies which needed wide mouths. They set no
bounds to their infamous charges, but poured out wholesale abuse,
trusting that if all did not stick, some of it would. “_And said, Aha,
aha, our eye hath seen it._” Glad to find out a fault or a misfortune,
or to swear they had seen evil where there was none. Malice has but one
eye; it is blind to all virtue in its enemy. Eyes can generally see what
hearts wish. A man with a mote in his eye sees a spot in the sun. How
like a man is to an ass when he brays over another’s misfortunes! how
like to a devil when he laughs a hyæna-laugh over a good man’s slips!
Malice is folly, and when it holds a festival its tones and gestures far
exceed all the freaks and mummeries of the Lord of misrule.
22. “_This thou hast seen, O Lord._” Here is comfort. Our heavenly
Father knows all our sorrow. Omniscience is the saint’s candle which
never goes out. A father will not long endure to see his child abused.
Shall not God avenge his own elect? “_Keep not silence._” Rebuke thine
enemies and mine, O Lord. A word will do it. Clear my character, comfort
my heart. “_O Lord, be not far from me._” Walk the furnace with me.
Stand in the pillory at my side. The sweet presence of God is the divine
cordial of the persecuted; his painful absence would be their deepest
misery.
23. “_Stir up thyself._” Be upon thy mettle. Prove that thou art no
indifferent witness to all this infamy. “_Awake to my judgment._” Take
the sceptre and summon the great assize; vindicate justice, avenge
oppression. Do not tarry as men do who sleep. “_Even unto my cause, my
God and my Lord._” He claims a nearness to his God, he holds him with
both hands; he leaves his case with the righteous Judge. He begs that
the suit may be brought on, heard, tried, and verdict given. Well is it
for a man when his conscience is so clear that he dares to make such an
appeal.
24. The appeal is here repeated; the plaintiff feels that the joy of his
accusers will be shortlived as soon as impartial justice rules. The
oppressors’ wrong, the proud man’s contumely, the fool’s grimace—all,
all will cease when the righteous Lord sits down upon the judgment seat.
25. “_Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let
them not say, We have swallowed him up._” Disappoint them of their prey
when their mouths are ready to swallow it. Saints are too dear a morsel
for the powers of evil; God will not give his sheep over to the wolfish
jaws of the persecutors. Just when they are tuning their pipes to
celebrate their victory, they shall be made to laugh on the other side
of their mouths. They are all too sure, and too boastful; they reckon
without their host: little do they dream of the end which will be put to
their scheming. Their bird shall be flown, and they themselves shall be
in the trap. The prayer of this text is a promise. Even before the lips
of the wicked can frame a speech of exultation, they shall be
disappointed; their heart-speech shall be forestalled, their wishes
frustrated, their knavish tricks exposed.
26. Here is the eternal result of all the laborious and crafty devices
of the Lord’s enemies. God will make little of them, though they
“_magnified themselves_;” he will shame them for shaming his people,
bring them to confusion for making confusion, pull off their fine
apparel and give them a beggarly suit of dishonour, and turn all their
rejoicing into weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Truly, the
saints can afford to wait.
27. “_Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous
cause._” Even those who could not render him active aid, but in their
hearts favoured him, David would have the Lord reward most abundantly.
Men of tender heart set great store by the good wishes and prayers of
the Lord’s people. Jesus also prizes those whose hearts are with his
cause. The day is coming when shouts of victory shall be raised by all
who are on Christ’s side, for the battle will turn, and the foes of
truth shall be routed. “_Yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be
magnified._” He would have their gladness contributory to the divine
glory; they are not to shout to David’s praise, but for the honour of
Jehovah. Such acclamations may fitly be continued throughout time and
eternity. “_Which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant._” They
recognised David as the Lord’s servant, and saw with pleasure the Lord’s
favour to him. We can have no nobler title than “servant of God,” and no
greater reward than for our Master to delight in our prosperity. What
true prosperity may be we are not always best able to judge. We must
leave that in Jesus’ hand; he will not fail to rule all things for our
highest good.
“For by his saints it stands confessed,
That what he does is always best.”
28. Unceasing praise is here vowed to the just and gracious God. From
morning till evening the grateful tongue would talk and sing, and
glorify the Lord. O for such a resolve carried out by us all!
