preserved for ever.”_ How? since they die as others do. Mark the
_antithesis_, and that will explain it. “_They are preserved for ever:
but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off._” They are preserved in
their posterity: children are but the parents multiplied, and the
parents continued; ’tis _nodosa æternitas_; when the father’s life is
run out to the last, there is a knot tied, and the line is still
continued by the child. I confess temporal blessings, such as long life,
and the promise of an happy posterity, are more visible in the eye of
that dispensation of the covenant; but yet God still taketh care for the
children of his people, and many promises run that way that belong to
the gospel administration, and still God’s service is the surest way to
establish a family, as sin is the ready way to root it out. And if it
doth not always fall out accordingly, yet for the most part it doth; and
we are no competent judges of God’s dispensations in this kind, because
we see providence by pieces, and have not the skill to set them
together; but at the day of judgment, when the whole contexture of God’s
dealings is laid before us, we shall clearly understand how _the
children of his servants continue, and their seed is established_. Psalm
cii. 28.—_Thomas Manton._
_Verse 29.—“The righteous shall inherit the land,”_ or the earth. There
is clearly an emphasis in the repetition of the same promise in the same
terms which ought to have been uniformly rendered throughout verses 9,
11, 22, 29, 34. And it cannot be doubted, that there is a reference to
the new heavens and the new earth of Isaiah lxvi. 17; 2 Peter iii.
13.—_W. Wilson._
_Verse 29.—“The righteous shall inherit the land,”_ etc. Comp. Matt. v.
5. Consider well this Bible truth, of the future exclusive possession of
the earth by the righteous. The millennial kingdom furnishes a fuller
explanation.—_T. C. Barth._
_Verse 31.—“The law of his God is in his heart,”_ etc. The flock of
sheep that’s indisposed and unwilling to drive, start out of the way
into every lane’s end, one this way and another that; and just so is it
with an unwilling heart; one thought starts this way, and another that,
and it’s a piece of skill to drive them through. But a willing heart, a
heart prepared and ready to every good work, it flies quite up an end,
and delights itself in the Lord.—_Richard Steele._
_Verse 31 (first clause)._—He hath a Bible in his head, and another in
his heart; he hath a good treasure within, and there hence bringeth good
things.—_John Trapp._
_Verses 32, 33._—The Jews “_watched_” that Just One daily and hourly;
they “_sought to slay him_,” and did so; but _Jehovah left him not in
their hands_, but vindicated his innocence by raising him from the
dead.—_George Horne._
_Verse 34.—“Wait on the Lord,”_ etc. He that truly trusts in God will
stay God’s time, and use God’s means, and walk in God’s way, though it
seem round about; they will not neglect their souls for haste; they know
this would be to make more haste than good speed. Nor would they step
out of the way, the way that is holy and righteous, though they may
escape a loss, an affliction by it, though they might gain some
desirable advantage by it. True faith goes leaning upon God, and
therefore will “_keep his way_.” He that will not be liberal for the
promoting and honouring of the gospel; he that fears poverty or
affliction more than he fears sin; he that is more careful for the
things of the world than for his soul; he that takes indirect or
suspected courses, to get, or increase, or secure his estate; he that is
not jealous or watchful, lest his cares for the world (when he is much
engaged therein) should be immoderate—it is plain he doth not trust God
with his estate; and he that does not trust God for his estate, whatever
he think or pretend, he does not trust God for his soul, for his
salvation; his hopes of heaven and salvation are but presumption.—_David
Clarkson._
_Verse 34.—“Wait on the Lord.”_ Bind him not to a day, wake not the
Beloved till he please.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 34.—“Wait ... keep.”_ While we are waiting let us take heed of
wavering. Go not a step out of God’s way, though a lion be in the way;
avoid not duty to meet with safety; keep God’s highway, the good old way
(Jer. vi. 16), the way which is paved with holiness. “And an highway
shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness.”
