have done with Ebal and turn to Gerizim. Here our Lord pronounces
benedictions on his people. Note who the blessed objects of his
petitions are: not all men, but some men, “I pray for them, I pray not
for the world.” He pleads for seekers: the lowest in the kingdom, the
babes of the family; those who have true desires, longing prayers, and
consistent endeavours after God. Let seeking souls pluck up heart when
they hear of this. What riches of grace, that in his bitterest hour
Jesus should remember the lambs of the flock! And what does he entreat
for them? it is that they may be doubly glad, intensely happy,
emphatically joyful, for such the repetition of terms implies. Jesus
would have all seekers made happy by finding what they seek after, and
by winning peace through his grief. As deep as were his sorrows, so high
would he have their joys. He groaned that we might sing, and was covered
with a bloody sweat that we might be anointed with the oil of gladness.
“_Let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be
magnified._” Another result of the Redeemer’s passion is the promotion
of the glory of God by those who gratefully delight in his salvation.
Our Lord’s desire should be our directory; we love with all our hearts
his great salvation, let us then, with all our tongues proclaim the
glory of God which is resplendent therein. Never let his praises cease.
As the heart is warm with gladness let it incite the tongue to perpetual
praise. If we cannot do what we would for the spread of the kingdom, at
least let us desire and pray for it. Be it ours to make God’s glory the
chief end of every breath and pulse. The suffering Redeemer regarded the
consecration of his people to the service of heaven as a grand result of
his atoning death; it is the joy which was set before him; that God is
glorified is the reward of the Saviour’s travail.
17. “_But I am poor and needy._”—The man of sorrows closes with another
appeal, based upon his affliction and poverty. “_Yet the Lord thinketh
upon me._” Sweet was this solace to the holy heart of the great
sufferer. The Lord’s thoughts of us are a cheering subject of
meditation, for they are ever kind and never cease. His disciples
forsook him, and his friends forgat him, but Jesus knew that Jehovah
never turned away his heart from him, and this upheld him in the hour of
need. “_Thou art my help and my deliverer._” His unmoved confidence
stayed itself alone on God. O that all believers would imitate more
fully their great Apostle and High Priest in his firm reliance upon God,
even when afflictions abounded and the light was veiled. “_Make no
tarrying, O my God._” The peril was imminent, the need urgent, the
suppliant could not endure delay, nor was he made to wait, for the angel
came to strengthen, and the brave heart of Jesus rose up to meet the
foe.
Lord Jesus, grant that in all our adversities we may possess like
precious faith, and be found like thee, more than conquerors.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—_David’s Psalm_, or, _a Psalm of David_; but David’s name
is here set first, which elsewhere commonly is last: or, _A Psalm
concerning David_, that is, _Christ_, who is called _David_ in the
prophets: Hos. iii. 5; Jer. xxx. 9; Ezek. xxxiv. 23, and xxxii. 24. Of
him this Psalm entreateth as the apostle teacheth, Heb. x. 5, 6,
etc.—_Henry Ainsworth._
_Whole Psalm._—It is plain, from verses 6-8 of this Psalm, compared with
Heb. x. 5, that the prophet is speaking in the person of Christ, who,
1-5, celebrateth the deliverance wrought for his mystical body, the
church, by his resurrection from the grave, effecting that of his
members from the guilt and dominion of sin; for the abolition of which
he declareth, 6-8, the inefficacy of the legal sacrifices, and
mentioneth his own inclination to do the will of his Father, and 9, 10,
to preach righteousness to the world. 11-13. He representeth himself as
praying, while under his sufferings, for his own, and his people’s
salvation; he foretelleth, 14, 15, the confusion and desolation of his
enemies, and, 16, the joy and thankfulness of his disciples and
servants; for the speedy accomplishment of which, 17, he preferreth a
petition.—_George Horne._
_Verse 1.—“I waited patiently for the Lord: and he inclined unto me, and
heard my cry._” I see that the Lord, suppose he drifteth and delayeth
the effect of his servant’s prayer, and granteth not his desire at the
first, yet he heareth him. I shall give a certain argument, whereby thou
may know that the Lord heareth thee, suppose he delay the effect of thy
prayers. Continuest thou in prayer? Hast thou this strength given thee
to persevere in suiting[17] anything? Thou may be assured he heareth;
for this is one sure argument that he heareth thee, for naturallie our
impatience carrieth us to desperation; our suddenness is so great,
speciallie in spiritual troubles, that we cannot continue in suiting.
