4. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head. This is merely an enlargement of the idea suggested in the last verse — that his present sickness was to be traced to his sin, and that he was suffering the punishment for sin. The idea is here that his sins were very numerous and very aggravated, they had risen up around him, or had so accumulated that the mass rose, like waves of the sea, above his head. A somewhat similar idea — though the tliought there refers rather to the mimher of sins than the degree of guilt — occurs in Ps. xl. 12: " Mine iniquities.... are more than the hairs of my head." ^ As an heavg burden, etc. That is, they are so heavy that I cannot bear them, and my frame has sunk under them. This might mean either that the sense of sin was so great that he could not bear up under it, but had been crushed by it (comp. Ps. xxxii. 3, 4); or that on account of sin, as if\t were a heavy weight, he had been crushed by disease.
5 My wounds ^ stink, and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease; and thei-e is no soundness in my flesh.
The general idea is, that the real cmise of his sickness was the fact that he was a great sinner, and that God was punishing him for it.
5. 3Ii/ tvounds stink. The word rendered tcounds here means properly the swelling or wales produced by stripes. See Notes on Isa. i. 6; liii. 5. The meaning here is, that he was under chastisement for his sin; that the stripes or blows on account of it had not only left a mark and produced a swelling, but that the skin itself had been broken, and that the flesh had become corrupt, and the sore oftensive. Many expositors regard this as a mere figurative representation of the sorrow produced by the consciousness of sin; and of the loathsome nature of sin, but it seems to me that the whole connexion rather requires us to understand it of bodily sufl'ering, or of disease. % And are corrupt. The word here used — ppT^? malcak — means properly to melt; to pine away; and then, to flow, to run, as sores and ulcers do. The meaning here is, My sores run; to wit, with corrupt matter. % Because of my foolishness. Because of my sin, regarded as folly. Comp. Notes on Ps. xiv. 1. The Scripture idea is that sin is the highest folly. Hence the psalmist, at the same time that he confesses his sin, acknowledges also its foolishness. The idea of sin and that of folly become so blended together, — or they are so entirely synonymous, — that the one terra may be used for the other.
6. I am troubled. Marg., wearied. The Hebrew word means to bend, to curve; then, to be distorted, to writhe with pain, convulsions, and spasms. In Isa. xxi. 3, the same word is rendered, "J toas hoived down at the hearing of It;" that is, Sorrow so took hold of him, that at the intelligence he writhed with pain as a woman in travail. So here it means that he was bent, or bowed down, or that he writhed in pain as the result of his iniquities. ^ I am lowed doivn greatly. Comp. Ps. xxxv. 14. The word means properly to bow down; then, to be brought low; to be depressed with pain, grief, sorrow: Ps. x. 10; Isa. ii. 11. *^ I go mourning all the day long. Constantly; without any intermission. On the word rendered go mourning — "lip, kadar — see Notes on Ps. xxxv. 14. The idea here is, that, on account of sin, he was crushed and bowed down as a m.ourner is with his sorrows, and that he appeared constantly as he walked about with these badges of grief and heavy sorrow. The disease which ho had, and which was so offensive to himself (ver. 5), and to others (ver. 11), was like the filthy and foul garments which mourners put on as expressive of their sorrow. See Notes on Job i. 20; ii. 8.
7. For my hones are filled tvith a loathsome disease. This would seem to indicate the seat of the disease, though not its nature. The word here used, according to Gesenius (Lex.), properly denotes the internal muscles of the loins near the kidneys, to which the fat adheres. The word rendered loathsome — the word disease being supplied by our translators — is derived from TT^p, Jcalah, a word which means to roast, to parch, as fruit, grain, etc.; and then, in the form used here, it means scorched, burned; hence, a burning or inflammation; and the whole phrase would be synonymous with an inflammation of the kidneys. The word here used does not imply that there was any eruption, or ulcer, though it would seem from ver. 5 that this was the fact, and that the inflammation had produced this effect. ^ And there is
8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have '* roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before " thee: and my groaning is not hid from thee.
10 My heart panteth, my
strength faileth me: as for the light ^' of mine eyes, it also is 1 gor.e from me.
11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof i from my 2 sore; and my 3 kinsmen stand »• afar off.
7io soundness in my jiesh. See ver. 3. His disease was so deep-seated and so pervading, that there did not seem to be any soundness in his flesh. His whole body seemed to be diseased.
8. I am feeble. The word here used means properl}'^ to be cold, or without warmth; and then, to be torpid or languid. Comp. Gen. xlv. 26. Would not this be well repre-.«ented by the idea of a " chill "? ^ And sore hroJcen. This word means to break in pieces; to beat small; to crush; and then it may be used to denote being broken in spmt, or crushed by pain and sorrow: Isa. Ivii. 15; liii. 5; xix. 10. T[ I have roared. I have cried out on account of my suffering. See Notes on Ps. xxii. 1. *[ By reason of the disquietness of my heart. The word here rendered disquietness means properly a roaring, as of the sea: Isa. v. 30; and then, a groaning, or roaring, as of the afflicted. Here the heart is represented as roaring or crying out. The lips only gave utterance to the deeper groanings of the heart.
9. Lord, all mi/ desire is before thee. That is. Thou knowest all that 1 would ask or that I need. This is the expression of one who felt that his only hope was in God, and that He fully understood the case. There was no need of repeating the request. He was willing to leave the whole case with God. ^ And 7)iy groaning is not hid from thee. My sighing; the expression of my sorrow and anguish. As God certainly heard these sighs, and as He wholly understood the case, David hoped that He would mercifully interpose in his behalf.
means properly to go about; to travel around; and then, to travel around as a merchant or pedlar, or for purposes of trafiic: Gen. xxiii. 16; xxxvii. 28; xlii. 34. Applied to the heart, as it is here, it means to move about rapidly; to palpitate; to beat quick. It is an expression of pain and distress, indicated by a rapid beating of the heart. ^ My strength faileth me. It is rapidly failing. He regarded himself as rapidly approaching death. ^ As for the light of mine eyes. My vision; my sight. ^ It also is gone from me. Marg., as in Heb., is not with me. This is usually an indication of approaching death; and it would seem from all these symptoms that he appeared to be drawing near to the end of life. Comp. Ps. xiii. 3; vi. 7 j xxxi. 9.
11. My lovers. See Notes on Ps. xxxi. 11. The reference here is to those who professed to be his fi-iends. T[ And my friends. The word here used means properly an acquaintance, a companion, a friend. Job ii. 11; xix. 21; then, a lover, a friend, a neighbour. The phrase here would be synonymous with our word kinsmen. ^ Stand aloof. They are unwilling to come near me; they leave me to suffer alone. % From my sore. Marg., stroke. The Hebrew word means properly a stroke, a blow, Dent. xvii. 8; xxi. 5; then a stroke in the sense of calamities or judgments, such as God brings upon men: Gen xii. 17; Ex. xi. 1. The meaning here is, that they stand aloof from him, or refuse to come near him, as if he were afflicted with some contagious disease. ^ And my kinsmen. Marg., neighhours. The Hebrew word here used — IJilp, karoh — means properly near.
12 They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
nigh; spoken of a place, Gen. xix. 20; then of time, Isa. xiii. 6; then of kindred or affinity, Num. xxvii. 11; and then of friendship, meaning our intimate acquaintance — as we should say, those who are Jiear to us. Job xix. 14. The word would be applicable to neighbours or to warm personal friends.
12. Thei/ also thai seeJc after my life. This was a new aggravation of his affliction, that those who were his enemies now sought to accomplish their purposes against him with better hopes of success, by taking advantage of his sickness. ^ Lay snares for me. Ou the meaning of this phrase, see Notes on Ps. ix. 15. The idea here is that they sought this opportunity of ensnaring or entrapping liim so as to ruin him. They took advantage of the fact that he was weak and helpless, and of the fact that he was forsaken or abandoned by his friends, to accomplish his ruin, Soio this was done is not stated. It might have been by their coming ou him when he was thus helpless; or it might have been by endeavouring in his weak condition to extort confessions or promises from him that might be turned to his ruin. An enemy may hope to succeed much better when the one opposed is sick than when he is well, and may take advantage of his weak state of body and mind, and of the fact that he seems to be forsaken by all, to accomplish what could not be done if he were in the enjoyment of health, or sustained by powerful friends, or by a public opinion in his favour. ^ And they that seek my hurt. They who seek to injure me. ^ Speak mischievous things. Slanderous words. They charge on me things that are false, and that tend to injure me. The very fact that he was thus afflicted,
not; and I loas as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
14 Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
they might urge (in accordance with a prevailing belief, and with the conviction of the psalmist also, vers. 3-5) as a proof of guilt. This was done by the three friends of Job; and the enemies of the psalmist may thus have taken advantage of his sickness to circulate false reports about him which he could not then well meet. % And imagine deceits. Imagine or feign deceitful things; things which they know to be false or unfounded. ^ All the day long. Constantly. They seem to have no other employment. See Ps. XXXV. 20.
13. But I, as a deaf man, heard not. I was asifl had been deaf, and did not hear them or know what they were about. I took no notice of what they did any more than if I had not heard them. That is, he did not reply to them; he did not become angry j he was as calm and patient as if they had said nothing. ^ And I was as a dumhman that openeth not his mouth. As if I were a man that could not speak. I was perfectly silent under all this persecution. Comp. 2 Sam. xvi. 10. How eminently true was this of the Saviour! Isa. liii. 7; 1 Peter ii. 23; Matt. xxvi. 63; xxvii. 12, 14.
14. Thus I 2vas as a man that heareth not. The sentiment in the former verse is repeated here to show the greatness of his patience and forbearance, or to fix the attention on the fiict that one who was so calumniated and wronged could bear it patiently. ^ And in tohose mouth are no reproofs. As a man who never reproved another; who, whatever might be the wrong which he endured, never replied to itj as he would be who was incapable of reproof, or who had no faculty for reproving. The whole of this is de-
otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. 17 For I am ready ^ to halt,
signed to show his entire patience under the wrongs '(Shich he sulfered.
