_effective_ vile. As it is so in itself, so it has made man vile. No
creature so debased as man, being in this respect become viler than any
creature. There is no such depravation in the nature of any creature,
except in the diabolical nature. No creature ever razed God’s image out
of its nature, but only man. There is no aversions to the will of God,
no inclination to what offends him, in any creature on earth but man.
Man, then, who was once the glory of the creation, is become the vilest
of all creatures, for that is vilest which is most contrary to the
infinite glory, but so is our nature, “Man being in honour, abideth
not,” is now “_like the beasts that perish_;” nay, worse than they, if
the greatest evil can make him worse. Man was made a little lower than
the angels, crowned with glory, advanced to be lord and governor of all
the works of his hands; and all creatures in this world were put under
his feet. Psalm viii. 5, 6. But by this natural corruption he that was
but a little lower than angels is now something below the beasts. He was
to have dominion, but is made baser than those over whom he rules. They
were put under his feet, but now he is as low as they. This is the sad
issue of natural corruption.—_David Clarkson._
_Verse 20.—“Like the beasts.”_ Man is so much a beast, that he cannot
know himself to be one till God teach him. And we never learn to be men
till we have learned that we were beasts.... It is not said he is like
this or that beast, but “_he is like the beasts that perish_.” Take any
beast, or all beasts, the worst of beasts, he is the picture of them
all, and he daily exemplifies the vilest of their qualities in his
own.—_Joseph Caryl._
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Verse 2._—I. The common needs of rich and poor men. II. The common
privileges of rich and poor saints. III. Their common service. IV. Their
common heaven.
_Verse 3._—The deep things of God are intended, I. To exercise our minds
to understand them. II. To try our faith by believing them—“incline”
implies a submissive mind. III. To excite our joy as we grasp them—“upon
the harp.” IV. To employ our faculties in explaining them to others.
_Verse 5._—I. The effects of our sin remain, 1. In ourselves. 2. In
others. II. In a time of conviction they “_compass us about_:” better to
do so in this life, than to haunt us as ghosts for ever. III. When they
are pardoned we have nothing to fear.—_G. R._
_Verse 7._—1. _Implied._ The soul needs redeeming. 2. _Denied._ Wealth,
power, learning, none can redeem. 3. _Supplied_—a ransom by Jesus. 4.
_Applied_—by the Spirit to our actual deliverance.
_Verse 12 (last clause)._—Wherein the ungodly are like beasts, and
wherein different.
_Verse 12._—Here is a twofold thwarting or crossing of the purposes of
the ungodly worldling. I. The first is, _he shall not be that which he
ever wished to be_: he shall not continue in honour. II. The other is
this, _he shall be that which he never desired to be_: he shall be like
the beasts that die. He shall miss of that which he sought for, and he
shall have that which he looked not for.—_S. Hieron._
_Verse 14._—In proportion to the prosperity of the ungodly here, will be
their misery hereafter: as sheep from the fat pasture led to the
slaughter-house. II. In proportion to their luxury here, will be their
corruption hereafter—“_Death shall feed on them_:” they have become well
fed for death to feed on them. III. In proportion to their dignity here,
will be their degradation hereafter—“_The upright shall have_,” etc. Oh,
what a contrast between the rich man and Lazarus then! IV. In proportion
to their beauty here, will be their deformity hereafter. “Art, thou
become like one of us?”—_G. R._
_Verse 14._—Sheep, how far they image the wicked.
_Verse 14.—“In the morning.”_ See the various Biblical prophecies of
what will happen “in the morning.”
_Verse 15._—1. _Return_ to the dust I shall. 2. _Redeem_ from the dust
he will. 3. _Receive_ into heaven he will. 4. _Rejoice_ for ever I
shall.
_Verse 17._—The loaded and unloaded sinner.
_Verse 20._—I. Men of spiritual understanding without worldly honour are
higher than the angels of God in heaven. II. Men in worldly honour
without the true wisdom are worse than the beasts that perish.—_G. R._
PSALM L.