Isaiah xxxv. 8. Avoid crooked paths, take heed of turning to the left
hand, lest you be set on the left hand. Sin doth cross our hopes, it
barricades up our way; a man may as well expect to find heaven in hell,
as in a sinful way.—_Thomas Watson._
_Verse 35.—“Green bay tree.”_ The LXX translates כְּאֶוְרָח רַעֲנָן as
if it were כְּאֶזְרָח לְבָנֹן, “Like the cedar of Lebanon;” but אֶזְרָח
רַעֲנָן according to Delitzsch, means a noble timber-tree, one that in
the course of centuries of growth has acquired a gigantic trunk, and an
umbrageous, dome-like crown.
_Verse 35.—“Green bay tree.”_ The marginal rendering—“a tree that
groweth in his own soil”—is, no doubt, the true one. The idea generally
formed of this passage by the reader of the English Bible is that the
tree referred to was the bay laurel (_Prunus laurocerasus_), or cherry
laurel of our gardens. But this plant belongs to an entirely different
family. The bay and the Portugal laurels, whose forms of growth and
evergreen leaves make them highly ornamental in shrubberies, belong to a
sub-family (_Drupaceæ_, Lind.) of the rose tribe (_Rosaceæ_), but the
bay tree proper, which flourisheth luxuriantly in Southern Europe, is
the type of the laurel family (_Lauraceæ_). Several circumstances make
it unlikely that the true bay tree represents the Hebrew _esrāch_. There
is no evidence that it was ever so plentiful in Palestine as to be
chosen by the Psalmist in an illustration in a poem for popular use. It
is indeed to be met with, but that chiefly in localities on the borders
of the eastern shore of the Great Sea. The chief objection to the
supposition that the bay tree was referred to by the royal poet is to be
found in the Psalm itself. Having mentioned it in the lines quoted
above, he adds, “Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought
him, but he could not be found.” The idea here is not one which could be
represented and illustrated by an evergreen plant, slow of growth, and
yet reaching in maturity a height of above thirty feet. The words demand
a quick growing tree, in a soil more than usually favourable to its
growth. Thus planted, and shooting up in calm and sunshine, it would
attract every eye; but when the storm broke over it, when the strong
wind swept impetuously through its branches, it would not stand. Torn up
by the root, and its timber comparatively useless, like Abraham’s dead,
it would be buried out of sight. And thus with the wicked. He was sought
and could not be found.—_John Duns, D.D., F.R.S.E., in “Biblical Natural
Science.”_
_Verse 35._—We see no force in the observation of Dr. Duns; in fact, if
there were not other reasons for preferring the translation given in the
following note by Wilson, we should see all the more reason to keep to
the bay tree. It was a tree of permanence and of long-continued verdure,
and so the prosperous wicked seem to be. They look as if their happiness
would be eternal; yet, for all that, those who carefully note the
dealings of providence observe with holy wonder that divine justice cuts
short their glory, and they perish utterly.—_C. H. S._
“_I have seen the wicked in great power_ (terrible, fierce, violent),
_and spreading himself like a green bay tree_” (a tree in its native
soil, vigorous, and luxuriant, that had never been transplanted). A
striking figure of the ungodly man of the world, firmly rooted in
earthly things—his native soil, grown proud and wanton in his
prosperity, without fear or apprehension of any reverse.—_William
Wilson._
_Verse 35.—“Like a green bay tree,”_ which produceth all leaves and no
fruit.—_Matthew Henry._
_Verse 35.—“I have seen the wicked,”_ saith David, “_in great power, and
spreading himself like a green bay-tree_.” And why like a green
bay-tree? Because in the winter, when all other trees—as the vine-tree,
fig-tree, apple-tree, &c., which are more profitable trees—are withered
and naked, yet the bay-tree continueth as green in the winter as the
summer. So fareth it with wicked men: when the children of God, in the
storms of persecutions, and afflictions, and miseries, seem withered,
and, as it were, dead, yet the wicked all that time flourish, and do
appear green in the eyes of the world: they wallow in worldly wealth,
but it is for their destruction; they wax fat, but it is for the day of
slaughter. It was the case of Hophni and Phinehas: the Lord gave them
enough and suffered them to go on and prosper in their wickedness; but
what was the reason? Because he would destroy them.—_J. Gore’s Sermon at
St. Paul’s, 1633._
_Verses 35, 36._—
——“To-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hopes, to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him:
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost;
And—when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a ripening—nips his root,
And then he falls, as I do.”