15. For in thee, 0 Lord, do 1 7iope. This shows the reason or ground of his patience. He committed his whole cause to God. He beHeved that God would take care of his reputation, and that he would vindicate him. See Ps. xxxvii. 5, 6. He had no doubt that He would protect his character, and that, notwithstanding the reproaches of his enemies, his true character woidd at last be made to shine forth, so that all men would see that he had been unjustly aspersed. The exact idea here is expressed, and the sentiment was beautifully and perfectly illustrated, in what is said of the Lord Jesus: — " Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously," 1 Peter ii. 23. ^ Thou tcilt hear, O LoED mt/ God. Marg., as in Heb., ansicer. The idea is, that God would answer his prayers, and that his character would, in answer to those prayers, be set right before the world.
16. For I said. This is the prayer to which he referred in the previous verse. He prayed that he might not be permitted to fall away under the influence of his sins and sufferings; that his faith might remain firm; that he might not be allowed to act so as to justify the accusations of his enemies, or to give them occasion to rejoice over his fall. The entire prayer (vers. 16-18) is one that is based on the consciousness of his own weakness, and his liability to sin, if left to himself; on the certainty that if God did not interpose, his sins would got the mastery over him, and he would become in his conduct all that his enemies desired, and be in fact all that they had fivlsely chai'ged on him. ^ Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me.
Literally, "For 1 said, lest they should rejoice over me." It is the language of earnest desire that they might not thus be allowed to rejoice over his fall. The same sentiment occurs substantially in Ps. xiii. 3, 4. The motive is a right one; alike {a) in reference, to ourselves personally — that our foes may not triumph over us by the ruin of our character; and {h) in reference to its bearing on the cause of virtue and religion — that that cause may not suffer by our misconduct; comp. Ps. Ixix. 6. ^ When my foot slippeth. (a) When my foot really has slipped, or when I have committed sin (as the psalmist did not deny that he had done, vers. 3, 4, 5, 18); or {b) when it might occur again (as he felt was possible); or (c) if 1 deviate in the slightest degree from perfect virtue; if 1 inadvertently do anything wrong. The slipping of the foot is an indication of the want of firmness, and hence it comes to represent the falling into sin. ^ They magnify themselves against me. See Ps. xxxv. 26. They exult over me; they triumph; they boast. They make themselves great on my fall, or by my being put down. This he says {a) they were disposed to do, for they had shown a disposition to do it whenever he had f illen into sin; (h) he apprehended that they ivould do it again, and they had already begun to magnify themselves against him, as if they were certain that it would occur. He did not deny that there was ground to fear this, for he felt that his strength was almost gone (ver. 17), and that God only could uphold him, and save him from justifying all the expectations of his enemies.
17. For Jam I'eady to half. Marg., as in Heb., for halting. The word from which the word used here is derived means properly to lean on one side, and then to halt or limp. The and my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry < for my sin.
19 But mine enemies i are lively, and thej are strong; and
they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good
meaning here is, that he was like one who was hmping along, and who was ready to fall; that is, in the case here refei-red to, he felt that his strength was almost gone, and that he was in continual danger of fall ing into sin, or sinking under his accumulated burdens, and of thus giving occasion for all that his enemies said of him, or occasion for their triumphing over him. Men often have this feeling, — that their sorrows are so great that they cannot hope to hold out much longer, and that if God does not interpose they must fall. ^ And my sorrow is continually before me. That is, my grief or suffering is unintermitted. Probably the reference here is particularly to that which catised his grief, or which was the source of his trouble — his sin. The fact that he was a sinner was never absent from his mind; that was the source of all his trouble; that was what so pressed upon him that it was likely to crush him to the dust.
18. For I ivill declare mine iniquity. That is, he was not disposed to hide his sin. He would make no concealment of the fact that he regarded himself as a sinner. He admitted this to be true, and he admitted that his sin was the cause of all his troubles. It was the fact that he was a sinner that so painfully affected his mind; and he was not disposed to attempt to conceal it from any one. ^ / icill he sorry for my sin. I will not deny it; I will not apologise for it. I admit the truth of what my conscience charges on me; I admit the correctness and the propriety of the Divine judgment by which I have been afflicted on account of my sin; I desire to repent of all my transgressions, and to turn from them. Comp. Lev. xxvi. 41. The calamity brought upon the psalmist for his sin had produced the desired effect in this respect, that it had brought him to true repentance; and now, with the full confession of his sin, he was anxious only lest he should fall utterly, and should give his enemies, and the enemies of the truth, the occasion to triumph over him which they desired.
19. But mine enemies are lively, etc. De Wette renders this, " My enemies live and are strong.^' The word translated lively — D'^'n* hhayyim — means properly living, heing alive. The literal translation would be, " My enemies, being alive, are strong.^' The idea is, that while he was weak and apparently near to death, they were in the full vigour of life and health. They were able to engage in active efforts to accomplish their purposes. They could take advantage of his weakness; and he could not contend with them, for he was no match for them. In every respect they had the advantage of him; and he prays, therefore, for the Divine interposition in his behalf. *1[ And they that hate me torongfuUy. Heb.,
20. They also that render evil for good. They whose characteristic it is to return evil for good, are opposed to me. This implies that those who were now seeking his ruin had been formerly benefited by him. They were persons who cherished no grateful recollection of favours bestowed on them, but who found a pleasure in persecuting and wronging their benefactor. Comp. Ps. xxxv. 12-16. ^ Are my adversaries. Are now opposed to me; have become my enemies. ^ Because I follotv the thing
21 Forsake me not, O Lord O my God, be not far from me.
that good is. This properly means, Because I follow the good. Tiie Hebrew woi'd rendered because — nnn, takhath — means properly the lower part; what is underneath; then, below; beneath. The idea here is, that the underlying reason of what they did was that he followed good, or that he was a righteous man; or, as we say, This was at the bottom of all their dealings with him. Sinner as he felt he was (and as he acknowledged he was) before God, and true as it was that his sickness was brought upon him by God for his sinfulness, yet the reason why men treated him as they did, was that he was a friend of God — a religious man; and their conduct, therefore, was sheer jiersecution. We may, with entire consistency, be very humble before God, and acknowledge that we de- Serve all that He brings upon us; and yet, at the same time, we may be sensible that we have not wronged men, and that their conduct toward us is wholly undeserved, is most ungrateful, is sheer malignity against us.
21. Forsake me not, 0 Lord. That is. Do not leave me in my troubles, uiy sickness, my sorrow. Leave me not to die; leave me not to murmur and dishonour thee; leave me not to the reproaches of my enemies. Tf O my God, be not far from me. See Ps. XXXV. 22. Comp. Ps. x. 1; xiii. 1.
22. Make haste to help me. Marg., as in Heb., for my help. This is an earnest prayer that God would come immediately to his rescue. % O Lord my salvation. See Notes on Psalm xxvii. 1. The eftect, therefore, of the trials that came upon the psalmist was to lead him to cry most earnestly to God. Those sorrows led him to God. This is one of the designed ertects of affliction. Trouble never accomplishes its proper elfect unless it leads us to God; and anything that ivill lead us to him is a gain in the end. The deeper our trouble, there-
22 Make haste ^ to help me, O Lord my salvation.
fore, the greater may be the ultimate good to us; and at the end of life, when we come to look over all that has happened in our journey through this world, that on which we may look back with most satisfaction and gratitude may be the sorrows and afflictions that have befallen us, — for these will be then seen to have been among the chief instrumentalities by which we were weaned fronn sin; by which we were led to the Saviour; by which we were induced to seek a preparation for heaven. No Christian, when he comes to die, ever feels that he has been too much afflicted, or that any trial has come upon him for which there was not occasion, and which was not designed and adapted to do him good.
This psalm purports to be a Psalm of David, but the.special occasion in his life when it was composed is not specified, and it cannot now be ascertained. It was evidently, like the previous psalm, in a time of affliction, but to what particular affliction it refers is unknown. It is, however, of so general a character, and expresses feelings which so often spring up in the mind of the afflicted, that it is adapted for general use in the world, and nothing would be gained, perhaps, if we could ascertain the particular trial in the life of the author of the psalm to which it had referred. On the meaning of the phrase in the title, "To the chief Musician," see Notes on the title to Ps. iv. The addition to that in this place, *'to Jeduthun," implies, according to the rendering in our common version, that Jeduthun^ at the time when the psalm was composed, occupied that position; and this is pi'obable. The word Jeduthun means properly jtjrrt^'st^//, celebrating; but here it is used evidently as a proper name, and designates some one who was placed over the music, or who had charge of it. The reference is to one of the choristers appointed by David. Jeduthun is expressly mentioned, among others, as having been appointed for this service, 1 Cliron. xvi.
41: "And with them Heman and Jeduthun... to give thanks to the Lord." So, also, vcr. 42: " And with them Heman and Jcduthun, with trumpets and cjrabals for those that should make a sound, and with musical instruments of God." See, also, 1 Clu-on. xxv. 6; 2 Chron. xxxv. 15. It would seem, also, from Nell. xi. 17, that his descendants held the same office in his time.
The psalm was composed by one who was in trouble, and who had such thoughts in his affliction that he did not dare to express them for fear that they would do injury to the cause of religion. He Avas sad and disph'ited. He could not understand the reason of the Divine dealings. He did not know why he was thus afiiicted. He did not see the justice, the propriety, or the benevolence of the Divine an-angements by which the life of man was made so short and so vain, and by which he was called to sutler so much. There was, in his case, a conscious spirit of complaining against the Divine arrangements; or there was so much that, in his view, was mysterious and apparently inconsistent with benevolence in the Divine dealings, that he did not dare to express what was going on in his own mind, or to give vent to the secret thoughts of his soul; and he therefore resolved that he Avould keep silence, and would say nothing on the subject, especially when the Avicked were before him. He bore this as long as he could, and then he gave vent to his suppressed emotions, and sought comfort in prayer.
I. His purpose to keep silence; to say nothing; to suppress the emotions which were struggling in his bosom, or not to give utterance to what was passing in his mind, lest, bj- such an expression, he should strengthen and contirm the wicked in what they were -thinking about, or in their views of God. So far did he carry this, that he says he resolved to hold his " peace eveti from good;'' that is, he resolved that he would say nothing^ lest he should be tempted to say something which Avould injure the cause of religion, and which he would have occasion to regret, vers. 1,2.
