Whole Psalm. — This glorious Psalm of universal praise, placed at the end of the " Songs of Up-goings," which flow into it, and find their response in it, may be likened to a large and beautiful lake, into which rivers discharge their waters, and lose themselves in its calm expanse. — Chr. Wordsworth.
Whole Psalm. — This Psalm differs from that which went before. Its drift is not only to stir up the priests and Levites, as it was in the former, to this duty of praising God, but the people also: and that, 1. Because the arguments which here he brings to press this duty, did in common concern both priests and people; and, 2. Because that clause, which is here added, " in the courts of the house of our God," may be extended to the people, as well as to the priests, seeing there were some courts in the Temple which were for the people to worship God in. — Arthur Jackson.
Whole Psalm. — This is a song of praise to the Lord for his goodness as the Lord of creation, in seven verses; for his grace as the deliverer of his people, in seven more: and for his unity as the only true and living God, in seven more. — James G. Murphy.
Whole Psalm. — This seems to have been the morning hymn which the Levites were called upon to sing at the opening of the gates of the Temple; and, as some think, the one before was used at shutting them in the evening. — John Kitto, in "The Pictorial Bible."
Verse 1. — This verse and the following are word for word with the first verse of the last Psalm, and are now repeated, with the view of keeping up the praise then and there commenced. — Robert Bellarmine.
Verse 1. — "Praise ye the LORD." Hallelujah is the Hebrew word. It signifies " Praise ye the LORD." By this the faithful do provoke one another to give thanks unto God, and they cheer up their hearts and tune their spirits to perform this duty in the best manner, by making this preface as it were thereunto. True joy of the
Holy Ghost will not endure to be kept and cooped up in any one man's breast and bosom, but it striveth to get companions both for the pouring out and imparting of itself unto them, that they may be filled and refreshed out of this spring of joy; as also that itself may be the more increased and inflamed by the united rejoicing of many good hearts together, that are all baptized in one spirit, and are thereby made able to inflame and to edify one another. — Thomas Brightman (1557 — 1607), in "The Revelation of St. John Illustrated."
Verse 1. — "Praise ye the name of the LORD." That is, the Lord himself, and the perfections of his nature; his greatness, goodness, grace, and mercy; his holiness, justice, power, truth, and faithfulness. Also his word, by which he makes known himself: this is a distinguishing blessing to his people, for which he is to be praised: see Ps. xlviii. 1, and Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20.— John Gill.
Verse 1. — "The name of the LORD." — The first discovery of the name I AM, which signifies the Divine eternity, as well as immutability, was for the comfort of the oppressed Israelites in Egypt: Exodus iii. 14, 15. It was then published from the secret place of the Almighty, as the only strong cordial to refresh them. It hath not yet, it shall not ever, lose its virtue in any of the miseries that have or shall successively befall the church. 'Tis as durable as the God whose name it is: he is still I AM and the same to the church as he was then to his Israel. His spiritual Israel have a greater right to the glories of it than the carnal Israel could have. No oppression can be greater than theirs; what was a comfort suited to that distress hath the same suitableness to every other oppression. It was not a temporary name, but a name for ever, his " memorial to all generations " (verse 15), and reacheth to the church of the Gentiles, with whom he treats as the God of Abraham, ratifying that covenant by the Messiah, which he made with Abraham the father of the faithful. — Stephen Charnock.
