wisdom but _their way_, their usual and regular course; their whole life
is regulated by such principles. Their life-path is essential _folly_.
They are fools ingrain. From first to last brutishness is their
characteristic, grovelling stupidity the leading trait of their conduct.
“_Yet their posterity approve their sayings._” Those who follow them in
descent follow them in folly, quote their worldly maxims, and accept
their mad career as the most prudent mode of life. Why do they not see
by their fathers’ failure their fathers’ folly? No, the race transmits
its weakness. Grace is not hereditary, but sordid worldliness goes from
generation to generation. The race of fools never dies out. No need of
missionaries to teach men to be earthworms, they crawl naturally to the
dust. “_Selah._” Well may the minstrel pause, and bid us muse upon the
deep-seated madness of the sons of Adam. Take occasion, reader, to
reflect upon thine own.
14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them;
and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and
their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he
shall receive me. Selah.
14. “_Like sheep they are laid in the grave._” As dumb, driven cattle,
they are hurried to their doom, and are penned in within the gates of
destruction. As sheep that go whither they are driven, and follow their
leader without thought, so these men who have chosen to make this world
their all, are urged on by their passions, till they find themselves at
their journey’s end, that end the depths of Hades. Or if we keep to our
own translation, we have the idea of their dying peaceably, and being
buried in quiet, only that they may wake up to be ashamed at the last
great day. “_Death shall feed on them._” Death like a grim shepherd
leads them on, and conducts them to the place of their eternal
pasturage, where all is barrenness and misery. The righteous are led by
the Good Shepherd, but the ungodly have death for their shepherd, and he
drives them onward to hell. As the power of death rules them in this
world, for they have not passed from death unto life, so the terrors of
death shall devour them in the world to come. As grim giants, in old
stories, are said to feed on men whom they entice to their caves, so
death, the monster, feeds on the flesh and blood of the mighty. “_The
upright shall have dominion over them in the morning._” The poor saints
were once the tail, but at the day-break they shall be the head. Sinners
rule till night-fall; their honours wither in the evening, and in the
morning they find their position utterly reversed. The sweetest
reflection to the upright is that “the morning” here intended begins an
endless, changeless, day. What a vexation of spirit to the proud
worldling, when the Judge of all the earth holds his morning session, to
see the man whom he despised, exalted high in heaven, while he himself
is cast away! “_And their beauty shall consume in the grave from their
dwelling._” Whatever of glory the ungodly had shall disappear in the
tomb. Form and comeliness shall vanish from them, the worm shall make
sad havoc of all their beauty. Even their last dwelling place, the
grave, shall not be able to protect the relics committed to it; their
bodies shall dissolve, no trace shall remain of all their strong limbs
and lofty heads, no vestige of remaining beauty shall be discoverable.
The beauty of the righteous is not yet revealed, it waits its
manifestations; but all the beauty the wicked will ever have is in full
bloom in this life; it will wither, fade, decay, rot, and utterly pass
away. Who, then, would envy or fear the proud sinner?
15. “_But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave._” Forth
from that temporary resting-place we shall come in due time, quickened
by divine energy. Like our risen Head we cannot be holden by the bands
of the grave; redemption has emancipated us from the slavery of death.
No redemption could man find in riches, but God has found it in the
blood of his dear Son. Our Elder Brother has given to God a ransom, and
we are the redeemed of the Lord: because of this redemption by price we
shall assuredly be redeemed by power out of the hand of the last enemy.
“_For he shall receive me._” He shall take me out of the tomb, take me
up to heaven. If it is not said of me as of Enoch, “He was not, for God
took him,” yet shall I reach the same glorious state. My spirit God will
receive, and my body shall sleep in Jesus till, being raised in his
image, it shall also be received into glory. How infinitely superior is
such a hope to anything which our oppressors can boast! Here is
something which will bear meditation, and therefore again let us pause,
at the bidding of the musician, who inserts a “_Selah_.”
16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his
house is increased;
17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall
not descend after him.
18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and _men_ will praise
thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never
see light.
20 Man _that is_ in honour, and understandeth not, is like the
beasts _that_ perish.