_William Shakspeare, in Henry VIII._
_Verses 36, 37._—The hawk flies high, and is as highly prized, being set
upon a perch, vervelled with the gingling bells of encouragement, and
carried on his master’s fist; but being once dead and picked over the
perch, is cast upon the dunghill as good for nothing. The hen scrapes in
the dust, not anything rewarded when she is alive, but being dead, is
brought as a choice dish to her master’s table. Thus wicked men are
commonly set in high places, and prosper in this life; and good men lie
grovelling with their mouths in the dust, as the very underlings of the
world; but being once dead, the one is cast into the dungeon of hell,
the other advanced to the kingdom of heaven: the one is into Abraham’s
bosom, whilst the other is tormented with the devil and his
angels.—_Thomas Westfield, D.D., 1644._
_Verse 37.—“Mark ... and behold.”_ Herodotus maketh mention of a custom
among the Ethiopians to set the dead bodies of their friends in glazed
sepulchres, that their proportions might be obvious to the passengers.
How needless soever that custom was, ’tis doubtless no more than just
that the pious lineaments of their minds who die in the Lord should be
presented to the living in the mirrour of art. Indeed, commendation
after death is the tribute of a religious life. Good works are jewels
not to be locked up in a cabinet, but to be set forth to public view. If
Christ would have Mary’s name remembered in the gospel until the world’s
end for one box of ointment poured on his head, we cannot imagine that
he would have the many pious and charitable deeds of his servants to be
buried in oblivion. Consult the Scriptures, and you shall scarce find
any godly man laid in his grave without an epitaph of honour. View the
fathers, and you shall observe it their practice to honour the death of
the good by giving them their deserved praises.—_Nathanael Hardy._
_Verse 37.—“The perfect man,”_ etc.—Divines well distinguish of a double
perfection, it is _absoluta_ or _comparata_. That is absolutely
_perfect_, to which nothing (that may be accounted truly good) is
wanting; and thus He only is _perfectus_ who is _infactus_; God, who
made all things, and himself is not made, only enjoying an
all-sufficient perfection, in and of himself. That is comparatively
_perfect_, in which, notwithstanding some wants, there is a fulness
compared with others. Thus every saint is _perfect_ in comparison of the
wicked among whom he liveth. In this respect it is said of Noah, “_That
he was a perfect man in his generations_;” his grace compared with the
wickedness of the old world well deserving the name of perfection;
indeed every upright man is _perfect_ in comparison of them who are
openly bad, or but openly good; stained with wickedness, or but painted
with holiness. Thus one saint may be _perfect_ if compared with another,
the strong Christian in respect of the weak, whom he outstrips in grace
and piety: such saints Paul means when he saith, “We speak wisdom among
them that are perfect;” that is, such as have attained to greater
measures of grace than others. It was said of Benaiah, “He was more
honourable than thirty, but he attained not to the first three;” and
though no saint can ever attain to the perfections of the _first three_,
the blessed Trinity, yet many saints may be honourable amongst _thirty
perfect_ in comparison of those among whom they live.