Verse 1. — "The name of the LORD." Jehovah is called " the name" as far exceeding all other names, and as being proper and peculiar only to the true God. Other things are sometimes called gods, but nothing is or can be called Jehovah but only the Almighty Creator of the world. " That men may know," saith David, " that thou, whose name is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth ": Ps. Ixxxiii. 18. From his calling himself JEHOVAH the LORD, we may easily gather what kind of thoughts he would have us, his creatures, entertain in our minds con cerning him. When we think of him, we must raise our thoughts above all things else, and think of him as the Universal Being of the world, that gives essence and existence to all things in it: as Jehovah, the Being in whom we particularly, as well as other things, live and move, and have our being: as Jehovah, the Lord paramount over the whole world, to whom all angels and archangels in heaven, with all the kings and kingdoms upon earth, are entirely subject: as Jehovah, in whom all perfections are so perfectly united that they are all but one infinite perfection: as Jehovah, knowledge itself, always actually knowing all things that ever were, or are, or will be, or can be known: as Jehovah, wisdom itself, always contriving, ordering, and disposing of all, and everything, in the best order, after the best manner, and to the best possible end: as Jehovah, power, omnipotence itself, continually doing what he wills, only by willing it should be done, and always working either with means or without means, as he himself sees good: as Jehovah, light and glory itself, shining forth in and by and through everything that is made or done in the whole world. as Jehovah, holiness, purity, simplicity, greatness, majesty, eminency, super- eminency itself, infinitely exalted above all things else, existing in, and of himself, and having all things else continually subsisting in him: as Jehovah, goodness itself, doing and making all things good, and so communicating his goodness to all his creatures as to be the only fountain of all the goodness that is in any of them: as Jehovah, justice and righteousness itself, giving to all their due, and exacting no more of any man than what is absolutely due to him: as Jehovah, mercy itself, pardoning and forgiving all the sins that mankind commit against him, as soon as they repent and turn to him: as Jehovah, patience and longsuffering itself, bearing a long time, even with those who continue in their rebellions against him, waiting for their coming to a due sense of their folly and madness, that he may be gracious and merciful to them; as Jehovah, love and kindness, and bounty itself, freely distributing his blessings among all his creatures, both good and bad, just and unjust, those that love him, and those that love him not: as Jehovah, truth and faithfulness itself, always performing what he promiseth to his people: as Jehovah, infinitude, immensity itself, in all things, to all things, beyond all things, everywhere, wholly, essentially, continually present: as Jehovah, constancy, immutability, eternity itself, without any variableness, or shadow of change; yesterday, to-day, and for ever the same. In a word, when we think of the Most High God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, we should think of him as Jehovah, Unity in Trinity, Trinity in Unity, Three Persons, One Being, One Essence, One Lord, One Jehovah, blessed for ever. This is that glorious, that Almighty being, which the Psalmist here means when he saith, "Praise ye the name of the LORD." — William Beveridge, 1636—1708.
Verse 1. — "Praise him, O ye servants of the LORD." For ye will do nothing out of place by praising your Lord as servants. And if ye were to be for ever only servants, ye ought to praise the Lord; how much more ought those servants to praise the Lord who have obtained the privilege of sons? — Augustine.
Verse 1. — "Praise," "praise," "praise." When duties are thus inculcated, it noteth the necessity and excellency thereof; together with our dulness and back wardness thereunto. — John Trapp.
Verses 1, 2, 21. — "Praise." To prevent any feeling of weariness which might arise from the very frequent repetition of this exhortation to praise God, it is only necessary to remember that there is no sacrifice in which he takes greater delight than in the expression of praise. Thus (Ps. 1. 14), " Sacrifice unto the Lord thanks giving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High; " and (Ps. cxvi. 12, 13), " What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD." Particular attention is to be paid to those passages of Scripture which speak in such high terms of that worship of God which is spiritual; otherwise we may be led, in the exercise of a misguided zeal, to spend our labour upon trifles, and in this respect imitate the example of too many who have wearied themselves with ridiculous attempts to invent additions to the service of God, while they have neglected what is of all other things most important. That is the reason why the Holy Spirit so repeatedly inculcates the duty of praise. It is that we may not undervalue, or grow careless in this devotional exercise. It implies, too, an indirect censure of our tardiness in proceeding to the duty; for he would not reiterate the admonition were we ready and active in the discharge of it. — John Calvin.