TITLE.—A Psalm of Asaph.—_This is the first of the Psalms of Asaph, but
whether it was the production of that eminent musician, or merely
dedicated to him, we cannot tell. The titles of twelve Psalms bear his
name, but it could not in all of them be meant to ascribe their
authorship to him, for several of these Psalms are of too late a date to
have been composed by the same writer as the others. There was an Asaph
in David’s time, who was one of David’s chief musicians, and his family
appear to have continued long after in their hereditary office of temple
musicians. An Asaph is mentioned as a recorder or secretary in the days
of Hezekiah_ (2 Kings xviii. 18), _and another was keeper of the royal
forests under Artaxerxes. That Asaph did most certainly write some of
the Psalms is clear from_ 2 Chron. xxix. 30, _where it is recorded that
the Levites were commanded to “sing praises unto the Lord with the words
of David, and of Asaph the seer,” but that other Asaphic Psalms were not
of his composition, but were only committed to his care as a musician,
is equally certain from_ 1 Chron. xvi. 7, _where David is said to have
delivered a Psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren. It matters
little to us whether he wrote or sang, for poet and musician are near
akin, and if one composes words and another sets them to music, they
rejoice together before the Lord._
DIVISIONS.—_The Lord is represented as summoning the whole earth to hear
his declaration, 1-6; he then declares the nature of the worship which
he accepts, 7-15, accuses the ungodly of breaches of the precepts of the
second table, 16-21, and closes the court with a word of threatening,
22, and a direction of grace, 23._
EXPOSITION.
The mighty God, _even_ the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth
from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall
devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he
may judge his people.
5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant
with me by sacrifice.
6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God _is_
judge himself. Selah.
1. “_The mighty God, even the Lord_”—El, Elohim, Jehovah, three glorious
names for the God of Israel. To render the address the more impressive,
these august titles are mentioned, just as in royal decrees the names
and dignities of monarchs are placed in the forefront. Here the true God
is described as Almighty, as the only and perfect object of adoration
and as the self-existent One, “_Hath spoken, and called the earth from
the rising of the sun until the going down thereof._” The dominion of
Jehovah extends over the whole earth, and therefore to all mankind is
his decree directed. The east and the west are bidden to hear the God
who makes his sun to rise on every quarter of the globe. Shall the
summons of the great King be despised? Will we dare provoke him to anger
by slighting his call?
2. “_Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined._” The Lord
is represented not only as speaking to the earth, but as coming forth to
reveal the glory of his presence to an assembled universe. God of old
dwelt in Zion among his chosen people, but here the beams of his
splendour are described as shining forth upon all nations. The sun was
spoken of in the first verse, but here is a far brighter sun. The
majesty of God is most conspicuous among his own elect, but it is not
confined to them; the church is not a dark lantern, but a candlestick.
God shines not only in Zion, but out of her. She is made perfect in
beauty by his indwelling and that beauty is seen by all observers when
the Lord shines forth from her.
Observe how with trumpet voice and flaming ensign the infinite Jehovah
summons the heavens and the earth to hearken to his word.
3. “_Our God shall come._” The Psalmist speaks of himself and his
brethren as standing in immediate anticipation of the appearing of the
Lord upon the scene. “He comes,” they say, “our covenant God is coming;”
they can hear his voice from afar, and perceive the splendour of his
attending train. Even thus should we await the long-promised appearing
of the Lord from heaven. “_And shall not keep silence._” He comes to
speak, to plead with his people, to accuse and judge the ungodly. He has
been silent long in patience, but soon he will speak with power. What a
moment of awe when the Omnipotent is expected to reveal himself! What
will be the reverent joy and solemn expectation when the poetic scene of
this Psalm becomes in the last great day an actual reality! “_A fire
shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about
him._” Flame and hurricane are frequently described as the attendants of
the divine appearance. “Our God is a consuming fire.” “At the brightness
that was before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of
fire.” Psalm xviii. 12. “He rode upon a cherub, and did fly; yea, he did
fly upon the wings of the wind.” “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them
that know not God.” 2 Thes. i. 7, 8. Fire is the emblem of justice in
action, and the tempest is a token of his overwhelming power. Who will
not listen in solemn silence when such is the tribunal from which the
judge pleads with heaven and earth?