II. The fact that he was constrained to speak; that he could not contine his thoughts to his own bosom; that he was in such anguish that he must find relief by giving utterance to what was passing in his soul. This occupies the remainder of the psalm, vers. 3-13. This pai't of the psalm embraces the following points: —
(1.) The depth and anguish of his feeling; the fact that his feelings became so intense, like a pent-up tire in his bosom, that he could not but speak and make knoA^^a his thoughts, ver. 3.
(2.) The utterance in words of the thoughts which he had been cherishing, which gave him so much trouble, and wliich he had been unwilling to express befoi'e the Avicked, lest he should confinn them in theii- views about God and his dealings, vers. 4-6. These thoughts pertained to his contemplation of human life, — its brevity, its vanity, and its sorrows; to his doubts and perplexities about the purpose for Avhich such a being as man Avas made; and to the darkness of his own mind concerning the reasons Avhy God had made man thus, and Avhy he dealt thus Avith him. Why Avas life so short? "Why Avas it so A'ain.^ Why Avas it so full of sorroAV.^
(3.) His earnest appeal to God in this state of mind, vers. 7-13.
(rt) He says that his only hope Avas in God, ver. 7.
(J)) He asks for deliverance from his transgressions — that is, here, from the calamities Av'hich had come upon him for his sins, A^er. 8.
(c) He says that he had been dumb before God, and had endeavoured not to munnm* at his dealings, A'er. 9.
{(l) He refers to the fact that Avhen God undertakes to rebuke man for his iniquity, man cannot stand before him — that his beauty is made to consume away like a moth, vers. 10, 11.
{c) He earnestly cries, therefore, to God, and prays that he Avould deliA'er him, A'ers. 12, 13. He asks for strength in these struggles and trials, before he should go forth and be no more.
The psalm will be found to express feelings Avhich often pass through the mmds of even good men in regard to the mysteries of our condition here, and AA'ill be found to be adapted to calm down those feelings Avhich often arise in the soul, and Avliich could not be expressed Avithout doing injury by paining the hearts of the good, and by confirming the Avicked in their notions; to silence the murmurmgs of the heart; and to bring the soul into a state of liumble acquiescence before God under a recognition that all the events of life are controlled by his hand.
To tlic cliicf Musician, f)v'« to u Jt'dutliun.
r SAID, I will take heed to my *- ways, that I sin not with my
1. I said. This refers to a resolution which he had formed. He does not say, however, at what time of his life the resolution was adopted, or how long a period had elapsed from the time when ho formed the resolution to the time when he thus made a record of it. He had formed the resolution on some occasion when he was greatly troubled with anxious thoughts; when, as the subsequent verses show, his mind was deeply perlilexed about the Divine administration, or the dealings of God with mankind. It would seem that this train of thought was suggested by his own particular trials (vers. 9, 10), from which ho was led to reflect on the mysteries of the Divine administration in general, and on the fact that man had been subjected by his Creator to so much trouble and sorrow,— and that, under the Divine decree, human life was so short and so vain. ^ I will take Jieed to my tvai/s. To wit, in respect to this matter. I will be cautious, circumspect, prudent. I will not offend or pain the heart of others. The particular thing here referred to was, the resolution not to give utterance to the thoughts which were passing in his mind in regard to the Divine administration. He felt that he was in danger, if he stated what he thought on the subject, of saying things which would do injury, or which he would have occasion to regret, and he therefore resolved to keep silent. ^ That I sin not loith my tongue. That I do not utter sentiments which will be wrong, and which I shall have occasion to repent; sentiments which would do injury to those who are already disposed to find ground of complaint against God, and who would thus be furnished with arguments to confirm them in their views.
tongue: " I will keep i my mouth with a bridle, while *" the wicked is before me.
Good men often have such thoughts passing through their minds; — thoughts reflecting on the government of God as unequal and severe; thoughts which, if they were suggested, would tend to confirm the wicked and the sceptical in their views; thoughts which they hope, in respect to themselves, to be able to calm down by meditation and prayer, but which would do only unmitigated harm if they were communicated to other men, especially to wicked men. •[[ / ^viU keep my mouth toith a bridle. The word here used means rather a muzzle, or something placed over the mouth. The bridle is to restrain or check or guide the horse; the muzzle was something to bind or fiisten the mouth so as to prevent biting or eating. Dent. XXV. 4: ** Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn." See Notes on 1 Cor. ix. 9. The meaning here is, that he would restrain himself from uttering what was passing in his mind. \ While the tvicked is before me. In their presence. He resolved to do this, as suggested above, lest if he should utter what was passing in his own mind, — if he should state the difficulties in regard to the Divine administration which he saw and felt, — if he should give expression to the sceptical or hard thoughts which occurred to him at such times, it would serve only to confirm them in their wickedness, and strengthen them in their alienation from God. A similar state of feeling, and on this very subject, is referred to by the psalmist (Ps. Ixxiii. 15), where he says that if he should utter what was really passing in his mind, it would greatly pain and offend those who were the true children of God; would fill their minds with doubts and difficulties which might never occur to themselves: *' If I say, I will speak thus; *Q2
2 I was dumb with silence: I | and my sorrow was i stii-red. held my peace, even from good; i tronbUJ.
behold, I shall offend against the generation of thy children." As illustrations of this state of feeling in the minds of good men, and as evidence of the fact that, as in the case of the psalmist, their existence in the mind, even in the severest and the most torturing form, is not proof that the man in whose bosom they arise is not a truly pious man, I make the following extracts as expressing the feelings of two of the most sincere and devoted Christian men that ever lived, — both eminently useful, both in an eminent degree ornaments to the Church, — Cecil and Payson: — " I have read all the most acute, and learned, and seiious infidel writers, and have been really surprised at their poverty. The process of my mind has been such on the subject of revelation, that I have often thought Satan has done more for me than the best of them; for I have had, and could have produced, arguments that appeared to me far more weighty than any I ever found in them against revelation." Cecil. — Dr. Payson says in a letter to a friend: — " There is one trial which you cannot know experimentally: it is that of being obliged to preach to others when one doubts of everything, and can scarcely believe that there is a God. All the atheistical, deistical, and heretical objections which I meet with in books are childish babblings compared with those which Satan suggests, and which he urges upon the mind with a force which seems irresistible. Yet I am often obliged to write sermons, and to preach when these objections beat upon me like a whirlwind, and almost distract me."
2. I toas dumb tvitli silence. Comp. Ps. xxxviii. 13. The addition of the words " with silence," means that he was entirely or absolutely dumb; he said nothing at all. The idea is, that he did not allow himself to give utterance to the thoughts which were passing in his mind in regard to the Divine dealings. He kept his thoughts I to himself, and endeavoured to suppress them in his own bosom. ^ I held my peace, even from good. I said nothing. I did not even say what I miglit have said in vindication of the ways of God. I did not even endeavour to defend the Divine character, or to explain the reasons of the Divine dealings, or to suggest any considerations which would tend to calm down the feelings of complaint and dissatisfaction which might be rising in the minds of other men as well as my own. 1J And my sorrow was stirred. The anguish of my mind; my trouble. The word " 5^irred " here, rendered in the margin troubled, means that the very fact o^ attempting to suppress his feelings, — the purpose to say nothing in the case, — was the means of increased anguish. His trouble on the subject found no vent for itself in words, and at length it became so insupportable that he sought relief by giving utterance to his thoughts, and by coming to God to obtain relief. The state of mind referred to here is that which often occurs when a man broods over his own troubled thoughts, and dwells upon things which are in themselves improper and rebellious. We are under no necessity of endeavouring to vindicate the psalmist in what he here did; nor should we take his conduct in this respect as our example. He evidently himself, on reflection, regarded this as wrong; and recorded it not as a pattern for others, but as a faithful transcript of what was passing at the time through his own mind. Yet, wrong as it was, it was what often occurs even in the minds of good men. Even they, as in the cases referred to above, often have thoughts about God and his dealings which they do not dare to express, and which it would do harm to express. Thej', therefore, hide them in their own bosom, and often experience just what the psalmist did, — increased trouble and perplexity from the very purpose to
3 My heart was hot within me: while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
4 Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know ^ how frail I am.
suppress them. They should "go at once to God. They may say to him what it would not be proper to say to meu. They may pour out all their feelhigs before him in prayer, with the hope that in such acts of praying, and in the answers which they will receive to their prayers, they may find relief.
3. Mi/ heart teas hot toilhin me. My mind became more and more excited; my feelings more and more hitense. The attempt to suppress my emotions only more and more enkindled them. 1^ While I loas musing the fire burned. Literally, " in my meditation the fire burned." That is, while I was dwelling on the subject; while I was agitating it in my mind; while I thought about it, — the flame ■was enkindled, and my thoughts found utterance. He was unable longer to suppress his feelings, and he gave vent to them in words. Com p. Jer. xx. 9; Job xxxii. 18, 19. H Then spake I n-ilh my tongue. That is, in the words which are recorded in this psalm. He gave vent to his pent-up leelings in the language which follows. Even though there toas a feeling of murmuring and complaining, he souglit relief in stating his real difficulties before God, and in seeking from him direction and support.