When thou, therefore, continues in suiting, thou may be sure that this
strength is furnished of God, and cometh from heaven, and if thou have
strength he letteth thee see that he heareth thy prayer; and suppose he
delay the effect and force thereof, yet pray continuallie. This doctrine
is so necessary for the troubled conscience, that I think it is the
meetest bridle in the Scripture to refrain our impatience; it is the
meetest bit to hold us in continual exercise of patience; for if the
heart understand that the Lord hath rejected our prayer altogether, it
is not possible to continue in prayer; so when we know that the Lord
heareth us, suppose he delay, let us crave patience to abide his good
will.—_Robert Bruce, 1559-1631._
_Verse 1.—“I waited for the Lord.”_ The infinite קַוֹּה being placed
first brings the action strongly out: _I waited_. This strong emphasis
on the waiting, has the force of an _admonition_; it suggests to the
sufferer that everything depends on _waiting_.—_E. W. Hengstenberg._
_Verse 1.—“I waited patiently:”_ rather _anxiously_; the original has
it, _waiting I waited_; a Hebraism, which signifies vehement
solicitude.—_Daniel Cresswell._
_Verse 1.—“I waited.”_ The Saviour endured his sufferings _waitingly_,
as well as patiently and prayerfully. He “waited for the Lord.” He
expected help from Jehovah; and he waited for it until it came.—_James
Frame, in “Christ and his Work: an Exposition of Psalm XL.” 1869._
_Verse 1.—“Patiently.”_ Our Lord’s patience under suffering was an
element of perfection in his work. Had he become impatient as we often
do, and lost heart, his atonement would have been vitiated. Well may we
rejoice that in the midst of all his temptations, and in the thickest of
the battle against sin and Satan, he remained patient and willing to
finish the work which his Father had given him to do.—_James Frame._
_Verse 1.—“Heard my cry.”_ Our Saviour endured his sufferings
_prayerfully_ as well as _patiently_.—_James Frame._
_Verse 2.—“An horrible pit.”_ Some of the pits referred to in the Bible
were prisons, one such I saw at Athens, and another at Rome. To these
there were no openings, except a hole at the top, which served for both
door and window. The bottoms of these pits were necessarily in a filthy
and revolting state, and sometimes deep in mud. “_He brought me up also
out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay_;” one of these filthy
prisons being in the Psalmist’s view, in Isaiah xxxviii. 17, called “the
pit of corruption,” or putrefaction and filth.—_John Gadsby._
_Verse 2.—“An horrible pit;”_ or, as it is in the Hebrew, _a pit of
noise_; so called because of waters that falling into it, with great
violence, make a roaring dreadful noise; or because of the strugglings
and outcries they make that are in it; or because when anything is cast
into deep pits, it will always make a great noise; and where he stuck
fast in “_miry clay_,” without a seeming possibility of getting out. And
some refer this to the greatness of Christ’s terrors and sufferings, and
his deliverance from them both.—_Arthur Jackson._
_Verse 2._—Three things are stated in verse two. First, resurrection as
the act of God, “_He brought me up_,” etc. Secondly, the justification
of the name and title of the Sufferer, “_and set my feet upon a rock_.”
Jesus is set up, as alive from the dead, upon the basis of accomplished
truth. Thirdly, there is his ascension, “_He establisheth my goings_.”
The Son of God having trodden, in gracious and self-renouncing obedience
the passage to the grave, now enters finally as Man the path of life.