16. In these last verses the Psalmist becomes a preacher, and gives
admonitory lessons which he has himself gathered from experience. “_Be
not thou afraid when one is made rich._” Let it not give thee any
concern to see the godless prosper. Raise no questions as to divine
justice; suffer no foreboding to cloud thy mind. Temporal prosperity is
too small a matter to be worth fretting about; let the dogs have their
bones, and the swine their draff. “_When the glory of his house is
increased._” Though the sinner and his family are in great esteem, and
stand exceedingly high, never mind; all things will be righted in due
time. Only those whose judgment is worthless will esteem men the more
because their lands are broader; those who are highly estimated for such
unreasonable reasons will find their level ere long, when truth and
righteousness come to the fore.
17. “_For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away._” He has but a
leasehold of his acres, and death ends his tenure. Through the river of
death man must pass naked. Not a rag of all his raiment, not a coin of
all his treasure, not a jot of all his honour, can the dying worldling
carry with him. Why then fret ourselves about so fleeting a prosperity?
“_His glory shall not descend after him._” As he goes down, down, down
for ever, none of his honours or possessions will follow him. Patents of
nobility are invalid in the sepulchre. His worship, his honour, his
lordship, and his grace, will alike find their titles ridiculous in the
tomb. Hell knows no aristocracy. Your dainty and delicate sinners shall
find that eternal burnings have no respect for their affectations and
refinements.
18. “_Though while he lived he blessed his soul._” He pronounced himself
happy. He had his good things in this life. His chief end and aim were
to bless himself. He was charmed with the adulations of flatterers.
“_Men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself._” The
generality of men worship success, however it may be gained. The colour
of the winning horse is no matter; it is the winner, and that is enough.
“Take care of Number One,” is the world’s proverbial philosophy, and he
who gives good heed to it is “a clever fellow,” “a fine man of
business,” “a shrewd common-sense tradesman,” “a man with his head put
on the right way.” Get money, and you will be “respectable,” “a
substantial man,” and your house will be “an eminent firm in the city,”
or “one of our best county families.” To do good wins fame in heaven,
but to do good _to yourself_ is the prudent thing among men of the
world. Yet not a whisper of worldly congratulation can follow the
departing millionaire; they say he died worth a mint of money, but what
charm has that fact to the dull cold ear of death? The banker rots as
fast as the shoe-black, and the peer becomes as putrid as the pauper.
Alas! poor wealth, thou art but the rainbow colouring of the bubble, the
tint which yellows the morning mist, but adds no substance to it.
19. “_He shall go to the generation of his fathers._” Where the former
generations lie, the present shall also slumber. The sires beckon to
their sons to come to the land of forgetfulness. Mortal fathers beget
not immortal children. As our ancestors have departed, so also must we.
“_They shall never see light._” To this upper region the dead worldling
shall never return again to possess his estates, and enjoy his
dignities. Among the dead he must lie in the thick darkness, where no
joy or hope can come to him. Of all his treasures their remains not
enough to furnish him one poor candle; the blaze of his glory is out for
ever, and not a spark remains to cheer him. How then can we look with
fear or envy upon a wretch doomed to such unhappiness?
20. The song ends with the refrain, “_Man that is in honour, and
understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish._” Understanding
differences men from animals, but if they will not follow the highest
wisdom, and like beasts find their all in this life, then their end
shall be as mean and dishonourable as that of beasts slain in the chase,
or killed in the shambles. From the loftiest elevation of worldly honour
to the uttermost depth of death is but a step. Saddest of all is the
reflection, that though men are like beasts in all the degradation of
perishing, yet not in the rest which animal perishing secures, for,
alas! it is written, “These shall go away into everlasting punishment.”
So ends the minstrel’s lay. Comforting as the theme is to the righteous,
it is full of warning to the worldly. Hear ye it, O ye rich and poor.
Give ear to it, ye nations of the earth.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—Strange it is that two Psalms so near together, as this
and the forty-fifth should, and should alone imitate, or be the
forerunners of, two works of David’s son; this Ecclesiastes, the
former—the Canticles.—_J. M. Neale._
_Verse 2._—In this Psalm David, as it were, summons and divides mankind.
