Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vols. 13–63

Verses 1, 2. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever: Your faithfulness shall You establish in the very heavens.

1 Here is an eternal song concerning eternal mercy! The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, so the saints' praise for the never-ending mercy must itself be without end. The Psalmist has made known God's faithfulness to all generations, not only by speaking of it, but especially by writing of it, for that which is written abides when that which is merely spoken is soon forgotten. God's faithfulness concerns Heaven as well as earth and He will establish it "in the very heavens."

3, 4. I have made a Covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David, My servant, Your seed will I establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah. The complete fulfillment of this glorious Covenant promise concerns not only David and his seed, but "great David's greater Son" and His spiritual seed—the chosen people with whom the Lord has made "an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure."

5-7. And the heavens shall praise Your wonders O LORD: Your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the heavens can be compared unto the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him. A holy reverence is becoming in all who draw near to the thrice-holy Jehovah, whether in the upper sanctuary or in the congregation of the saints on earth! In His gracious condescension, He allows His people wondrous familiarity in their approaches to Him, yet this must never make them forget the Infinite distance that separates the Creator from even the highest and holiest of His creatures!

8-10. O LORD God of Hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto You or to Your faithfulness round about You? You rule the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, You still them. You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; You have scattered Your enemies with Your strong arm. The ruling of the raging of the sea, the stilling of the stormy waves and the breaking and scattering of the might of Egypt are used by the Psalmist to illustrate the Omnipotence of Jehovah, before which the mightiest monarch on earth had no more power than if it had been a corpse!

11, 12. The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours: as for the world and the fullness thereof, You have founded them. The north and the south You have created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Your name. The Psalmist rejoices in the Lord as the Creator and Possessor of the heavens above and the earth beneath. "All things were created by Him, and for Him."

13. You have a mighty arm: strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hanc. [See Sermons #674, Volume 12—the mighty

ARM and #1314, Volume 22 which has the same title.] Amid all the varying expressions that the Psalmist uses, he continues to admire and magnify God's majestic might. Whether for the defense of His people or the overthrow of His enemies, His arm is mighty, yes, more than that, for it is Almighty! No human language can adequately describe that glorious hand which has only to be opened to satisfy the desire of every living thing!

14. Justice and judgment are the habitation of Your Throne: mercy and truth shall go before Your face. What blessed heralds does the Lord employ! "Mercy and truth shall go before Your face." It is these gracious attributes, especially as they are displayed in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that enable us even to welcome those sterner attributes—"justice and judgment," which are the habitation of God's Throne.

15. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound.There are many that hear it, but perhaps not one out of a thousand of them that really know it. The hearing of the joyful sound is not sufficient to make people blessed, though faith comes by hearing—it is the understanding of what is meant by the glad tidings—it is the reception of the Gospel message which brings immediate and eternal blessedness!

15. They shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Your Countenance. The practical effect of a saving knowledge of the Gospel is a holy walk, a walk of communion with God! Dear Friends, do you walk in that way? Do you know the joyful sound? Can you discern the difference between the true and the false Gospel? Can you distinguish the contrast between the harmonies of the one and the discords of the other? Do you know the inner secret of the heavenly music? Has it ever vibrated in your own souls? Happy are you if this is the case with you! The Psalmist goes on to show how such people are blessed.

16. In Your name shall they rejoice all the day. They shall not have mere passing fits of joy, but they shall be glad from morning to night!

16. And in Your righteousness shall they be exalted.They shall mount to a higher platform of joy than that on which the men of the world are standing! They shall be lifted up in soul and spirit by the righteousness of God, especially as they see how that great attribute guarantees their eternal salvation!

17-19. For You are the Glory of their strength: and in Your favor our horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defense; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. Then You spoke in vision to Your holy one, and said, I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people. [See Sermon #11, Volume 1—THE PEOPLE'S CHRIST.] This is the very marrow of the Gospel! This is, indeed, "the joyful sound" which makes us truly blessed—the fact that God did, of old, exalt "One chosen out of the people," with whom He entered into an Eternal Covenant, pledging Himself to bless us through Him.

20. I have found David My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him. David was the means of bringing great blessings to the people over whom he ruled. God blessed the whole nation through him and the Covenant made with David was virtually a Covenant made with all the people of Israel. In like manner, the Covenant made with "great David's greater Son" is virtually made with all those for whom He stood as Surety and Representative. The essence of the Gospel lies in the Covenant which God has made with His Son, Jesus Christ, on behalf of all His chosen people. Notice that God found David and anointed him as king, even as He has taken the Lord Jesus, and anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His fellows.