4. “_He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth._” Angels
and men, the upper and the lower worlds, are called to witness the
solemn scene. The whole creation shall stand in court to testify to the
solemnity and the truth of the divine pleading. Both earth beneath and
heaven above shall unite in condemning sin; the guilty shall have no
appeal, though all are summoned that they may appeal if they dare. Both
angels and men have seen the guilt of mankind and the goodness of the
Lord, they shall therefore confess the justice of the divine utterance,
and say “Amen” to the sentence of the supreme Judge. Alas, ye despisers!
What will ye do and to whom will ye fly? “_That he may judge his
people._” Judgment begins at the house of God. The trial of the visible
people of God will be a most awful ceremonial. He will throughly purge
his floor. He will discern between his nominal and his real people, and
that in open court, the whole universe looking on. My soul, when this
actually takes place, how will it fare with thee? Canst thou endure the
day of his coming?
5. “_Gather my saints together unto me._” Go, ye swift-winged
messengers, and separate the precious from the vile. Gather out the
wheat of the heavenly garner. Let the long-scattered, but elect people
known by my separating grace to be my sanctified ones, be now assembled
in one place. All are not saints who seem to be so—a severance must be
made; therefore let all who profess to be saints be gathered before my
throne of judgment, and let them hear the word which will search and try
the whole, that the false may be convicted and the true revealed.
“_Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice_;” this is the
grand test, and yet some have dared to imitate it. The covenant was
ratified by the slaying of victims, the cutting and dividing of
offerings; this the righteous have done by accepting with true faith the
great propitiatory sacrifice, and this the pretenders have done in
merely outward form. Let them be gathered before the throne for trial,
and testing, and as many as have really ratified the covenant by faith
in the Lord Jesus shall be attested before all worlds as the objects of
distinguishing grace while formalists shall learn that outward
sacrifices are all in vain. Oh, solemn assize, how does my soul bow in
awe at the prospect thereof!
6. “_And the heavens shall declare his righteousness._” Celestial
intelligences and the spirits of just men made perfect, shall magnify
the infalliable judgment of the divine tribunal. Now they doubtless
wonder at the hypocrisy of men; then they shall equally marvel at the
exactness of the severance between the true and the false. “_For God is
judge himself._” This is the reason for the correctness of the judgment.
Priests of old, and churches of later times, were readily deceived, but
not so the all-discerning Lord. No deputy-judge sits on the great white
throne; the injured Lord of all himself weighs the evidence and allots
the vengeance or reward. The scene in the Psalm is a grand poetical
conception, but it is also an inspired prophecy of that day which shall
burn as an oven, when the Lord shall discern between him that feareth
him and him that feareth him not. “_Selah._” Here we may well pause in
reverent prostration, in deep searching of heart, in humble prayer and
in awe-struck expectation.
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify
against thee: I _am_ God, _even_ thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings,
_to have been_ continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, _nor_ he goats out of thy
folds.
10 For every beast of the forest _is_ mine, _and_ the cattle upon a
thousand hills.
11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the
field _are_ mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world _is_ mine,
and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and
thou shalt glorify me.
The address which follows is directed to the professed people of God. It
is clearly, in the first place, meant for Israel; but is equally
applicable to the visible church of God in every age. It declares the
futility of external worship when spiritual faith is absent and the mere
outward ceremonial is rested in.
7. “_Hear, O my people, and I will speak._” Because Jehovah speaks, and
they are avowedly his own people, they are bound to give earnest heed.