4. Lord, make me to knoio mine end. This expresses evidently the substance of those anxious and troubled thoughts (vers. 1,2) to which he had been unwilling to give utterance. His thoughts turned on the shortness of life; on the mystery of the Divine arrangement by which it had been made so short; and on the fact that so many troubles and sorrows had been crov.-ded into a life so frail and so soon to terminate. With some impatience, and with a consciousness that he had been indulging feelings on this subject which were not proper, and which would do injury if they were expressed before men, he now pours out these leelings before God, and asks what is to be the end of this; how long this is to continue; when his own sorrows will cease. It was an impatient desire to know when the end would be, with a spirit of insubmission to the arrangements of Providence by which his life had been made so brief, and by which so much suffering had been appointed. ^ And the measure of my days, %ohat it is. How long I am to live; how long I am to bear these accumulated sorrows. ^ That I may know how frail Jam. Marg., What time 1 have here. Prof. Alexander renders this, ivhe7i I shall cease. So De Wette. The Hebrew word here used — bin, hhadail — means ceasing to be; hence, frail; then, destitute, left, forsaken. An exact translation would be, "that I may know at what (time) or (point) I am ceasing, or about to cease." It is equivalent to a prayer that he might know when these sufferings — when a life so full of sorrow — would come to an end. The language is an expression of impatience; the utterance of a feeling which the psalmist knew was not right in itself, and which would do injury if expressed before men, but which the intensity of his feelings would not permit him to restrain, and to which he, therefore, gives utterance before God. Similar expressions of impatience in view of the sufferings of a life so short as this, and with so little to alleviate its sorrows, may be seen much amplified in Job iii. 1-2G; vi. 4-12; vii. 7; xiv. 1-13. Before we blame the sacred writers for the indulgence of these feelings, let us carefully examine our own hearts, and recall what has passed through our own minds in view of the mysteries of the Divine administiation; and
5 Beliold, thou Bast made my days as an handbreadth; and * mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man 1 at his best state is altogether vanity.
6 Surely every man walketh in 2 a vain show; surely they are disquieted in vain: he >j heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
let US remember that one great object of the Bible is to record the actual feelings of men — not to vindicate them, but to show what human nature is even in the best circumstances, and what the human heart is when as yet but partially sanctified.
5. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handhreadth. Literally, " Lo, handbreadths hast thou given my days." The word rendered handhreadth means properly the spread hand; the palm; the hand when the four fingers are expanded. The word is then used to denote anything very short or brief. It is one of the smallest natural measures, as distinguished from the " foot " — i. e. the length of the foot; and from the cubit, — i. e. the length of the arm to the elbow. It is the shortness of life, therefore, that is the subject of painful and complaining reflection here. Who has not been in a state of mind to sympathise with the feelings of the psalmist? Who is there that does not often wonder, when he thinks of what he could and would accomplish on earth if his life extended to a thousand years, and when he thinks of the great interests at stake in reference to another world which God has made dependent on so short a life? Who can at aU times so calm dowai his feelings as to give utterance to no expressions of impatience that life is so soon to terminate? Who is there that reflects on the great intercsts at stake that has not asked the question ivhy God has not given man more time to prepare for eternity? % And mine age. Or, my life. The word here used — 'ibxi, hheled — means properly duration of life, lifetime; and then, life itself; Job xi. 17. % Is as nothing. That is, it is so short that it seems to be nothing at all. ^ Before thee. As over against thee; that is, in comparison with thee. Comp. Isa. xl. 17, " All nations before him are as nothing;" that is, over against him, or in comparison with him. When the two are placed together, the one seems to be as nothing in the presence of the other. So the life of man, when placed by the side of the life of God, seems to be absolutely nothing. % Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Marg., settled. The idea is, that every man is co«- stituted \iimt\. Literally, "All vanity every man is constituted." There seems to be nothing but vanity; and this is the result of a Divine constitution or arrangement. The idea expressed in our common version, " at his best state," however true in itself, is not in the original. The thoughts in the original are {a) that all men are vanity; that is, life is so short, and man accomplishes so little, that it seems to be perfect vanity; and {b) that this is the result of the Divine constitution under which man was made. It was the fact that man has been so made which gave so much trouble to the mind of the psalmist.
6. Surely every man walketh in a vain show. Marg., an image. The word rendered vain shoiv — G^^, tzelem — means properly a shade, a shadow; and then, an image or likeness, as shadow^ing forth any real object. Then it comes to denote an idol, 2 Kings xi. 18; Amos v. 26. Here the idea seems to be that of an image, as contradistinguished from a reality; the shadow of a thing, as distinguished from the substance. Man seems to be like an image, a shadow, a phantom, — and not a real object, walking about. He is a form, an appearance, that soon vanishes away like
7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my liope is in thee.
a shadow. % Surely they are disquieted i)i vain. That is, they ai-e actively engaged; they bustle about; they are full of anxiety; they form plans which they execute with much toil, care, and trouble; yet for no purpose worthy of so much diligence and anxious thought. They are busy, bustling shadows — existing for no real or substantial purposes, and accomplishing nothing. " What shadows we are, and what shadows do we pursue," said the great orator and statesman, Edmund Burke; and what a striking and beautiful comment on the passage before us was that saying, coming from such a man, and from one occupying such a position. ^ He Jieapeth up riches. The word here used means to heap up, to store up, as grain, Gen. xli. 35; or treasures. Job xxvii. 16; or a mound, Ilab. i. 10. Here it undoubtedly refers to the efforts of men in accumulating wealth, or storing up property. This was the thing which struck the psalmist as the leading employment of these moving shadows,— a fact that would strike any one as he looks upon this busy world. •[[ And Jcnoiveth not %vho shall gather them. Who shall gather them to himself; to whom they will go when he dies. Comp. Job xxvii. 16-19; Eccles. ii. 18, 21; v. 13, 14; Luke xii. 20. The idea is, that it is not only vanity in itself, considered as the great business of life, to attempt to accumulate property, — seeing that this is not what the great object of life should be, and that a life thus spent really amounts to nothing, — but vanity in this respect also, that a man can have no absolute control over his property when he is dead, and he knows not, and cannot know, into W'hose hands his accumulated gains may fall. The facts on this subject; the actual distribution of property after a man is dead; the use often made of it, against which no man can guard, — should, togetlier with other and higher motives, be a powerful consideration with every one, not to make the amassing of wealth the great business of life.
world, — of the fruitless efforts of man, — of what so perplexed, embari-assed, and troubled him, — the psalmist now turns to God, and looks to him as the source of consolation. Turning to him, he gains more cheerful views of life. The expression " What wait I for?" means, what do I now expect or hope for; on what is my hope based; where do I find any cheerful, comforting views in regard to life? He had found none in the contemplation of the world itself, in man and his pursuits; in the course of things so shadowy and so mysterious; and he says now, that he turns to God to find comfort in his perplexities. \ Mi) hope is in thee. In thee alone. My reliance is on thee; my expectation is from thee. It is not from what I see in the world; it is not in my power of solving the mysteries which surround me; it is not that I can see the reason why these shadows are pursuing shadows so eagerly around me; it is in the God that made all, the ruler over all, that can control all, and that can accomplish his own great purposes in connexion even with these moving shadows, and that can confer on man thus vain in himself and in his pui'suits that which will be valuable and permanent. The idea is, that the contemplation of a world so vain, so shadowy, so mysterious, should lead us away from all expectation of finding in that world what we need, or finding a solution of the questions which so much perplex us, up to the groat God who is infinitely wise, and who can meet all the necessities of our immortal nature; and who, in his own time, cau solve all these mysteries.
8. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Kecognising, as in Ps. xxxviii. 3-5, his sins as the source of
9 I was dumb, I opened not my
mouth; because thou didst it. 10 Remove thy stroke away all his troubles and sorrows. If his transgressions were forgiven, he felt assured that his trouble would be removed. His first petition, therefore, is, that his sins might be pardoned, with the implied conscious assurance that then it would be consistent and proper for God to remove his calamity, and deliver him from the evils which had come upon him, ^ Make me not the reproach of the foolish. Of the wicked; of those who are foolish, because they are wicked. See Notes on Ps. xiv. 1. The prayer here is, that God would not sufler him to become an object of reproach to wicked and foolish men; that is, as the passage implies, that God would not so continue to treat him as if he were a sinner as to justify to themselves their reproaches of him as a wicked man. In other words, he prays that God would forgive his sin, and would withdraw his hand of affliction, so that even the wicked might see that he was not angry with him, but that he was an object of the Divine favour.
9. I teas dumb. See Xotes on ver. 2. Comp. Isa. liii. 7. The meaning here is, that he did not open his mouth to complain; he did not speak of God as if he had dealt unkindly or unjustly with him. ^ I opened not my mouth. I kept entire silence. This would be better rendered, " I am dumb; I will not open my mouth." The meaning is, not that he had been formerly silent and uncomplaining, but that he was noiv silenced, or that his mind was now calm, and that he acquiesced in the dealings of Divine Providence. The state of mind here, it should be further observed, is not that which is described in ver. 2. There he represents himself as dumb, or as restraining himself from uttering what was in his mind, because he felt that it would do harm, by encouriiging the wicked in their views of God and of his government; here he says that he v/as now silenced — he acquiesced — he had no disposition to say anything against the governmsnt of God. He was dumb, not by putting a restraint on himself, but because he had nothing to say. ^ Because thou didst it. Thou hast done that which was so mysterious to me; that about which I was so much disposed to complain; that which has overwhelmed me with affliction and sorrow. It is now, to my mind, a sufficient reason for silencing all my murmurs, and producing entire acquiescence, that it has been done by thee. That fact is to me sufficient proof that it is right, and wise, and good; that fact makes my mind calm. The best proof that anything is right and best is that it is done by God. The most perfect calmness and peace in trouble is produced, not when we rely on our own reasonings, or when we attempt to comprehend and explain a mystery, but when we direct our thoughts simply to the fact that God has done it. This is the highest reason that can be presented to the human mind, that what is done is right; this raises the mind above the mysteriousness of tvhat is done, and makes it plain that it should be done; this leaves the reasons ichy it is done, where they should be left, with God. This consideration will calm down the feelings when nothing else would do it, and dispose the mind, even under the deepest trials, to acquiescence and peace. I saw this verse engraved, with great appropriateness, on a beautiful marble monument that had been erected over a grave where lay three children that had been suddenly cut down by the scarlet fever. What could be more suitable in such a trial than such a text? What conld more strikingly express the true feelings of Christian piety — the calm submission of redeemed souls — than the disposition of parents, thus bereaved, to record such a sentiment over the grave of their children? 10. Remove thy stroke aivay from
from Tiie: I am consumed by the ^ blow of thine hand.