We must further distinguish of a double perfection, it is _extrinseca_
and _intrinseca_. Extrinsical perfection so called, because by
imputation, is that which every believer is partaker of through the
perfect righteousness of Christ, whereby all his imperfections are
covered; in this respect the author to the Hebrews tells us, “That by
one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified;” and
S. Paul tells the Colossians that they were “complete in him,” meaning
Christ. Indeed _omnia Dei mandata tunc facta deputantur, quando id quod
non fit ignoscitur_: divine commands are then in God’s account fulfilled
when our defects for Christ’s sake are pardoned; and the evangelical
perfection of a Christian consists not _in perfectione virtutum, sed
remissione vitiorum_, in the completion of our graces, but remission of
our sins.
Intrinsical perfection, so called because by inhæsion, is no less
rationally than usually thus distinguished, there is _perfectio partium
et graduum_. He is said to be _perfect_, _cui nihil deest eorum quæ ad
statum salutis necessaria_, who wants no graces that accompany
salvation; or he is perfect, _cui nihil deest in gradibus gratiarum et
virtutum_; who is not defective in the measures of those graces; both
these are frequently and fitly illustrated by the resemblance of a
child, and a grown man; the one whereof hath all the essential and
integral parts of a man, the other a complete use and measure of those
parts.—_Nathanael Hardy._
_Verse 37.—“The end.”_ All wise men affect the conclusion to be best: to
ride two or three miles of fair way, and to have a hundred deep and foul
ones to pass afterward is uncomfortable; especially when the end is
worse than the way. But let the beginning be troublesome, the progress
somewhat more easy, and the journey’s end happy, and there is fair
amends. “_Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of
that man is peace._” Mark him in the setting out, he hath many
oppositions; mark him in the journey, he is full of tribulations; but
mark in the conclusion, and the end of that man is peace.—_Thomas
Adams._
_Verse 37.—“The end of that man is peace.”_ Give me leave to determine
what it is to end or die in peace. To end in peace with _Euthymius_, is
to end in _pace cogitationis_, in peace of mind as it is opposed to
doubting. To end in peace with _Cyprian_, is to end in _pace
securilatis_, in peace of security, as it is opposed to final falling.
To end in peace with _Origen_, is to end in _pace conscientiæ_, in peace
of conscience as it is opposed to despairing. To end in peace with old
_Irenæus_, is to end in _pace mortis_, in the peace of death as it is
opposed to labouring. Again, to end in peace, is to end in _pace Dei_,
in the peace of God which passeth all understanding, _i.e._, far beyond
men’s apprehensions. To end in peace, is to end in _pace proximi_, in
peace with our neighbours, _i.e._, when no outcries or exclamations
follow us. And lastly, to end in peace, is to end in _pace sui_, in
peace with ourselves, _i.e._, when no distractions or perturbations of
mind molest us.—_Richard Parre._
_Verse 37._—The text may be divided into these two parts. Here is, 1.
The godly man’s _property_; and 2. The godly man’s _privilege_. His
property is perfection; his privilege is peace. Here is the saint’s
_character_ and the saint’s _crown_: he is characterised by uprightness
or sincerity, and crowned with peace. Here is the Christian’s _way_ and
his _end_, his _motion_, and his _rest_. His way is holiness, his end
happiness; his motion is towards perfection and in uprightness; his rest
is peace at his journey’s end.—_John Whitlock, in a Funeral Sermon
entitled, “The Upright Man and his Happy End,” 1658._
_Verse 37._—Time would fail me to tell how Christians die, nor can
anything save the pen of the recording angel who has stood by their bed
of death and borne them to Abraham’s bosom, narrate the unnumbered
instances of their delightful departure from the present world, which
verify the truth of the Bible. “I could never have believed,” said a
dying saint, “that it was so delightful a thing to die, or that it was
possible to have such views of the heavenly world as I now enjoy.” The
memorable Melancthon, just before he died, chanted in his sleep the
words, “I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the
kingdom of God.” He seemed restless, and on being asked by one near him,
“Whether there were anything more that he desired?” replied, _Aliud
nihil nisi cœlum_—nothing more, unless it be heaven.—_Gardiner Spring._
_Verse 37._—To die well be sure to live well; we must not think to have
Lazarus’s death, and Dives’s life; like him in Plutarch that would live
with Crœsus, as he said, but he would die with Socrates. No, Balaam’s
wishes are foolish and fruitless: if you would die well, Christians, you
must have a care to live well: _qualis vita, finis ita_, if you would
die quietly, you must live strictly; if you would die comfortably, you
must live comformably; if you would die happily, you must live holily.