Verses 1, 2, 3. — As Gotthold was one day passing a tradesman's house, he heard the notes of a Psalm, with which the family were concluding their morning meal. He was deeply affected, and, with a full heart, said to himself: O my God, how pleasing to my ears is the sound of thy praise, and how comforting to my soul the thought that there are still a few who bless thee for thy goodness. Alas, the great bulk of mankind have become brutalized, and resemble the swine, which in harvest gather and fatten upon the acorns beneath the oak, but show to the tree, which bore them, no other thanks than rubbing off its bark, and tearing up the sod around it. In former times, it was the law in certain monasteries, that the chanting of the praise of God should know no interruption, and that one choir of monks should, at stated intervals, relieve another in the holy employment. To the superstition and trust in human works, of which there may have been here a mixture, we justly assign a place among the wood, hay, and stubble (1 Cor. iii. 12). At the same time it is undeniably right that thy praise should never cease; and were men to be silent, the very stones would cry out. We must begin eternal life here below, not only in our conscience, but also with our praise. Our soul ought to be like a flower, not merely receiving the gentle influence of heaven, but, in its turn, and as if in gratitude, exhaling also a sweet and pleasant perfume. It should be our desire, as it once was that of a pious man, that our hearts should melt and dissolve like incense in the fire of love, and yield the sweet fragrance of praise; or we should be like the holy martyr who professed himself willing to be consumed, if from his ashes a little flower might spring and blossom to the glory of God. We should be ready to give our very blood to fertilize the garden of the church, and render it more pro ductive of the fruit of praise.
Well, then, my God, I will praise and extol thee with heart and mouth to the utmost of my power. Oh, that without the interruptions which eating, and drinking, and sleep require, I could apply myself to this heavenly calling I Every mouthful of air which I inhale is mixed with the goodness which preserves my life; let every breath which I exhale be mingled at least with a hearty desire for thy honour and praise.
Hallelujah! Ye holy angels, ye children of men, and all ye creatures, praise the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. — Christian Scriver [Gotthold],
Verse 3. — "Praise the LORD." Hallelujah (praise to Jah 1) for good (is) Jehovah, Make music to his name, for it is lovely. The last words may also be translated, he is lovely, i.e. an object worthy of supreme attachment. — Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse 3. — "Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good." That is, originally, transcendently, effectively; he is good, and doeth good (Ps. cxix. 68), and is therefore to be praised with mind, mouth, and practice. — John Trapp.
Verse 3. — "Sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant." The work of praising God hath a sort of reward joined with it. When we praise God most we get much benefit by so doing: it is so comely in itself, so pleasant unto God, and profitable to the person that offereth praises, so fit to cheer up his spirit, and strengthen his faith in God, whose praises are the pillars of the believer's confidence and comfort, that a man should be allured thereunto: "Sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant; " and this is the second motive or reason to praise God [the first being that " the Lord is good "]. — David Dickson.
Verse 4. — "For the LORD hath chosen," etc. God's distinguishing grace should make his elect lift up many a humble, joyful, and thankful heart to him. — John Trapp.
Verse 4. — "Jacob," "Israel." Praise the Lord for enrolling you in this company. To quicken you in this work of praise, consider what you were; you were not a people, God raised you up from the very dunghill to this preferment; remember your past estate. Look, as old Jacob considered what he had been when God preferred him (Gen. xxxii. 10); " With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands; " so do you say, I am a worthless creature, it is God that hath taken me into his grace, praised be the Lord that hath chosen me. Then consider how many are left to perish in the wide world. Some live out of the church's pale that never heard of Christ, and many others have only a loose general form of Christianity. Oh I blessed be God that hath chosen me to be of the number of his peculiar people. It is said (Zech. xiii. 8), " And it shall come to pass in all the land, saith the Lord, that two parts shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein." We pass through many bolters before we come to be God's peculiar people, as the corn is ground, bolted, searched before it comes to be fine flour. Many have not the knowledge of God, and others live in the church but are carnal; and for me to be one of his peculiar people, a member of Christ's mystical body, oh I what a privilege is this I And then what moved him to all this? Nothing but his own free grace. Therefore praise the Lord. — Thomas Manton.