11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest 2 his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a
me. And yet this calm submission, as expressed in ver. 9, does not take away the desire that the hand of God may be removed, and that the suffering that is brought upon us may cease. Perfect submission is not inconsistent with the prayer that, it' it be the will of God, the calamity may be removed: Luke xxii. 42. On the word here rendered stroke — ^2D, naiga — see Notes on Ps. xxxviii. 11. It is equivalent here to chastisement, or judgment. It refers to the trial which he was then enduring, whatever it was, which had given occasion to the feelings that he says (ver. 1, 2) he had i'elt bound to suppress when in the presence of the wicked, but in reference to which he had learned entirely to acquiesce (ver. 9). From that trial itself he now prays that he may be delivered. ^ I am consumed. I am wasting away. I cannot long bear up under it. I must sink down to the grave if it is not removed. See ver. 13. % By the hloio of thine hand. Marg., as in Heb., conflict. That is, the blow which God brings on any one when he has, as it were, a strife or a conflict with him. It is designed here to express his affliction, as if God had struck him.
11, When thou with rebukes. The v.'oi'd hererenderedrebnkes means properly (a) proof or demonstration; (b) confutation or contradiction; (c) reproof or admonition by words; (</) re- ])roof by correction or punishment. This is the meaning here. The idea of the psalmist is, that God, by punishment or calamity, expresses his sense of the evil of human conduct; and that, under such an expression of it, man, being unable to sustain it, melts away or is destroyed. ^ Dost correct man for iniquitj/. Dost punish man for his sin; or dost express thy sense of the evil of sin by the calamities which are brought upon him. % Thou makest his beaidy. Marg., That ichich is to be desired in him. The Hebrew means desired, delighted in; then, something desirable, pleasant; a delight. Its meaning is not confined to beauty. It refers to anything that is to man an object of desire or delight,— strength, beauty, possessions, life itself. All are made to fade away before the expressions of the Divine displeasure. T[ To consume away like a moth. Not as a moth is consumed, but as a moth consumes or destroys valuable objects, such as clothing. See Notes on Job iv. 19. The beauty, the vigour, the strength of man is marred and destroyed, as the texture of cloth is^y the moth. ^ Surely every man is vanity. That is, he is seen to be vanity — to have no strength, ro permanency — by the ease withi which God takes away all on which he had prided himself See Notes on ver. 5. 12. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry. That is, in view of my affliction and my sins; in view, also, of the perplexing questions which have agitated my bosom; the troublous thoughts which passed through my soul, which I did not dare to express before man (vers. 1, 2), but which I have now expressed before thee. •[[ Hold not thy peace. Be not silent. Do not refuse to answer me; to speak peace to me. ^ At my tears. Or rather, at my weeping; as if God heard the voice of his weeping. AVeeping, if unmurmuring, is of the nature of prayer, lor God regards the sorrows of the soul as he sees them. Tiie weeping penitent, the weeping suflerer, is one on whom we may suppose God looks with compassion, even though the sorrows of the soul do not find words to give utterance to them. Comp. Notes on J^ xvi. 20. See also Rom. viii. 26. ^ For I am a stranger. The word used — "13, gair — means properly a sojourner; a foreigner; a man living out of his own country: Gen. xv. 13; Ex. ii. 22. It refers to a man who has no permanent home in the place or country where he now is; and it is used here as implying that, in the estimation of the psalmist himself, he had no permanent abode on earth. He was in a strange or foreign land. He was passing to a permanent home; and he prays that God would be merciful to him as to a man who has no home — no permanent abiding place — on earth. Comp. Notes on Heb. xi. 13; 1 Peter ii. 11. *\\ And a sojourner. This word has substantially the same signitication. It denotes one living in another country, without the rights of a citizen. ^ As all my fathers were. All my ancestors. The aflusion is doubtless derived from the fact that the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob thus lived as men who had no permanent home here, — who had no possession of soil in the countries where they sojourned, — and whose whole life, therefore, was an illustration of the fact that they were on a journey — a journey to another world. 1 Chron. xxix. 15, — "For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding." Comp. Notes on Heb. xi. 13-15.
13. O spare me. The word here used — from n^^, shaah — means to look; and then, in connexion with the preposition, to look aiimy from -, and it here means. Look away from me; that is, Do not come to inflict death on me. Preserve me. The idea is this: God seemed to have fixed his eyes on him, and to be pursuing him with the expressions of his displeasure (comp. Job xvi. 9); and the psalmist now prays that he would turn away his eyes, and leave him. ^ That I may recover strength. The word here used — j52> halag — means, in Arabic, to be bright; to shine forth; and then, to make cheerful, to enliven one's countenance, or to be joyful, glad. In Job ix. 27, it is rendered comfort; in Job x. 20, that I may take comfort; in Amos v. 9, strengtheneth. It is not used elsewhere. The idea is that of being cheered up; of being strengthened and invigorated before he should pass away. He wished to be permitted to recover the strength which he had lost, and especially to receive consolation, before he should leave the earth. He desired that his closing days might not be under a cloud, but that he might obtain brighter and more; cheerful views, and have more of the I consolations of religion before he j should be removed finally from this world. It is a wish not to leave the world in gloom, or with gloomy and desponding views, hut with a cheerful view of the past; with joyful confidence in the government of God; and with bright anticipations of the coming world. ^ Before I go hence. Before I die. Tf And be no more. Be no more upon the earth. Comp. Notes on Ps. vi. 5; xxx. 9. See also Notes on Job xiv. 1-12. Whatever may have been his views of the future world, he desired to be cheered and comforted in the prospect of passing away finally from earth. He was unwilling to go down to the grave in gloom, or under the influence of the dark and distressing views which he had experienced, and to which he refers in this psalm. A religious man, about to leave the world, should desire to have bright hopes and anticipations. For his own comfort and peace, for the honour of religion, for the glory of God, he should not leave those around under the impression that religion does nothing to comfort a dying man, or to inspire with hope the mind of one about to leave the earth, or to give to the departing friend of God cheerful anticipations of the life to come. A joyful confidence in God and his government, when a man is about to leave the world, docs much, very much, to impress the minds of others with a conviction of the truth and reality of rehgion, as dark and gloomy views can hardly fail to lead the world to ask what that religion is worth which will not inspire a dying man with hope, and make him calm in the closing scene.
This psalm, which purports to have been composed by David, is another of the psalms addressed or dedicated " to the chief Musician;" that is, which he is desired to adjust to the appropriate music; and it is, therefore, probably one that was particularly mtended to be employed in the public worship of the Hebrews. On the meaning of this expression, see Notes to the inscription of Ps. iv.
There is no method of ascertaining with certainty on what occasion the psalm was composed. Doubtless it was in view of some of the trials which occurred in the life of David, since there were many of these to which the sentiments of the psalm may with propriety be applied. As it is impossible now, however, from anything in the psalm itself, to ascertain xchich of those afflictions were here referred to, or which suggested the psalm, conjecture would be useless; nor, if we could ascertain to what particular time of his life he made reference, would it furnish any material aid in inteqireting the psalm. It is to be presumed, however, that there was a reference to some trouble or calamity in his own Ufe; and even if it be supposed that the psalm was designed to refer wholly to the Messiah, and to be descriptive of his sufferings, still it is probable that the language employed was suggested by something in the life of the author of the psalm, and that he was led to contemjjlate the future sufferings of the Messiah in connexion with his own trials.
The contents of the psalm are as follows: —
(1.) A reference to some time of calamity or deep son-ow, represented b)' being in a horrible pit, from which ho had been delivered in answer to prayer, — a deliverance so remarkable that the effect would be to lead many, on account of it, to praise God, vers. 1-3.
(2.) A statement of the blessedness of the man that made the Lord his trust, and put confidence in him rather than in the proud of the earth, or in those who were faithless or deceitful, ver. 4.
(3.) A grateful remembrance of the many works of the Lord;— evidently as laying the foundation of obligation to serve him in every Avay possible, and as a reason of the purpose of obedience immediately referred to, ver. -5.
(4.) A statement of what lie had done, or what he proposed to do, as expressive of his sense of obligation, or of the service which God required of him, vers. 6-10. The speaker in the psalm says that God did not require of him sacrifice and offering — that is, the bloody sacrifices prescribed in the Hebrew ritual, ver. 6; that God had disposed him to obey, or had prepared him to render such obedience as was required — (" Mine ears hast thou opened"), ver. G; that he came to obey, in accordance with some prediction or pi'evious record in regard to him, ver. 7; that he found his supreme pleasure in doing the will of God, ver. 8; and that, in pursuance of this arrangement and of this purpose, he had nuide known the will of God — had preached righteousness in the great congregation, and had faithfully declared the salvation of God, vers. 9, 10.
(5.) Prayers and supplications founded on these facts— on his trials; on his dangers; on the attempts of his enemies to destroy him; on liis desire for the welfare and safety of the people of God, vers. 11-17. Particularly {a) prayer for his own deliverance from the troubles which encompassed him still, vers. 11- 13; (J)) prayer that those who were oppos(>d to him might be abased and humbled, vers. 14, 15; {c) prayer that those who sought the Lord might rejoice and be glad, ver. 16; and (rf) a prayer for himself, as poor and needy, oia the grounds that God was his help and his deliverer, ver. 17.
A very important and difficult question occurs here. It is the question to whom the psalm originally refeiTcd.
On this question there have been the following opinions: (1) That it refers originally and exclusively to David; (2) that it liad an original and exclusive reference to the Messiah; (3) that it is susceptible of a double application, part of the psalm having reference to David, and the other portion to the Messiah, as having been suggested by his own circumstances; and (4) that the portion of the psalm applied to the Messiah in Heb. X. 5-9 is applied by way of accommodation^ or as expressing the meaning of the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, but without affirming on the part of the writer of that epistle that the psalm had originally any Messianic reference.
It would be too long to examine these opinions in detail; and all that is needful in this brief introduction to the psalm may be to state some reasons for what seems to me to be the true opinion, that the psalm had an original and exclusive reference to the Messiah, or that it is one of the compositions in the Old Testament, like Ps. ii., xxii., and Is. liii., which Avere designed by the Spirit of inspiration to describe the INlessiah, as to some of his characteristics, and as to what he would sutler.