“Let me speak,” saith the great I AM. The heavens and earth are but
listeners, the Lord is about both to testify and to judge. “_O Israel,
and I will testify against thee._” Their covenant name is mentioned to
give point to the address; it was a double evil that the chosen nation
should become so carnal, so unspiritual, so false, so heartless to their
God. God himself, whose eyes sleep not, who is not misled by rumour, but
sees for himself, enters on the scene as witness against his favoured
nation. Alas! for us when God, even our fathers’ God, testifies to the
hypocrisy of the visible church. “_I am God, even thy God._” He had
taken them to be his peculiar people above all other nations, and they
had in the most solemn manner avowed that he was their God. Hence the
special reason for calling them to account. The law began with, “I am
the Lord thy God, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,” and
now the session of their judgment opens with the same reminder of their
singular position, privilege, and responsibility. It is not only that
Jehovah is God, but _thy_ God, O Israel; this it is that makes thee so
amenable to his searching reproofs.
8. “_I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifice or thy burnt offerings,
to have been ever before me._” Though they had not failed in maintaining
his outward worship, or even if they had, he was not about to call them
to account for this: a more weighty matter was now under consideration.
They thought the daily sacrifices and the abounding burnt offerings to
be everything: he counted them nothing if the inner sacrifice of heart
devotion had been neglected. What was greatest with them was least with
God. It is even so to-day. Sacraments (so called) and sacred rites are
the main concern with unconverted but religious men, but with the Most
High the spiritual worship which they forget is the sole matter. Let the
external be maintained by all means according to the divine command, but
if the secret and spiritual be not in them, they are a vain oblation, a
dead ritual, and even an abomination before the Lord.
9. “_I will take no bullock out of thy house._” Foolishly they dreamed
that bullocks with horns and hoofs could please the Lord, when indeed he
sought for hearts and souls. Impiously they fancied that Jehovah needed
these supplies, and that if they fed his altar with their fat beasts, he
would be content. What he intended for their instruction, they made
their confidence. They remembered not that “to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” “_Nor he goats out of
thy folds._” He mentions these lesser victims as if to rouse their
common sense to see that the great Creator could find no satisfaction in
mere animal offerings. If he needed these, he would not appeal to their
scanty stalls and folds; in fact, he here refuses to take so much as
one, if they brought them under the false and dishonouring view, that
they were in themselves pleasing to him. This shows that the sacrifices
of the law were symbolical of higher and spiritual things, and were not
pleasing to God except under their typical aspect. The believing
worshipper looking beyond the outward was accepted, the unspiritual who
had no respect to their meaning was wasting his substance, and
blaspheming the God of heaven.
10. “_For every beast of the forest is mine._” How could they imagine
that the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, had need of
beasts, when all the countless hordes that find shelter in a thousand
forests and wildernesses belong to him? “_And the cattle upon a thousand
hills._” Not alone the wild beasts, but also the tamer creatures are all
his own. Even if God cared for these things, he could supply himself.
Their cattle were not, after all, their own, but were still the great
Creator’s property, why then should he be beholden to them. From Dan to
Beersheba, from Nebaioth to Lebanon, there fed not a beast which was not
marked with the name of the great Shepherd; why, then, should he crave
oblations of Israel? What a slight is here put even upon sacrifices of
divine appointment when wrongly viewed as in themselves pleasing to God!
And all this to be so expressly stated under the law! How much more is
this clear under the gospel, when it is so much more plainly revealed,
that “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth”? Ye Ritualists, ye Sacramentarians, ye modern
Pharisees, what say ye to this?
11. “_I know all the fowls of the mountains._” All the winged creatures
are under my inspection and near my hand; what then can be the value of
your pairs of turtledoves and your two young pigeons? The great Lord not
only feeds all his creatures, but is well acquainted with each one; how
wondrous is this knowledge! “_And the wild beasts of the field are
mine._” The whole population moving over the plain belongs to me; why
then should I seek your beeves and rams? In me all things live and move;
how mad are you to suppose that I desire your living things! A spiritual
God demands other life than that which is seen in animals; he looks for
spiritual sacrifice, for the love, the trust, the praise, the life of
your hearts.