21. With whom My hand shall be established: My arm also shall strengthen him. The Omnipotence of God is manifested in Christ, for He is "the power of God" as well as "the wisdom of God."

22. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. "The son of wickedness" did afflict David for a while, but afterwards he came to the throne and ruled gloriously over God's ancient people. So is it with our Covenant Lord and King. The wicked cannot now exact upon Him, nor afflict Him—He sits upon the Throne of God in Glory far beyond their reach!

23. And I will beat down His foes before His face, and plague them that hate Him. Who can ever stand up in opposition to Christ? He is that stone of which He, Himself, said, "Whoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."

24. But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with Him: and in My name shall His horn be exalted. God is always with His Son, Jesus Christ, in the plenitude of His faithfulness and mercy, to make Him a continual blessing to His people.

25. I will set His hand also in the sea, and His right hand in the rivers. Our King is a great King and He rules over sea and land—there is no limit to His dominions—and there will be no end to His righteous rule.

26. He shall cry unto Me, You are My Father, My God, and the rock of My salvation. All God's children are a praying family and His only-begotten and well-beloved Son sets a noble example in this respect as well as in everything else! He is still the great Intercessor before the Throne of His Father.

27. Also I will make Him My first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. Christ is, indeed, "higher than the kings of the earth," for He is "King of kings and Lord of lords." Do not your hearts rejoice as you think of this blessed King with whom God has entered into a Covenant to bless all who are trusting in Him, even the very poorest and feeblest of them? What a joy it is to us to see Jesus striking hands with the Eternal and entering into an Everlasting Covenant on our behalf!

28. 29. My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore, and My Covenant shall stand fast with Him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and His Throne as the days of Heaven.There can never be an end to the Throne of Christ, for His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and there can never be an end to the family of Christ, for His seed shall endure forever!

30-32. If His children forsake My Law, and walk not in My judgments; if they break My statutes, and keep not My commandments; then—"Then"—what? "I will destroy them, and sweep them away forever"? Oh, no! "Then"—

32. Will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. There is no sword in God's hand to be used against His own children, but He does hold a rod—and that rod makes us smart and causes the blueness of the wound which cleanses away evil. We are grieved when we feel its strokes, yet there is Covenant Mercy in them. The rod of the Covenant is one of the best things that ever comes to us, since it whips our folly out of us! God grant us Grace to kiss the rod whenever we transgress against Him and He visits our iniquity with stripes!

33. Nevertheless My loving kindness will I not utterly take from Him, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail. Notice the use of the word, "Him," here, as if it was intended to teach us that God's love to His dear Son, and to His people in Him, is so great that though He may chasten us for our transgressions, He will never cast us away.

34-37. My Covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips. Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in Heaven. Selah.In the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the dynasty of David shall endure forever, and the spiritual seed of Christ shall also never come to an end. By the most binding Covenant and the most solemn pledge, and the most sacred oath, Jehovah has guaranteed the everlasting Kingdom of His Son and the eternal endurance of "His seed."

38-45. But You have cast off and abhorred, You have been angry with Your anointed. You have made void the Covenant of Your servant: You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. You have broken down all his hedges; You have brought his strongholds to ruin. All that pass by the way plunder him: he is a reproach to his neighbors. You have set up the right hand of his adversaries; You have made all his enemies to rejoice. You have also turned the edge of his sword, and have not made him to stand in the battle. You have made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground. The days of his youth have You shortened: You have covered him with shame. Selah.Spiritually, this sad description reveals the sorrowful state of the professing Church of Christ in the times in which we live.

46. How long, LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Shall Your wrath burn like fre?That was the wisest thing for the Psalmist to do, and it is our best course, also. In the darkest days of the most sinful age, we can always resort to prayer. Let us do so.

47, 48. Remember how short my time is: Therefore have You made al men in vain? What man is he that lives, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah. The brevity of life makes it all the more important that we should waste none of it—and that we should appeal to the Lord to interpose speedily on the behalf of His Truth and those who love it.

49-52. Lord, where are Your former loving kindnesses, which You swore unto David in Your truth? Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people; wherewith Your enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed. Blessed be the LORD forevermore. Amen and Amen. The Psalm ends upon its keynote of praise unto Jehovah. There had been much to sadden the writer, as there is much to sadden us in these days. But we can unite with him in saying, "Blessed be the Lord forevermore. Amen and Amen."