(1) There are such psalms, such portions of the Old Testament. This is admitted by all who believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures. The Messiah was the hope of the Jewish people. He was the subject of their most sublime prophecies. The nation was accustomed to look forward to him as their great Deliverer. In all times of national calamity they looked forward to the period when he would appear for their rescue. He was, so to speak, the " hero" of their national literature; the bright object in the future to which all the sacred writers looked forward; the glorious Saviour and Deliverer whose coming, and the anticipated benefit of whose coming, animated their lays, and cheered them in the darkest days of trouble and sorrow. Comp. Introd. to Isaiah, § 7.
(2) The author of the epistle to the Hebrews expressly applies a part of this psalm to the Messiah, Heb. x. 5-9. There can be no reasonable doubt that he quoted this with the belief that the psalm had original reference to him, and that he did not use the language by way of accommodation, for he was endeavouring to demonstrate a pointy or to prove that what he was stating was true. This he does by refemng to the passage in the psalm as proof on the point then under consideration. But there would have been no proof— no argument — in the case, if he had merely quoted language by way of accommodation, which had originally a different design. The very point of his quotation is based on the fact that he was adducing a passage which had oi-iginal reference to the Messiah, and Avhich might be properly quoted as characterizing his work. The proof (as derived from this fact) that the psalm had reference to the Messiah, consists of two things: — (a^ That it is so_ applied by an inspired apostle, which, with all who admit his inspiration would seem to be decisive of the question; (b) that he so applied it, shews, in the circumstances, that this was an ancient and admitted interpretation. He was wi-iting to those who had been Jews; to those whom he was desirous of convincmg as to the truth of what he was alleging in regard to the notion of Hebrew sacrifices. For tills purpose it was necessary to appeal to the Old Testament; but it cannot be supposed that he would adduce, as proof, a passage whose relevancy to the point would not be at once admitted. It may be presumed, therefore, that the passage Avas commonl}' applied, by the Hebrews themselves to the purpose for Avliich the apostle used it, or that the application, when made, was so plain and obvious that they Avould not call it in question.
(3) The entu-e psalm may be applied to the Messiah without anything forced or unnatural in the interpretation. This will be shewn, in detail, in the exposition of the psalm; but in the meantime it may not be improper to refer to the principal difficulties in such an application, and to the principal objections derived from this source against the idea that the psalm refers to the [Messiah. The principal of these relate to the following points: — {a) In ver. 2 the speaker in the psalm says: " He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings;" and on the ground of this, he gives thanks to God. But there is no real difficulty in supposing that this refers to the [Messiah, and that it was actually fulfilled in the case of the Lord Jesus. His enemies often plotted against his life; they laid snares for him; they endeavoured to destroy him; his dangers may well be represented as " an horrible pit," and as " miry clay;" and his deliverance from those perils may well be compared with the case of one who is raised up from such a pit, and from the deep mire. EA'cn supposing that this was designed to refer to the personal experience of the psalmist himself, still the language would be figurative, and must be designed to refer to some danger, peril, or trouble that would be well represented by being thrown into such a pit, or sinking in miry clay. It cannot be supposed that the psalmist meant to say this had really and literally occurred in his own life. "Without any impropriety, therefore, the language may be applied' to the trials and dangers of the Messiah, and to tlie merciful interposition of God in delivering him. {b) The second objection or dithculty in ref(MTing it to the Messiah is derived from what is said in ver. 12: " jNliue iniquities have taken hold on me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart faileth me." But, in reference to the propriet}- of applying this to the IMessiah, two remarks may be made: First. It may be true that the Messiah was so identified with men — became so truly a substitute for sinners — experienced in his own soul, in the deep sorrows of the atonement, so intensely the effects of their sin, — and so bore the sufierings that were expressive of the Divine sense of the evil of sin, that the language might be applied to him as if these sins Avere his own. He was treated as if they were his— as if he had been a sinner. He so made them his own, that it ■was proper he should be treated as if the}- were his, and that he might feel he was suffering as if they were his. It is true that they could not be literally transferred to him; it is true that in no proper sense of the term was he a sinner; it is true that in the just signification of the word he was not " guilty," and that God always saw he was personally innocent; but still it is true that, in the work of the atonement, he was treated as if he had been a sinner, and that, in this sense, he might speak of the sins for which he sufiered as his o\\ii. He had voluntarily assumed them, and he was sufiering for them as if they had been his. Thus we have in Isa. liii. 4-6 similar language applied to him: " He hath borne our griefs, and cai-ried our sorrows;" "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; " " tlie Lord hatli laid on him the iniquity of us all." If such language might properly be applied to him and his sufierings, then there could be no impropriety or incongruity in his regarding himself as so identified with sinful men, and as so truly beai-ing Avhat was due to their sins, tliat he miglit speak of those sins as if they were his own, as one might speak of a debt incurred by a friend, and which he had brought himself under voluntary obligation to pay, as if it were his own, and might sa}', "it is no longer his, but mine." The language of Scripture in regard to the relation of the Redeemer to sin is often so marked and striking as to suggest and to justify this language. See 2 Cor. v. 21; Gal. iii. 13. JSccottd. It is possible, after all, that the word rendered iniquities in the psalm, means here merely calamity, trouble, sorrow. (See Notes on Heb. x. 5; and comp. Prof. Stuart on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Excursus xx., p. 594.) So the same word which is here used means, in 2 Sam. xvi. 12, " It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction.'' The words iniquity and calamity — sin and punishment— are closely connected in the Scriptures; so closely that the one is often put for the other, and when a sacred writer speaks of his sin, he often means the sufiering or calamity that has cpme upon him in consequence of his sin. So the Messiah may be understood here to mean that the calamities or woes which had come upon him in consequence of his taking upon him the sins of the world made it proper to say that his "iniquities"— the iniquities which he had assumed, or which, in the language of Isaiah, he " bore " — had "taken hold on him, so that he was not able to look up;" or, considering their great number, he might sa}^, " they are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me." {c) A third objection to the application of the psalm to the JMessiah is, that it cannot be supposed he would utter such impi'ccations on his enemies as are found in vers. 14, 15: " Let them be ashamed and confounded; let them be driven backward; let them be desolate." To this it may be replied, that such imprecations are as proper in the mouth of the Messiah as in the mouth of David; and that they are im-. proper in neither. Both David and the Messiah did utter denunciations against the enemies of piety and of God. There is no evidence that there was any malignant feeling in either case; nor is it inconsistent with the liighest benevolence to utter denunciation of guilt. God constantly does it in his word; and he as often does it in the dealings of his Providence. The Avickcd cannot walk
To tlie cliief Musician. A Psalm of David.
T 1 WAITED patiently for the
Lord: and lie inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
through this Avoiid without meeting denunciations of their guilt on every hand, and there was no inipiety in the fact that he who ^^'ill pronounce a sentence in the great day of judgment on all guilty men, should apprize them beforehand of what would be sure to come upon them. The objections, then, are not of such a nature that it is improper to regard the psalm as wholly applicable to the Messiah.
(4) The psalm cannot be applied with propriety to Da^id, nor do we know of any one to whom it can be applied but the Jlcssiah. It was not true of David that he " had come to do the will ' ' of God, in view of the fact that God did not require sacrifice and offerings, vers. 6, 7; it was not true that it was written of him " in the volume of the book," that he delighted to do the will of God, and that he had come into the world in view of the fact that it had been so written (vers. 7, 8); it was not true that it had been his characteristic work to "preach righteousness in the great congregation" (ver. 9); but all this was true of the ^Messiah. These expressions are such as can bo applied only to him; and, taking all these ckcumstances together, the conclusion seems to be a proper one that the whole psalm had original reference to the Redeemer, and is to be interpreted as apppljing to him alone.
There is a remarkable resemblance between the close of this psalm (vers. 13- 17) and Ps. Ixx. Indeed, that entire psalm is the same as the closing part of this one. Why that portion of the psalm before us is thus repeated, and why it is separated from this and made a psalm by itself, is wholly unknown. It cannot be supposed to be an error in transcribing, for the error would be too material, and would most certainly be detected. Perhaps it can best be accounted for b)' supposing the author of Ps. Ixx. to have been in the state of mind, and in the circumstances there described, and by supposing that instead of writing a new psalm which would express his feehngs, he found that this part of Ps. xl., already composed, would describe so exactly what he wished to express, and that he regarded it as so adapted to be a prayer by itself, that he therefore copied it. The fact that it was thus copied, and that the sentiments were repeated, does not in any manner detract from the supposition that it is inspu-ed.
1. 1 waited patiently for the Loed. Marg., as in Heb,, In waiting Iivaited. That is, I continued to toait. It was not a single, momentary act of expectation or hope; it was continuous; or, was persevered in. The idea is, that his prayer was not answered at once, but that it was answered after he had made repeated prayers, or when it seemed as if his prayers would iK)t be answered. It is earnest, persevering prayer that is referred to; it is continued supplication and hope when there seemed to be no answer to prayer, and no prospect that it would be answered. \ And he inclined tinto me. That is, ultimately he heard and answered me; or he turned himself favourably towards me, as the result of persevering prayer. The word " inclined" here means properly hawed; that is, he lent forward to hearken, or to place his ear near my mouth and to hear me. At first he seemed as one that would not hear; as one that throws his head backward or turns his head away. Ultimately, however, he bent forward to receive my prayer. ^ And heard my cry. The cry or supplication which 1 made for help; the cry which I directed to him in the depth of my sorrows and my danger, ver. 2. As applied to the Redeemer, this would refer to the fact that in his sorrows, in the deep sorrows connected with the work of redemption, he persevered in calling on God, and that God heard him, and raised him up to glory and joy. See Matt. xxvi. 36-46. Comp. Notes on Heb, V. 7. The time supposed to bo referred to, is after his sufterings were closed; after his work was done; after he rose from the dead. It is the language of grateful remembrance which we may suppose he uttered in the review of the amazing sorrows
2 He broui^lit me up also out of 1 an liorrii3le pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
through which he had passed in making the atonement, and in the recollection that God had kept him in those sorrows, and had hrought him up from such a depth of woe to such a height of glory.