12. “_If I were hungry, I would not tell thee._” Strange conception, a
hungry God! Yet if such an absurd ideal could be truth, and if the Lord
hungered for meat he would not ask it of men. He could provide for
himself out of his own possessions; he would not turn suppliant to his
own creatures. Even under the grossest idea of God, faith in outward
ceremonies is ridiculous. Do men fancy that the Lord needs banners, and
music, and incense, and fine linen? If he did, the stars would emblazon
his standard, the winds and the waves become his orchestra, ten thousand
times ten thousand flowers would breathe forth perfume, the snow should
be his alb, the rainbow his girdle, the clouds of light his mantle. O
fools and slow of heart, ye worship ye know not what! “_For the world is
mine, and the fulness thereof._” What can he need who is owner of all
things and able to create as he wills? Thus overwhelmingly does the Lord
pour forth his arguments upon formalists.
13. “_Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?_” Are
you so infatuated as to think this? Is the great I AM subject to
corporeal wants, and are they to be thus grossly satisfied? Heathens
thought thus of their idols, but dare ye think thus of the God who made
the heavens and the earth? Can ye have fallen so low as to think thus of
me, O Israel? What vivid reasoning is here! How the fire-flashes dart
into the idiot faces of trusters in outward forms! Ye dupes of Rome, can
ye read this and be unmoved? The expostulation is indignant; the
questions utterly confound; the conclusion is inevitable; heart worship
only can be acceptable with the true God. It is inconceivable that
outward things can gratify him, except so far as through them our faith
and love express themselves.
14. “_Offer unto God thanksgiving._” No longer look at your sacrifices
as in themselves gifts pleasing to me, but present them as the tributes
of your gratitude; it is then that I will accept them, but not while
your souls have no love and no thankfulness to offer me. The sacrifices,
as considered in themselves, are contemned, but the internal emotions of
love consequent upon a remembrance of divine goodness, are commended as
the substance, meaning, and soul of sacrifice. Even when the legal
ceremonials were not abolished, this was true, and when they came to an
end, this truth was more than ever made manifest. Not for want of
bullocks on the altar was Israel blamed, but for want of thankful
adoration before the Lord. She excelled in the visible, but in the
inward grace, which is the one thing needful, she sadly failed. Too many
in these days are in the same condemnation. “_And pay thy vows unto the
most High._” Let the sacrifice be really presented to the God who seeth
the heart, pay to him the love you promised, the service you covenanted
to render, the loyalty of heart you have vowed to maintain. O for grace
to do this! O that we may be graciously enabled to love God, and live up
to our profession! To be, indeed, the servants of the Lord, the lovers
of Jesus, this is our main concern. What avails our baptism, to what end
our gatherings at the Lord’s table, to what purpose our solemn
assemblies, if we have not the fear of the Lord, and vital godliness
reigning within our bosoms?
15. “_And call upon me in the day of trouble._” Oh, blessed verse! Is
this then true sacrifice? Is it an offering to ask an alms of heaven? It
is even so. The King himself so regards it. For herein is faith
manifested, herein is love proved, for in the hour of peril we fly to
those we love. It seems a small thing to pray to God when we are
distressed, yet is it a more acceptable worship than the mere heartless
presentation of bullocks and he-goats. This is a voice from the throne,
and how full of mercy it is! It is very tempestuous round about Jehovah,
and yet what soft drops of mercy’s rain fall from the bosom of the
storm! Who would not suffer such sacrifice? Troubled one, haste to
present it now! Who shall say that Old Testament saints did not know the
gospel? Its very spirit and essence breathe like frankincense all around
this holy Psalm. “_I will deliver thee._” The reality of thy sacrifice
of prayer shall be seen in its answer. Whether the smoke of burning
bulls be sweet to me or no, certainly thy humble prayer shall be, and I
will prove it so by my gracious reply to thy supplication. This promise
is very large, and may refer both to temporal and eternal deliverances;
faith can turn it every way, like the sword of the cherubim. “_And thou
shalt glorify me._” Thy prayer will honour me, and thy grateful
perception of my answering mercy will also glorify me. The goats and
bullocks would prove a failure, but the true sacrifice never could. The
calves of the stall might be a vain oblation, but not the calves of
sincere lips.