“_Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man
is peace._”—_John Kitchin, M.A., 1660._
_Verse 38.—“The end of the wicked shall be cut off.”_ The wicked in this
world do easily run up without rub or interruption, many times with
acclamations and applause, all the golden steps of honours and
preferments; but upon the highest stair they find the most slippery
standing, and the top of their earthly felicity is the most immediate
and certain descent unto the greatest downfall. They are royally mounted
here upon earth, and gallop swiftly over the fair and green plains of
plenty and pleasures; but at the end of their race they are overturned
horse and man, and tumbled headlong into the pit of destruction. They
fairly glide over the sea of this world with full sail, with much
calmness and serenity, and richly laden; but in the brightest sunshine,
and when they least suspect it, they suddenly and without recovery, sink
into the gulf of darkness and desolation.—_Robert Bolton._
_Verse 40.—“And the Lord shall help them.”_ He _shall_, he _shall_, he
_shall_. Oh, the rhetoric of God! the safety of the saints! the
certainty of the promises!—_John Trapp._
Luther closes his Exposition of the Psalm with the words, Oh, shame on
our faithlessness, mistrust, and vile unbelief, that we do not believe
such rich, powerful, consolatory, declarations of God, and take up so
readily with little grounds of offence, whenever we but hear the wicked
speeches of the ungodly. Help, O God, that we may once attain to right
faith. Amen.
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Verse 1._—The art of tranquillity.—_W. Jones._
_Verses 1, 2._—A frequent temptation, and a double corrective—a sight of
sinners in death and in hell.
_Verse 2._—How and when the wicked perish.
_Verse 3._—I. A combination descriptive of holy living. II. A
combination descriptive of happy living.
_Verse 3._—The believer portrayed. I. His object of trust. II. His mode
of life. III. His place of abode. IV. His certainty of provision.
_Verse 3 (last clause)._—Read it in four ways. I. “Certainly fed,” or
the certainty of supply. II. “Fed in verity,” or the sufficiency of the
provision for soul and body. III. “Fed on truth,” or the spirituality of
the provision. IV. “Feed on truth,” or the duty of choosing such
provision.
_Verse 4._—Explain the delight and the desire of the believer, and show
the connection between them.
_Verses 5, 6._—The higher life. I. Based on hearty resignation. II.
Sustained by faith. III. Constantly unfolded by the Lord. IV.
Consummated in meridian splendour.
_Verse 6._—Sweet comfort for slandered saints. Where their character now
is. Who shall reveal it. The gradual yet sure manner of the revelation,
and the glorious conclusion.
_Verse 7._—“_Rest in the Lord._” What? Where? When? Why? How?
_Verse 7._—Peace, patience, self-possession.
_Verse 7._—Stillness in God.—_Bishop Wilberforce._
_Verse 7._—“_Rest in the Lord._” I. Rest in the _will_ of God, for
whatever he wills is for your good, your highest good. II. Rest in the
_love_ of God, and often meditate on the words of Jesus on this point,
“Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.” III. Rest in the _mercy_
of God. IV. Rest in the _word_ of God. V. Rest in the _relation_ thy God
fills to thee; he is the Father. VI. Rest in the Lord as he is
manifested in Jesus, thy God _in covenant_.—_James Smith._
_Verse 8._—A SERMON FOR THE FRETFUL. I. _Cease_ from present anger. It
is madness, it is sin; it shuts out our prayers; it will grow into
malice; it may lead to worse. II. _Forsake it_ for the future. Repent of
it, watch temper, discipline thy passion, etc. III. _Avoid_ all kindred
feelings of fretfulness, impatience, envy, etc., for they lead to evil.