2. He hrouglit me up also out of an Jiorrihle pit. Marg., A pit of noise. The w^ord here used means a pit; a cistern; a prison; a dungeon; a grave. This last signification of the word is found in Ps. xxviii. 1; xxx. 4; Ixxxviii. 4; Isa. xxxviii. 18; xiv. 19. It may refer to any calamity — or to trouhle, like being in a pit, — or it may refer to the grave. The word rendered horrible — IIN^", sJidon — means properly noise, uproar, tumult, as of waters; of a crowd of men; of war. Then it seems to be used in the sense of desolation or destruction, as applicable to the grave. De Wette understands it here of a pit, a Ciivern, or an abyss that roars or is tumultuous; that is, that is impassable. Perhaps this is the idea, — a cavern, deep and dark, where the w^aters roar, and which seems to be filled with horrors. So Eosemniiller understands it. The LXX. render it iK Xukkov raXaiTTiopiag, a lake of misery. It is a deep and horrid cavern, where there is no hope of being rescued, or where it would seem that there would be certain destruction. % Out of the miry clay. At the bottom of the pit. Where there was no solid ground — no rock on which to stand. See Jer. xxxviii. 6; Ps. Ixix. 2, 14. ^ And set my feet upon a rock. Where there was firm standing. ^And established my goinys. Or, fixed my steps. That is, he enabled me to walk as on solid ground; he conducted me along safely, where there was no danger of descending to the pit again or of sinking in the mire. If we understand this of the Redeemer, it refers to that time when, his sorrows ended, and his work
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and feav, and shall trust in the Lord.
of atonement done, it became certain that he would never bo exposed again to such dangers, or sink into such a depth of woes, but that his course ever onward would be one of safety and of glory.
3. And he hath put a new song in my mouth. See Notes on Ps. xxxiii. 3. The idea is, that he had given a new or fresh occasion for praise. The deliverance was so marked, and was such an addition to former mercies, that a new expression of thanks was proper. It was an act of such surprising intervention on the part of God that the language used on former occasions, and which was adapted to express the mercies' then received, would not be sufficient to convey the sense of gratitude felt for the present deliverance. As applied to the Messiah, and referring (as it was supposed in the Notes on ver. 2) to his being raised up to glory after the depth of his sorrows, it would mean that no language hitherto employed to express gratitude to God would be adequate to the occasion, but that the language of a neiv song of praise would be demanded to celebrate so great an event. ^[ ^wen p) raise ^lnto our God. " To our God;" — identifying himself, as the Messiah does, with his people, and expressing the idea that the new song of praise was appropriate to them as well as to Jiimself, — since they would be benefited by his work, and since God was their God as well as his. Comp. John xx. 17. ^ Many shall see it. Great numbers of the human race shall be made acquainted with the occasion which there was for such a song. ^ And fear. Learn to reverence, to worship, to honour God, as the result of what had been done. ^ And shall trust in the Loed. Shall confide in God; shall put their trust in him; shall become his true worshippers and
4 Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth - not the proud, nor such as " turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O Lord my God, are thy '' wonderful works ivhicli thou
friends; — (a) as the effect of this inerciful interposition in behalf of him who had been thus in trouble or distress, and who was enabled to triumph; {b) as the result of the work accom- ])lisbed by him. The effect of the Eedeemer's sorrows, and of God's merciful help, would be that great numbers would learn to put their trust in God, or would become his true friends. No man, in fact, can compute the numbers of those who, in consequence of the work of the Messiah, will turn to God and become his true worshippers and friends:
4. Blessed is that man that maketh the LoED his trust. See Notes on Ps. xxxiv. 8. Corap. Ps. xxvii. 1. Literally here, " The blessings of the man who places Jehovah for his confidence;" that is, who makes Him his security, or who feels that his security for happiness and salvation is in Him. ^ And respecteth not the proud. The haughty, or those who are confident in themselves. Literally, "who looTcs not to the proud;" that is, who does not depend on them for help and for salvation. ^ Isor such as turn aside to lies. Who depart from the straight path, and incline to that which is false and deceitful. The reference is to those who are easily made to swerve from that which is true and honest to that which is delusive and false. Their integrity cannot be confided in. There is no security that they will be disposed to do right. The idea is, that the man who trusts in God is blessed or happy, as compared with one who trusts in man; — man confident in himself; man liable to fall into error; man w'ho is easily led astray; man who is deceitful, and who cannot, therefore, be relied on. God is mighty, but not haughty; God hast done, and <^ thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
5. Many, O Loed my God, are thy wonderful tvorks which thou hast done. Literally, " Many [things], 0 Lord my God, hast thou done; thy wonderful things and thy thoughts towards us, it is not [possible] to state unto thee." The recollection of the particular kindness shown to the speaker, as referred to in the previous verses, suggests the recollection of the great number of wonders that God had done for his people, — the acts of his kindness which it would be hopeless to attempt to recount before him. And who could enumerate and record all the acts of God's benevolence towards men in the works of creation, providence, and redemption; all that he has done in the history of the Church, and for the individual members of the Church in past times; all that he has done to save his people in the days of persecution; all that has been accomplished in our own individual lives? Obviously these things are beyond all power of enumeration by man. They can be admired now only in the gross; eternity alone will be sufficient for us to look at them and to recoiant them in detail. The phrase " wonderful w^orks " means here remarkable interventions; things fitted to excite astonishment; things that surpass what man could have anticipated; things that could have been done only by God. ^ And thy thoughts which are to us-ioard. Toward us; or which pertain to us. The w^ord " thoughts " here refers to the plans, purposes, arrangements of God designed for our welfare; the things that are the result of his thinking of our wants — of wiiat we need — of what would do us good. See ver.
6 Sacrifice '^ and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast
17. ^ They cannot he reckoned np in order tinto thee. Marg., None can order them tinto thee. Literally, " There is no putting them in order before thee;" that is, there is no such arranging of them, or disposing of tliem in order, that they can all be brought into their proper place, so as to be perceived or numbered. The Hebrew word — TT^^, arach — means properly, to place in a row; to put in order; to arrange; as, to put an army in battle array, or to draw it up for battle. Judges xx. 20, 22; to put words in order for an argument, or to arrange thoughts so as to present an argument, Job xxxii. 14; to set a cause in order before a judge, or to lay it before him. Job xiii. 18. The word also means to place together with anything, or by the side of anything,— that is, to make a comparison. Gesenius (Lex.) supposes that this is the idea here, and that the proper interpretation is, Nothing can he compared unto thee. But the other interpretation seems best to accord with the connexion, as referring to the wonderful works of God, and to his thoughts of mercy and goodness as being beyond the power of computation, or as too numei'ous to be brought into order and arrangement before the mind. ^ If J ivould declare and speak of them. If I should attempt to speak of them; or to recount them. T[ They are more than can he numhered. More than man can enumerate. They go beyond the power of language to express them. This is literally true. No language of man can describe what God has done and has purposed in fitting up this world as an abode for men, and in his mercy towards them
6. Sacrifice and offering. The first of the words here used — n^T, zehahh — means properly a bloody-oftering; the other — nn!:.73, minhhah — anoilering without blooil, as a thank-oftering.
thou 1 opened: burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.
See Notes on Isa. i. 11. The four words employed in this verse — sacrifice, oftering, burnt-offering, sin-ollering — embrace all the species of sacrifice and offerings known among the Hebrews; and the idea here is, that no such offering as they were accustomed to offer was required of him who is here referred to. A higher service was needed. T[ Thou didst not desire. The word here rendered desire means to incline to, to be favourably disposed, as in reference to doing anything; that is, to will, to desire, to please. The meaning here is, that he did not will this or wish it; he would not be pleased with it in comparison with obedience, or as a substitute for obedience. He preferred obedience to any external rites and forms; to all the rites and forms of religion prescribed by the law. They were of no value without obedience; they could not be substituted in the place of obedience. This sentiment often occurs in the Old Testament, showing that the design of all the rites then prescribed was to bring men to obedience, and that they were of no value without obedience. See Notes on Isa. i. 10 — 20; comp. 1 Sam. XV. 22; Ps. li. 16, 17; Hos. vi. 6; see also Notes on Heb. x. 5. ^ Mine ears hast thou opened. Marg., digged. The Hebrew word — TTO, karah — means to dig; as, to dig a well. Gen. xxvi. 25; to dig a sepulchre, Gen. 1. 5. As used here this would properly mean, mine ears hast thou digged out; that is, thou hast so opened them that there is a communicatioa with the seat of hearing; or," in other words, thou hast caused me to hear this truth, or hast revealed it to me. Comp. Isa. 1. 5, " The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious." The meaning here would be, that the ear had been opened, so that it was quick to hear. An indisposition to obey the will of God is often expressed by the fact that the eavmYQ stopped: Zech.vii.ll; Ps.lviii. 4, 5; Prov. xxi. 13. Tliere is manifestly no allusion here, though that has been supposed by many to be the reference, to the custom of boring through the ear of a servant with an awl, as a sign that he was willing to remain with his master: Exod. xxi. 6; Deut. XV. 17. In that case the outer circle, or rim of the ear was horecl through with an awl; here the idea is that of hollowing out, digging, excavating, that is, of making a passage through, so that one could hear; not the mere piercing of the outer ear. The essential idea is, that this truth had been communicated to him — that God preferred obedience to sacrifice; and that he had been made attentive to that truth, as if he had been before deaf, and his ears had been opened. The principal difficulty in thL' passage relates to its application in the Epistle to the Hebrews, ch. x. 5. Thai; difficulty arises from the fact that the Septuagint translates the phrase here by the words " a body hast thou prepared me;" and that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews founds an argument on that translation, with reference to the work of the Messiah. On this point, see the Notes on Heb. x. 5. It is perhaps not now possible to explain this dithculty in a way that will be entirely satisfactory. ^ Burnt- offering. See Notes on Isa. i. 11. The peculiarity of this offering was that it was consumed by fire. ^ And sin-offering. Sin-offering was an offering or sacrifice made specifically for sin, with a view to expiate either sin in general, or some specific act of sin. In the Mosaic law there are two kinds of these offerings prescribed; — trespassofferings, or off'erings for guilt or fault, denoted by the word QTiJS, asham; and sin-offering, denoted by the word used here. They are offerings which were consumed by fire, Lev. v. 1 — 19; vi. 1—7; xiv. 10. But the essential
« the volume of the book it is written of me,