In the first verse he summons: “_Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all
ye inhabitants of the world._” In the second verse he divides: “_Both
low and high, rich and poor, together._” The word in the Hebrew for
“_high_” is בְּנֵי אִישׁ, _bene ish_, _sons of Ish_, and the word for
“_low_” is בְּנֵי אָדָם _bene Adam_, _sons of Adam_. If we should
translate the text directly, according to the letter, the words must
run, _sons of men and sons of men_; for, sons of _Adam_ and sons of
_Ish_ are both translated _sons of men_. Yet when they are set together
in a way of opposition, the one signifieth “_low_” and the other
“_high_;” and so our translators render it according to the sense, not
sons of men and sons of men, but “_low_” and “_high_.” Junius translates
to this sense, though in more words, as well they who are born of mean
men, as they who are born of honourable.—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verse 4.—“I will incline mine ear to a parable,”_ _i.e._, I will
diligently attend, that I may not sing anything ungracefully; a metaphor
taken from musicians who bring their ear close to the harp, that they
may ascertain the harmony of the sound.—_Victorinus Bythner._
_Verse 5.—“Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the
iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?”_ Those that are full of
years are approaching the nearer to their happiness. They have finished
their voyage, and now are in sight of the haven. Nature’s provision is
spent, her stock is exhausted, and now the good man doth not so much
descend as fall into the grave, and from thence he rises to heaven and
eternal bliss. And shall he be disturbed at this? shall he be afraid to
be made happy? If I mistake not, this is the meaning of the Psalmist’s
words. They are generally interpreted concerning _his ways_ in general,
but they seem to me to refer particularly to the calamity which his old
age was incident to: for “_the days of evil_” are old age, and are so
called by the wise man (Eccl. xii. 1); and as the “_heel_” is the
extreme part of the body, so it is here applied to the last part of
man’s life, his declining age; and “_iniquity_” (as the word is
sometimes used among the Hebrews) signifies here penal evil, and denotes
the infirmities and decays of the concluding part of a man’s life. So
that the true meaning of the Psalmist’s words, is this, I will not now
in my last days be dejected with fear and trouble of mind, for I am
coming towards my happiness, my declining years shall deliver me up to
earth, and that shall consign me to everlasting life. This certainly is
matter of joy rather than of fear. For this reason I account my last
days to be the most eligible part of my whole life.—_John Edwards, D.D.
(1637—1716), in “Theologia Reformata.”_
_Verse 5.—“Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the
iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?”_ That is, when my sins or
failings in what I have done, come to my remembrance, or are chastened
upon me. Every man’s heel hath some iniquity: as we shall have some dirt
cleaving to our heels while we walk in a dirty world, so there is some
dirt, some defilement, upon all our actions, which we may call, _the
iniquity of our heel_.—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verse 5.—“When the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?”_ With
Bishop Lowth, the celebrated Michaelis, Bishop Hare, and a host of other
critics, I decidedly incline to the idea, that עֲקֵבַי, rendered “_my
heels_” is to be regarded as the present participle of the verb עָקַב,
_to supplant_, _to act deceitfully_, _to deceive_, _to hold one by the
heel_, etc., etc. If this be correct then the proper translation will
be:—
Wherefore should I fear in the days of adversity,
The iniquity of my supplanters who surround me?
The Syriac and Arabic read, as does also Dr. Kennicott:—
Why should I fear in the evil day,
When the iniquity of my enemies compasses me about?
_John Morison._
_Verses 5-9._
Why should I fear the evil hour,
When ruthless foes in ambush lie,
Who revel in their pride of power,
And on their hoarded wealth rely?
A brother’s ransom who can pay,
Or alter God’s eternal doom?
What hand can wrest from death his prey,
Its banquet from the rotting tomb?