“He is gone into heaven,” says the Spirit. And again, “He ascended on
high, and led captivity captive.”—_Arthur Pridham in “Notes and
Reflections on the Psalms,” 1869._
_Verse 3.—“A new song.”_ See Notes on Psalm xxxiii. verse 3.
_Verse 3.—“Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”_
The terms _fear_, and _hope_, or _trust_, do not seem at first view to
harmonise; but David has not improperly joined them together, for no man
will ever entertain the _hope_ of the favour of God but he whose mind is
first imbued with the _fear_ of God. I understand _fear_, in general, to
mean the feeling of piety which is produced in us by the knowledge of
the power, equity, and mercy of God.—_John Calvin._
_Verse 3.—“Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”_
First of all they “_see_.” Their eyes are opened; and their opened eyes
see and survey _what_ they are, _where_ they are, _whence_ they came,
and _whither_ they are going.... When the attention of sinners is really
and decisively arrested by the propitiation of Jesus, not only are their
eyes opened to their various moral relations, not only do they “see” but
they “_fear_” too. They “see” and “fear.”... Conviction follows
illumination.... But while the sinner only sees and fears, he is but in
the initial stage of conversion, only in a state of readiness to flee
from the city of destruction. He may have set out on his pilgrimage, but
he has not yet reached his Father to receive the kiss of welcome and
forgiveness. The consummating step has not yet been taken. He has seen
indeed; he has feared too; but he still requires to trust, to trust in
the Lord, and banish all his fears. This is the culminating point in the
great change; and, unless this be reached, the other experiences will
either die away, like an untimely blossom, or they will only be fuel to
the unquenchable fire.—_James Frame._
_Verse 5.—“Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast
done,”_ etc. Behold God in the magnificence and wisdom of the works
which his hands have made, even this immense universe, which is full of
his glory. What art and contrivance! What regularity, harmony, and
proportion, are to be seen in all his productions, in the frame of our
own bodies, or those that are about us! And with what beams of majestic
glory do the sun, moon, and stars proclaim how august and wonderful in
knowledge their Maker is! And ought not all these numberless beauties
wherewith the world is stored, which the minds of inquisitive men are
ready to admire, lead up our thoughts to the great Parent of all things,
and inflame our amorous souls with love to him, who is infinitely
brighter and fairer than them all?
Cast abroad your eyes through the nations, and meditate on the mighty
acts which he hath done, and the wisdom and power of his providence,
which should charm all thy affections. Behold his admirable patience,
with what pity he looks down on obstinate rebels; and how he is moved
with compassion when he sees his creatures polluted in their blood, and
bent upon their own destruction; how long he waits to be gracious; how
unwillingly he appears to give up with sinners, and execute deserved
vengeance on his enemies; and then with what joy he pardons for “with
him is plenteous redemption.” And what can have more force than these to
win thy esteem, and make a willing conquest of thy heart? so that every
object about thee is an argument of love, and furnishes fuel for this
sacred fire. And whether you behold God in the firmament of his power,
or the sanctuary of his grace, you cannot miss to pronounce him
“altogether lovely.”—_William Dunlop._
_Verse 5.—“Thy thoughts which are to us-ward, they cannot be reckoned up
in order unto thee:”_ _i.e._, there is no one can digest them in order;
for although that may be attempted according to the comprehension and
meaning of men, yet _not before thee_, every attempt of that nature
being infinitely beneath thy immeasurable glory.—_Victorinus Bythner’s
“Lyre of David;” translated by T. Dee: new edition, by N. L. Benmohel,
1847._
_Verse 5.—“Us-ward.”_ It is worthy of notice that while addressing his