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—Bonar entitles this Psalm, “_The awful utterance of the
Righteous One regarding those that hate him without cause_;” and he
makes the following remarks thereupon:—“Throughout the endless day of
eternity the Lord Jesus shall himself speak the Father’s ‘praise,’ and
shall put marked emphasis on his ‘_righteousness_’—that righteousness
which shall have been exhibited, both in the doom of those who hated the
offered Redeemer, and in the salvation of those who received him. There
is nothing in all this wherein his own may not fully join, especially on
that day when their views of justice shall be far clearer and fuller
than now. On that day we shall be able to understand how Samuel could
hew Agag in pieces, and the godly hosts of Israel slay utterly in Canaan
man and woman and child, at God’s command. We shall be able, not only
fully to agree in the doom, ‘Let them be confounded,’ etc., but even to
sing, ‘Amen, Hallelujah,’ over the smoke of torment. Rev. xix. 1, 2. We
should in some measure now be able to use every verse of this Psalm in
the spirit in which _the Judge_ speaks it, we feeling ourselves his
assessors in judging the world. 1 Cor. vi. 2. We shall, at all events,
be able to use it on that day when what is written here shall be all
accomplished.”—_Andrew A. Bonar._
_Verse 1.—“Plead my cause, O God, with them that strive with me.”_ 1.
Doth the world condemn thee for thy zeal in the service of God?
Reproachfully scorn thee for thy care to maintain good works? not blush
to traduce thee with imputations of preciseness, conceited singularity,
pharisaical hypocrisy? Oh but if thy conscience condemn thee not all
this while, if that be rectified by the sacred word of God, if thou aim
at his glory in pursuing thine own salvation, and side not with the
disturbers of the church, go on, good Christian, in the practice of
piety, discourage not thyself in thy laudable endeavours, but recount
with comfort that the Lord is thy judge (1 Cor. iv. 4), with a _scio cui
crediderim_, “I know whom I have believed.” 2 Tim. i. 12. 2. Art thou
wrongfully adjudged in the erroneous courts of men? are truth and
righteousness gone aside from their proper places? Is equity neglected,
and poverty overlaid? Well, have patience awhile, cheer up thy fainting
spirits, there is a God that beholdeth the innocency of thy cause, unto
whom thou hast liberty to make thy last appeal: “_Plead my cause, O
Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight
against me_.” Or, 3. Art thou otherwise injured by the hands of
malicious men? and doth a penurious estate disable thee to sue for
amends? Doth a _Nimrod_ oppress thee? A _Laban_ defraud thee? A covetous
landlord gripe thee? Well, yet take not the matter into thine own hands
by attempting unlawful courses; presume not to be judge in thine own
cause, for default of a present redress; but often remember what the
apostle taught his Thessalonians: “It is a righteous thing with God to
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.”—_Isaac Craven’s Sermon
at Paul’s Cross, 1630._
_Verse 1.—“Plead,”_ etc. More literally, _litigate, O Lord, with them_
that litigate against me, contend against them that contend with me;
_i.e._, avenge me of mine adversaries.—_Daniel Cresswell, D.D., F.R.S.,
in “The Psalms of David according to the Book of Common Prayer: with
Critical and Explanatory Notes,” 1843._
_Verse 2.—“Shield and buckler.”_ The word rendered “_shield_” is in the
Hebrew text מָגְן, _magen_, which was a short buckler intended merely
for defence. The word rendered “_buckler_” is צִנָּה _tsinnah_; it was
double the weight of the magen, and was carried by the infantry; the
magen, being lighter and more manageable, was used by the cavalry. The
_tsinnah_ answered to the _scutum_, and the magento the _clypeus_, among
the Romans. The word _tsinnah_, means that kind of shield from the
middle of which there arose a large boss, surmounted by a dagger, and
which was highly useful both as a defensive and an offensive weapon in
ancient warfare.—_James Anderson, note to Calvin in loc._
_Verse 3.—“Draw out the spear, and stop the way.”_ The spear in the days
of Saul and David was a favourite weapon. (See 1 Chron. xi.). A valiant
man bravely defending a narrow pass might simply with his lance keep
back a pursuing host, and give time for his friends to escape. Very
remarkable were the feats of valour of this sort performed in Oriental
warfare. David would have his God become his heroic defender, making his
enemies pause.—_C. H. S._
_Verse 3.—“Draw out;”_ or, as the Hebrew phrase is, _empty_, that is
_unsheath_ the like is of the _sword_. Exod. xv. 9; Levit. xxvi.
33.—_Henry Ainsworth._