_From “The Psalter, or Psalms of David, in English verse. By a Member of
the University of Cambridge.” [Benjamin Hall Kennedy, D.D.] 1860._
_Verse 6.—“They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the
multitude of their riches.”_ Here we have the rich man trusting and
boasting; surely that is very confident trusting which issues itself
into boasting! That man is ascended to the highest step of faith in God,
who makes his boast of God; such faith have they in fine gold who boast
in it.—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verse 6.—“They that trust in their wealth.”_ “THE COVETOUS MAN’S
SOLILOQUY.” Believe me, the times are hard and dangerous; charity is
grown cold, and friends uncomfortable; an empty purse is full of sorrow,
and hollow bags make a heavy heart. Poverty is a civil pestilence, which
frights away both friends and kindred and leaves us to a “Lord have
mercy upon us.” It is a sickness very catching and infectious, and more
commonly abhorred than cured. The best antidote against it is Angelica
and providence, and the best cordial is _aurum potabile_. Gold-taking
fasting is an approved sovereign. Debts are ill humours, and turn at
last to dangerous obstructions. Lending is a mere consumption of the
radical humour, which, if consumed, brings a patient to nothing. Let
others trust to courtiers’ promises, to friends’ performances, to
princes’ favours; give me a toy called gold, give me a thing called
money. O blessed Mammon, how extremely sweet is thy all-commanding
presence to my thriving soul! In banishment thou art my dear companion;
in captivity thou art my precious ransom; in trouble and vexation thou
art my dainty rest; in sickness thou art my health; in grief my only
joy; in all extremity my only trust. Virtue must veil to thee; nay,
grace itself, not relished with thy sweetness, would even displease the
righteous palates of the sons of men. Come, then, my soul, advise,
contrive, project; go, compass sea and land; leave no exploit untried,
no path untrod, no time unspent; afford thine eyes no sleep, thy head no
rest; neglect thy ravenous belly, unclothe thy back; deceive, betray,
swear, and forswear, to compass such a friend. If thou be base in birth,
it will make thee honourable; if weak in power, it will make thee
formidable. Are thy friends few? It will make them numerous. Is thy
cause bad? It will gain thee advocates. True, wisdom is an excellent
help, in case it bend this way; and learning is a genteel ornament, if
not too chargeable: yet, by your leave, they are but estates for the
term of life: but everlasting gold, if well advantaged, will not only
bless thy days, but thy surviving children from generation to
generation. Come, come, let others fill their brains with dear-bought
wit, turn their pence into expenseful charity, and store their bosoms
with unprofitable piety; let them lose all to save their imaginary
consciences, and beggar themselves at home to be thought honest abroad:
fill thou thy bags and barns, and lay up for many years, and take thy
rest.—_Francis Quarles, in “The Covetous Man’s Care.”_
_Verse 6._—The form of money agreeth well with the condition of it; for
it is stamped round, because it is so apt to run from a man. Fire,
thieves, waters, and infinite causes there are of consuming riches, and
impoverishing their possessors, though they have even millions and
mountains of gold; but suppose that contrary to their nature they stay
by a man, yet cannot _he_ stay by them, but must leave them in spite of
his teeth, as the Psalmist saith (xlix. 17), “The rich man shall take
away nothing when he dieth, neither shall his pomp follow after him.”
Thus death makes a violent divorce between the rich man and his goods,
when it is said unto him, “Thou fool, this night shall they take away
thy soul.” The rich man sleeps (saith Job very elegantly), and when he
openeth his eyes there is nothing. It fares with a rich man at his
death, as it doth with a sleeping man when he wakes out of his dream. A
man that dreams of the finding or fruition of some rich booty is
wonderful glad, yet when he awaketh he findeth nothing, but seeth it was
only a dream, and he is sorry; so the rich man seemed in the time of his
life to have somewhat, but at the day of his death all vanisheth like
the idea of a dream, and it vexeth him.—_J. D., in “The Threefold
Resolutions,” 1608._
_Verse 6._—Who knocks more boldly at heaven-gate to be let in than they
whom Christ will reject as workers of iniquity? Oh, what delusion is
this! Caligula never made himself more ridiculous than when he would be
honoured as a god, while he lived more like a devil. Before you would
have others take you for Christians, for God’s sake prove yourselves men
and not beasts, as you do by your brutish lives. Talk not of your hopes
of salvation so long as the marks of damnation are seen upon your
flagitious lives. If the way to heaven were thus easy, I promise you the
saints in all ages have been much overseen, to take so great pains in
mortifying their lusts, in denying to satisfy their sensual appetite. To
what purpose did they make so much waste of their sweat in their zealous
serving God? and of their tears that they could serve him no better, if
they might have gone to heaven as these men hope to do? That friar was
far more sound in his judgment in this point, who, preaching at Rome one
Lent, when some cardinals and many other great ones were present, began
his sermon thus abruptly and ironically. Saint Peter was a fool, Saint
Paul was a fool, and all the primitive Christians were fools; for they
thought the way to heaven was by prayers and tears, watchings and
fastings, severities of mortification, and denying the pomp and glory of
this world; whereas you here in Rome spend your time in balls and masks,
live in pomp, and pride, lust and luxury, and yet count yourselves good
Christians, and hope to be saved; but at last you will prove the fools,
and they will be found to have been the wise men.—_William Gurnall’s
Funeral Sermon for Lady Mary Vere, 1671._
_Verses 6-10._—David speaks of some “_that trust in their wealth, and
boast themselves in the multitude of their riches_.” Rich men can do
great things, but here is a thing that they cannot do: “_None of them
can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him._”
From what cannot a rich man redeem his brother? It is true of spiritual
redemption; yea, that is furthest out of the rich man’s reach money will
not do it: “We are not redeemed with corrupt things, such as silver and
gold, but with the precious blood of the Son of God.” 1 Peter i. 18, 19.