Father, as Jehovah and his God, our Saviour speaks of the members of the
human family as his fellows. This is implied in the expressions “to
us-ward.” He regarded himself as most intimately associated with the
children of men.—_James Frame._
_Verse 5.—“They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee.”_ They are “in
order” in themselves, and if they could be “reckoned up” as they are,
they would be “reckoned in order.” Created mind may not be able to grasp
the principle of order that pervades them, but such a principle there
is. And the more we study the whole series in its interrelations, the
more shall we be convinced that as to time and place all the
preparations for the mediatorial work of Christ, all the parts of its
accomplishment, and all the divinely appointed consequents of its
acceptation throughout all time into eternity, are faultlessly in order;
they are precisely what and where and when they should be.—_James
Frame._
_Verse 5.—“They are more than can be numbered.”_ The pulses of
Providence are quicker than those of our wrists or temples. The soul of
David knew right well their multiplicity, but could not multiply them
aright by any skill in arithmetic; nay, the very sum or chief heads of
divine kindnesses were innumerable. His “wonderful works” and “thoughts”
towards him could not be reckoned up in order by him, they were _more
than could be numbered_.—_Samuel Lee (1625-1691), in “The Triumph of
Mercy in the Chariot of Praise.”_
_Verse 5._—It is Christ’s speech, of whom the Psalm is made, and that
relating unto his Father’s resolved purposes and contrivements from
eternity, and those continued unto his sending Christ into the world to
die for us, as verses 6, 7. It follows so, as although his thoughts and
purposes were but one individual act at first, and never to be altered;
yet they became many, through a perpetuated reiteration of them, wherein
his constancy to himself is seen.... My brethren, if God have been
thinking thoughts of mercy from everlasting to those that are his, what
a stock and treasury do these thoughts arise to, besides those that are
in his nature and disposition! This is in his actual purposes and
intentions, which he hath thought, and doth think over, again and again,
every moment. “_Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou
hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward_,” saith Jesus Christ;
for Psalm xl. is a Psalm of Christ, and quoted by the apostle, and
applied unto Christ in Heb. x., “_How many are thy thoughts_ to
us-ward!”—he speaks it in the name of the human nature—that is, to me
and mine. “_If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can
be numbered._” And what is the reason? Because God hath studied mercies,
mercies for his children, even from everlasting. And then, “He reneweth
his mercies every morning;” not that any mercies are new, but he
actually thinketh over mercies again and again, and so he brings out of
his treasury, mercies both new and old, and the old are always new. What
a stock, my brethren, must this needs amount unto!—_Thomas Goodwin._
_Verse 6.—“Sacrifice and offering ... burnt-offering and sin-offering.”_
Four kinds are here specified, both by the Psalmist and apostle: namely,
_sacrifice_, זֶבַח _zebhach_, θυσία; _offering_, מִנְחָה _minchah_,
προσφορὰ; _burnt-offering_, עוֹלָה _olah_, ὁλοκαύτωμα; _sin-offering_,
חֲטָאָה _chataah_, περὶ ἁμαρτίας. Of all these we may say with the
apostle, it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats, etc.,
should take away sin.—_Adam Clarke._
_Verse 6.—“Mine ears hast thou opened.”_ The literal translation is,
_mine ears hast thou digged_ (or _pierced_) _through_; which may well be
interpreted as meaning, “Thou hast accepted me as thy slave,” in
allusion to the custom (Exod. xxi. 6) of masters boring the ear of a
slave, who had refused his offered freedom, in token of retaining
him.—_Daniel Cresswell._
_Verse 6._—John Calvin, in treating upon the interpretation, “mine ears
hast thou bored,” says, “this mode of interpretation appears to be too
forced and refined.”