_Verse 9._—How the humble are the true lords of the land.
_Verse 10._—I. Consider what the departed sinner has left. Possessions,
joys, honours, aims, hopes, etc. II. Consider where he has gone. III.
Consider whether you will share the same lot.
_Verses 10, 11._—Terror to the wicked: comfort to believers.—_A
Farindon._
_Verse 11._—The meek man’s delight, or “the harvest of a quiet eye.”
_Verse 14._—_Upright conversation._—I. What it excludes. The horizontal
or earthly, the crooked or crafty, the slanting or sinister. II. What it
includes. Motive, object, language, action. III. What it achieves. It
stands like a pillar; it supports like a column; it ascends like a
tower; it adorns like a monument; it illuminates like a Pharos.
_Verse 15._—The self-destructive nature of evil.
_Verse 16._—How to make much of a little.
_Verses 16, 17._—I. The owners contrasted. II. The possessions compared.
III. The preference given. IV. The reasons declared.
_Verse 17 (last clause)._—I. The favoured persons. II. Their evident
need, “upholding.” III. Their singular blessedness, “upheld,” above
trial, under trial, after trial. IV. Their august Patron.
_Verse 18._—The comforts derivable from a consideration of the divine
knowledge. The eternity of the righteous man’s possessions.
_Verse 18._—I. The _persons_, “the upright.” II. The _period_, “their
days.” These are known to God—(1) He knows them _kindly_ and
_graciously_; (2) He knows their _number_; (3) He knows the _nature_ of
them. III. The _portion_, “their inheritance shall be for
ever.”—_William Jay_.
_Verse 18 (last clause)._—What it is. How they come by it. How long they
hold it.
_Verse 19._—Good words for hard times.
_Verse 21._—Monetary transactions tests of character.
_Verse 22._—The divine blessing the secret of happiness. The divine
displeasure the essence of misery.
_Verses 23, 24._—I. The divine predestination. II. The divine delight.
III. The divine support.
_Verse 24_.—Temporary trials. I. To be expected. II. Have their limit.
III. Have their results. IV. Our secret comfort under them.
What may be. What cannot be. What shall be.
_Verse 25._—Memorandum of an aged observer.
_Verse 26._—The righteous man’s merciful disposition, generous action,
and rich reward.
_Verse 26._—The benediction of the good man’s family: what it is, and
what it is not.
_Verse 27._—Negative, positive, remunerative.
_Verse 28_.—I. The Lord’s love of right. II. His faithfulness to the
righteous. III. Their sure preservation thus doubly guaranteed. IV. The
doom of the wicked thus certified.
_Verse 29_.—Canaan as a type of the righteous man’s inheritance.
_Verse 30._—_Our speech_ as a test of godliness.
_Verse 31._—I. The best thing. II. In the best place. III. With the best
of results.
_Verses 32, 33._—Our enemies; their inveterate malice; our safeguard and
justification.
_Verse 34._—I. A twofold admonition: 1. “_Wait on the Lord._” 2. “_And
keep his way_;” wait and work, wait and walk, get grace and exercise it.
II. A two-fold promise: 1. “_He shall exalt thee to inherit the land_;”
God is the source of all elevation and honour. 2. “_When the wicked are
cut off, thou shalt see it_;” and they will be cut off.—_William Jay._
_Verse 34._—Patient faith, persevering holiness, and promised
exaltation.
_Verse 34 (last clause)._—Emotions caused in the godly by a sight of the
sinner’s doom.
_Verse 34 (last clause)._—The wicked are often cut off—1. Even _in
life_, from their places, and riches, and prospects. 2. At _death_ they
are cut off from all their possessions and comforts. 3. In _the last
day_ they will be cut off from “the resurrection of life.”—_William
Jay._
_Verses 35, 36, 37._—Three memorable scenes. I. The imposing spectacle.
II. The astounding disappearance. III. The delightful exit.