But the Psalmist speaks of a lower redemption, to which all the riches
of man cannot reach: “_None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
nor give to God a ransom for him_:” “_for the redemption of their soul_
(that is, of their person from the grave), _is precious, and it ceaseth
for ever._” And that he speaks of their redemption from the grave is
more clearly expressed at the ninth verse: “_That he should still live
for ever, and not see corruption._” Jesus Christ did not so redeem us
that we should live for ever, and not see corruption. It was the
privilege of Jesus Christ the Redeemer not to see corruption; but Jesus
Christ hath not redeemed us that we should not see corruption. He hath
redeemed us that we should live for ever in heaven, but he hath not
redeemed us from corruption, that we should live for ever on earth, or
not see corruption in the grave; for, as it is said in the tenth verse
of the Psalm, we see “_that wise men die, likewise the fool and the
brutish person perish and leave their wealth to others_;” as if he had
said, Neither the one nor the other sort of men could make this use or
improvement of their wealth, to deliver themselves from going to the
grave, for if they could they would have laid all out on that purchase;
but they could not do it, therefore, “_they leave their wealth to
others_.”—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verse 7.—“None of them can by any means redeem his brother,”_ etc. Some
animals devoted to God could be redeemed at a price, but no price could
be assigned to the ransom of a soul. That such a ransom was to be
provided, the faith of the church had always anticipated: “He shall
redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” Psalm cxxx. 8.—_W. Wilson, D.D._
_Verse 8.—“For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth
for ever.”_ In this judgment tears will not prevail, prayers will not be
heard, promises will not be admitted, repentance will be too late, and
as for riches, honourable titles, sceptres and diadems, these will
profit much less, and the inquisition shall be so curious and diligent,
that not one light thought, not one idle word (not repented of in thy
life past) shall be forgotten, for truth itself hath said, not in jest,
but in earnest, of every idle word which men have spoken, they shall
give an account in the day of judgment. Oh, how many which now sin with
great delight, yea, even with greediness (as if we served a god of wood
or of stone which seeth nothing nor can do nothing) will be then
astonished, ashamed, and silent. Then shall the days of thy mirth be
ended, and thou shalt be overwhelmed with everlasting darkness, and in
stead of thy pleasures thou shalt have everlasting torments.—_Thomas
Tymme._
_Verse 8.—“For it cost more to redeem their souls: so that he must let
that alone for ever.”_—_Prayer-book Version._
_Verse 8.—“It ceaseth for ever.”_ That is, wealth for ever comes short
of the power necessary to accomplish this. It has always been
insufficient; it always _will_ be. There is no hope that it _ever_ will
be sufficient, that by any increase in the amount, or by any change in
the conditions of the bargain, property or riches can avail for this.
The whole matter is perfectly _hopeless_ as to the power of wealth in
saving one human being from the grave. It must always _fail_ in saving a
man from death. The word rendered _ceaseth_—חָדַל, _khadal_, means _to
leave off_, _to desist_, _to fail_. Gen. xi. 8; Ex. ix. 34; Isa. ii.
22.—_Albert Barnes._