_Verse 6.—“Mine ears hast thou opened.”_ If it be said that the apostle
to the Hebrews read this differently, I answer, this does not appear to
me. It is true, he found a different, but corrupted translation (ὠτία,
_ears_, as the learned have observed, having been changed into σῶμα,
_body_) in the LXX, which was the version then in use; and he was
obliged to quote it as he found it, under the penalty, if he altered it,
of being deemed a false quoter. He therefore took the translation as he
found it, especially as it served to illustrate his argument equally
well. Upon this quotation from the LXX the apostle argues, verse 9, “He
(Christ) taketh away the first (namely, legal sacrifices), that he may
establish the second” (namely, obedience to God’s will), in offering
himself a sacrifice for the sins of mankind; and thus he must have
argued upon a quotation from the Hebrew text as it stands at
present.—_Green, quoted in S. Burder’s “Scripture Expositor.”_
_Verse 6._—The apostle’s reading (Heb. x. 5), though it be far distant
from the letter of the Hebrew, and in part from the LXX (as I suppose it
to have been originally), yet is the most perspicuous interpretation of
the meaning of it: _Christ’s body_ comprehended the _ears_, and that
assumed on purpose to perform in it the utmost degree of obedience to
the will of God, to be obedient even to death, and thereby to be as the
priest.—_Henry Hammond._
_Verse 6._—
Nor sacrifice thy love can win,
Nor offerings from the stain of sin
Obnoxious man shall clear:
Thy hand my mortal frame prepares,
(Thy hand, whose signature it bears,)
And opes my willing ear.
_James Merrick, M.A., 1720-1769._
_Verses 6, 7._—In these words an allusion is made to a custom of the
Jews _to bore the ears_ of such as were to be their perpetual servants,
and _to enrol their names in a book_, or make some instrument of the
covenant. “Sacrifice and burnt-offering thou wouldst not have;” but
because I am thy vowed servant, bored with an awl, and enrolled in thy
book, “_I said, Lo, I come; I delight to do thy will, O my God._” These
words of the Psalm are alleged by S. Paul, Heb. x. But the first of them
with a most strange difference. For whereas the Psalmist hath, according
to the Hebrew verity, “_Sacrifice and burnt-offering thou wouldst not:
mine ears thou hast bored or digged_,” כָּרִיתָ; S. Paul reads with the
LXX, σῶμα κατηρτίσω μοι, “_A body thou hast prepared or fitted me._”
What equipollency can be in sense between these two? This difficulty is
so much the more augmented because most interpreters make the life of
the quotation to lie in those very words where the difference is,
namely, That the words, “_A body thou hast prepared me_,” are brought by
the apostle to prove our Saviour’s incarnation; whereunto the words in
the Psalm itself (“_Mine ears hast thou bored_, or _digged_, or
_opened_”), take them how you will, will in no wise suit. I answer,
therefore, That the life of the quotation lies not in the words of
difference, nor can do, because this epistle was written to the Hebrews,
and so first in the Hebrew tongue, where this translation of the LXX
could have no place. And if the life of the quotation lay here, I cannot
see how it can possibly be reconciled. It lies therefore in the words
where there is no difference, namely, That Christ was such a High Priest
as came to sanctify us, not with legal offerings and sacrifices, but by
his obedience in doing like a devoted servant the will of his Father.
Thus, the allegation will not depend at all upon the words of
difference, and so they give us liberty to reconcile them: “_Mine ears
hast thou bored_,” saith the Psalmist, _i.e._, Thou hast accepted me for
a perpetual servant, as masters are wont, according to the law, to
_bore_ such servants’ _ears_ as refuse to part from them. Now the LXX,
according to whom the apostle’s epistle readeth, thinking perhaps the
meaning of this speech would be obscure to such as knew not that custom,
chose rather to translate it generally σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι, “_Thou
hast fitted my body_,” namely, to be thy servant in such a manner as
servants’ bodies are wont to be. And so the sense is all one, though not
specified to the Jewish custom of boring the ear with an awl, but left
indifferently appliable to the custom of any nation in marking and
stigmatising their servants’ bodies.—_Joseph Mede, B.D., 1586-1638._
_Verses 6-10._—Here we have in Christ for our instruction, and in David
also (his type) for our example; 1. A firm purpose of obedience, in a
_bored ear_, and a yielding heart. 2. A ready performance thereof: “_Lo,
I come._” 3. A careful observance of the word written: “_In the volume
of the book it is written of me_,” verse 7. 4. A hearty delight in that
observance, verse 8. 5. A public profession and communication of God’s
goodness to others, verses 9, 10. Now, we should labour to express
Christ to the world, to walk as he walked (1 John ii. 6): our lives
should be in some sense parallel with his life, as the transcript with
the original: he left us a copy to write by, saith Saint Peter, 1st
Epistle ii. 21.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 7.—“Then said I, Lo, I come.”_ As his name is above every name,
so this coming of his is above every coming. We sometimes call our own
births, I confess, a coming into the world; but properly, none ever came
into the world but he. For, 1. He only truly can be said to come, who is
before he comes; so were not we, only he so. 2. He only strictly comes
who comes willingly; our crying and struggling at our entrance into the
world, shows how unwillingly we come into it. He alone it is that sings
out, “_Lo, I come_.” 3. He only properly comes who comes from some place
or other. Alas! we had none to come from but the womb of nothing. _He_
only had a place to be in before he came.—_Mark Frank._
_Verse 7.—“Then said I, Lo, I come,”_ to wit, as surety, to pay the
ransom, and to do thy will, O God. Every word carrieth a special
emphasis as, 1. The time, “_then_,” even so soon as he perceived that
his Father had prepared his body for such an end, then, without delay.