idea was that they were for sin, or for some act of guilt. In a general sense, this was true of all bloody offerings or sacrifices; but in these cases the attention of the worshipper was turned particularly to the fact of sin or transgression. ^ Thou hast not required. That is, thou hast not required them as compared with obedience; in other words, thou hast preferred the latter. These off'erings would not meet the case. More was necessary to be done than was implied in these sacrifices. They would not expiate sin; they would not remove guilt; they would not givetheconscience peace. Ahigher work, a work implied in an act of obedience of the most exalted kind, was demanded in order to accomplish the work to be done. Com p. Ps. li. 16. 7. Then said I. In Jleb. x. 7, the apostle applies this to the Messiah. See Notes on that verse. This is the most simple and satisfactory interpretation of the passage. The word " then " in this verse means, " since this is the case;" or, " things being thus." It does not refer to time, but to the condition of things. *' Since it was certain that the work needful to be done could not be accomplished by bloody offerings — the sacrifice of animals, — under these circumstances I said;" that is, I resolved or purposed to come. T[ Lo, I come. It is difficult to see how this could be applied to David; it is easy to see how it could be applied to the Messiah. When all bloody oflTerings under the law — all the sacrifices which men could make — did not avail to put away sin, it was true of the Messiah that he came into the world to perform a higher work that would meet the case — a lofty v/ork of obedience, extending even unto death, Phil. ii. 8. This is precisely the use which the apostle makes of the passage in Heb. X. 7, and this is clearly the most obvious meaning. It is in no sense applicable to David; it is fully apphcable to the Messiah, ^ In the
8 I/deliglit to do thy will,0
volume of the hooTc. Literally, " in the roll of the book." See Notes ou Luke iv. 17. The phrase would most naturally denote the roll of. the law; but it might include any volume or roll where a record or prophecy was made. In a large sense it would embrace all that had been written at the command of God at the time when this was supposed to be spoken. That is, as spoken by the Messiah, it would include all the books of the Old Testament. See Notes on Heb. x. 7. % It is wriiteti of me. It is recorded; or, there is a record made of me; to wit, in this respect, that his great delight Avould be to do the will of God. The proper interpretation of this expression must be, that there must be some record to be found in the " book " or " volume " referred to, which was designed to describe Mm in this respect, or which had an original reference to him. The meaning is not that there was a general record on the point of obedience which might be applied to him as well as to others, but that the record was intended to be applied to him, and to describe his character. This is one of the passages in the Psalms which cannot with any propriety be applied to David himself. There was no such antecedent record in regard to him; no statement in any " book " or " volume" that this would be his character. There is no promise — no intimation — in any of the books of Scripture written before the time of David that he would come to do the will of God with a view to effect that which could not be done by the sacrifices and offerings under the law. The reference of the language, therefore, must be to the Messiah — to some place where it is represented or affirmed that he would come to accomplish by his obedience what could not be done by the sacrifices and oblations made under the law. Thus understood, and regarded as the language of the Messiah himself, the reference might be to all the books of the Old Testament (for all were completed before he came), and not merely to those which had been written in the time of David. But still, it is true that no such declaration, in so many words, can now be found in any of those books; and the meaning must be that this was the language which was everywhere imjjlied respecting the Messiah; that this was the substance of the description given of him; that this characterised his work as predicted there; — to wit, that when all sacrifices and ofterings under the law failed; when- they had all shown that they were not efficacious to put away sin. One would come to perform some higher work that icotdd be effectual in putting away transgression, and that this work might, in the highest sense, be described as '* obedience," or as " doing the will of God." This was true. The language and the institutions of the Old Testament contemplated him as the One who only could put away sin. The entire spirit of the Mosaic economy supposed that a Saviour would come to do the will of God by making an atonement for the sin of the world. The meaning then is, " I come to do thy will in making an atonement, for no other offering would expiate sin; that I would do this, is the language of the Scriptures in predicting my coming, and of the whole spirit and design of the ancient dispensation."
8. I delight to do thy will, O my God. To wit, in obeying the law; in submitting to all the trials appointed to me; in making an atonement for the sins of men. See Notes on Heb. x. 7. Comp. Phil. ii. 8; Matt. xxvi. 39. IT Tea, thy laiv is within my heart. Marg., In the midst of my boivels. So the Hebrew. The idea is, that the law of God was irilhin, him. His obedience was not extcr-
9 I liave preacBed o righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.
10 I have not hid '' thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy
nal, but proceeded from the heart. How true this was of the Redeemer it is not necessary here to say.
9. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. I have maintained and defended the principles of righteousness and truth among assembled multitudes. It would be difficult to see how this could be applied to David himself, or on what occasion of his life this could be said of him; but no one can doubt that this is applicable to the Messiah. (a) He tvas a preacher, (h) He addressed vast multitudes, (c-) Before them all, and at all times, he maintained and illustrated the great principles of "righteousness" as demanded by the law of God, and unfolded the way in which all those multitudes might become "righteous" before God. ^ Lo, I have not refrained my lips. I have not closed my lips. I have not kept back the truth. ^ O Lord, thou knoicest. He could make this solemn appeal to God as the searcher of hearts, in proof that he had faithfully uttered all that had been required of him in making known the will of God. Comp. John xvii. 4, 6, 8, 14, 26.
10. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart. The word righteousness here may denote the Divine views on the subject of righteousness, or the Divine method of making man righteous; that is, the method of justification, as the word is used in the New Testament. See Notes on Rom. i. 17. The word, as it might have been employed by David, would have been used in the former sense, as meaning that, knowing what God requires of men, he had not concealed that in his heart, or had not kept it salvation: I have not concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth fi-om the great congregation.
11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy loving-kindness and thy truth ^ continually preserve me.
to himself; as used by the Messiah, as I suppose it to be here, it would be employed in the latter sense, or perhaps embrace both. The idea would be, that he had not concealed in his own mind, or liad not kept to himself, the knowledge which he had of the requirements of the law of God, or of the way in which man can be justified or regarded and treated as righteous in his sight. He had fully communicated this knowledge to others. It is not necessary to say that this was literally fulfilled in the work of the Redeemer. He spent his life in making known the great truths about the righteousness of God; he died that he might disclose to man a way by which God could consistently regard and treat men as righteous. See Notes on Rom. iii. 24-26. If I have declared thy faithfulness. Thy truthfulness; I have showed that God is worthy of confidence. T[ And thy salvation. Thy method of salvation, or of saving men. %•! have not concealed thy loving-kindness. Thy mercy or thy merciful disposition towards men. He had shown to the human race that God was a merciful Being; a Being who would pardon sin. ^ And thy truth. The truth which thou hast revealed; the truth on all subjects which it was important for men to understand. •[[ From the great congregation. That is, as in ver. 9, theassembledmultitudes — the throngs that gathered to hear the words of the Great Teacher, Comp. Matt. v. 1; xiii. 2; Luke viii. 4.
11. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord. Do not restrain or hold back thy compassions. Let thy mercies — the expressions of thy love — flow out freely
1 2 For Innnmevablc ^ evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities ^ luive taken hold upon
mc, so that I am not able to look up: they are more than the hairs of mine head; therefore my heart ^ faileth me.
towards me in connexion witli ^vhat I have done. As applicable to the Redeemer, this is a prayer that God would bestow upon him in connexion with his work, and as a reward of his work, appropriate proofs of his goodness. And especially is this to be understood here as a prayer for support and deliverance in tlie sorrows that came upon him in the accomplishment of his work. The prayer is intermediate between the expression of his purpose to do the will of God when all other means of salvation had failed (vers. 6-8), and the sorrows or sufferings that tvould come upon him in the accomplishment of his work (vers. 12, 13). He saw himself at this point of his life, as represented in the psalm, as about to sink into the depth of woes. He had kept the law of God, aud had by his obedience thus far done his will. He had made known the truth of God, and had declared his great message to the assembled multitude that had crowded his path, and thronged to hear him. He saw himself now about to enter the vale of sorrow; to plunge into that depth of the unutterable woes connected Avith the making of an atonement. He prayed, therefore, that, in these approaching sorrows, God would 7iot withhold the expression of his tender mercy. The point of time, therefore, in the Redeemer's life which the verse before us occupies, is that awful and sorrowful hour when, his public work of teaching and of miracles finished, he was about to endure the agonies of Gethsemane and of the cross. % Let thy loving. kindness. Thy mercy. ^ And thy truth. Thy promises; thy plighted support and strength; thy fidelity. That is, he prayed that God would show himself true and faithful in bearing him through the great work of the atonement. ^ Continually. Through the whole of these sorrows. Do not for a moment leave or forsake me. ^ Preserve me. Keep me from sinking under these Avoes; from speaking any improper word; from shrinking back; from being overcome by the tempter; from failing in the great work now to be accainplished. As the I'cdeemer had a human as well as a Divine nature; — as he was man^ with all human susceptibilities to suftering, it was not inappropriate that he should utter this prayer, and lift up his heart with the utmost earnestness to God, that he might not be forsaken in the consummation of the great work of his life, and that this work might not fail. 12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about. Have sui*- rounded me, or have beset me on every side. The " evils " here referred to, understood as being those which came upon the Messiah, were son*ows that came upon him in consequence of his undertaking to do what could not be done by sacrifices and offerings (ver. 6); that is, his undertaking to save men by his own " obedience unto death.'*' The time referred to here, 1 apprehend, is that when the full effects of his having assumed the sins of the world to make expiation for them came upon him; when he was about to endure the agonies of Gethsemane and Calvary. *([ 31ine iniquities have taken hold upon me. On this passage, as constituting one of the main objections, and the strongest objection, to the application of the psalm to the Messiah, and on the way in which such objection may be met, see introd. to this psalm (3 h). ^ So that I am not able to look up. This is not the e.xact idea of the Hebrew word. That is simply, I am not able to see; and it refers to the dimness or failure of sight caused by distress, weakness, or old age.