This speed implieth forwardness and readiness; he would lose no
opportunity. 2. His profession in this word, “_said I_;” he did not
closely, secretly, timorously, as being ashamed thereof, but he maketh
profession beforehand. 3. This note of observation, “_Lo_,” this is a
kind of calling angels and men to witness, and a desire that all might
know his inward intention, and the disposition of his heart; wherein was
as great a willingness as any could have to anything. 4. An offering of
himself without any enforcement or compulsion; this he manifesteth in
this word, “_I come_.” 5. That very instant set out in the present
tense, “_I come_;” he puts it not off to a future and uncertain time,
but even in that moment, he saith, “_I come_.” 6. The first person twice
expressed, thus, “_I said_,” “_I come_.” He sendeth not another person,
nor substituteth any in his room; but he, even he himself in his own
person, cometh. All which do abundantly evidence Christ’s singular
readiness and willingness, as our surety, to do his Father’s will,
though it were by suffering, and by being made a sacrifice for our
sins.—_Thomas Brooks._
_Verse 7.—“Lo, I come,”_ _i.e._, to appear before thee; a phrase used to
indicate the coming of an inferior into the presence of a superior, or
of a slave before his master, Num. xxii. 38; 2 Sam. xix. 20: as in the
similar expression, “Behold, here I am,” generally expressive of
willingness.—_J. J. Stewart Perowne._
_Verse 7.—“Lo, I come.”_ Christ’s coming in the spirit is a _joyful_
coming. I think this, “_Lo, I come_,” expresses, 1. _Present_ joy. 2. It
expresses _certain_ joy: the “_Lo_,” is a note of certainty; the thing
is certain and true; and his joy is certain; certain, true, solid joy.
3. It expresses _communicative_ joy; designing his people shall share of
his joy, “_Lo, I come!_” The joy that Christ has as Mediator is a
fulness of joy, designed for his people’s use, that _out of his fulness
we may receive, and grace for grace_, and joy for joy; grace answering
grace in Jesus, and joy answering joy in him. 4. It expresses _solemn_
joy. He comes with a solemnity; “_Lo, I come!_” according to the council
of a glorious Trinity. Now, when the purpose of heaven is come to the
birth, and the decree breaks forth, and the fulness of time is come, he
makes heaven and earth witness, as it were, to his solemn march on the
errand: he says it with a loud, “_Lo!_” that all the world of men and
angels may notice, “_Lo, I come!_” And, indeed, all the elect angels
brake forth into joyful songs of praise at this solemnity; when he came
in the flesh, they sang, “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth,
and goodwill towards man.”—_Ralph Erskine, 1685-1752._
_Verse 7.—“Lo, I come,”_ or, _am come_, to wit, _into the world_ (Heb.
x. 5), and particularly _to Jerusalem_, to give myself a sacrifice for
sin.—_Henry Ainsworth._
_Verse 7.—“The volume of the book.”_ What book is meant, whether the
Scripture, or the book of life, is not certain, probably the latter.—_W.
Wilson, D.D._