Verse 4. — "His peculiar treasure." The Hebrew word segullah signifieth God's special jewels, God's proper ones, or God's secret ones, that he keeps in store for himself, and for his own special service and use. Princes lock up with their own hands in secret their most precious and costly jewels; and so doth God his: "For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure," or for his secret gain. — Thomas Brooks.
Verse 4. — "His peculiar treasure." Will not a man that is not defective in his prudentials secure his jewels? " They shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a father his son that serveth him: " Malachi Hi. 17. If a house be on fire, the owner of it will first take care of his wife and children, then of his jewels, and last of all, of his lumber and rubbish. Christ secures first his people, for they are his jewels; the world is but lumber and rubbish. — Richard Mayhew.
Verse 5. -"For I know." The word "/ " is made emphatic in the original. Whatever may be the case with others, I have had personal and precious experience of the greatness of Jehovah's power, and of his infinite supremacy above all other gods. The author of the Psalm may either speak for all Israel as a unit, or he may have framed his song so that every worshipper might say this for himself as his own testimony. — Henry Cowles.
Verse 5. — "For I know that the LORD is great," etc. On what a firm founda tion does the Psalmist plant his foot — "/ know! " One loves to hear men of God speaking in this calm, undoubting, and assured confidence, whether it be of the Lord's goodness or of the Lord's greatness. You may perhaps say, that it required
no great stretch of faith or knowledge, or any amount of bravery, to declare that God was great; but I think that not many wise nor mighty had in the Psalmist's days attained unto his knowledge or made his confession, that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was "above all gods." Baal and Chemosh, and Milcom and Dagon, claimed the fealty of the nations round about; and David, in the Court of Achish, would have found his declaration as unwelcome, as it would have been rejected as untrue. Moses once carried a message from Jehovah to the king of Egypt, and his reply was, " Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? I know not the Lord; " and even of Jehovah's peculiar treasure, all were not Israel that were of Israel.
There is a knowledge that plays round the head, like lightning on a mountain's summit, that leaves no trace behind; and there is a knowledge that, like the fer tilizing stream, penetrates into the very recesses of the heart, and issues forth in all the fruits of holiness, of love, and peace, and joy for evermore. — Barton Bouchier.
Verse 6. — "Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he," etc. He was not forced to make all that he made, but all that he willed he made. His will was the cause of all things which he made. Thou makest a house, because if thou didst not make it thou wouldest be left without a habitation: necessity compels thee to make a home, not free-will. Thou makest a garment, because thou wouldest go about naked if thou didst not make it; thou art therefore led to making a garment by necessity, not by free-will. Thou plantest a mountain with vines, thou sowest seed, because if thou didst not do so, thou wouldest not have food; all such things thou doest of necessity. God has made all things of his goodness. He needed nothing that he made; and therefore he hath made all things that he willed.
He did whatsoever he willed in the heaven and earth: dost thou do all that thou wiliest even in thy field? Thou wiliest many things, but canst not do ail thou wishest in thy own house. Thy wife, perchance, gainsays thee, thy children gainsay thee, sometimes even thy servant contumaciously gainsays thee, and thou doest not what thou wiliest. But thou sayest, I do what I will, because I punish the disobedient and gainsayer. Even this thou doest not when thou wiliest. — Augustine.
Verse 6. — "Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he," etc. God's will obtains and hath the upper hand everywhere. Down man, down pope, down devil; you must yield; things shall not be as you will, but as God will 1 We may well say, " Who hath resisted his will? " Rom. ix. 19. Many, indeed, disobey, and sin against the will of his precept; but none ever did, none ever shall, frustrate or obstruct the will of his purpose; for he will do all his pleasure, and in his way mountains shall become a plain. — William Slater ( — 1704), in "The Morning Exercises."
Verse 6. — Upon the Arminian's plan (if absurdity can deserve the name of a plan), the glorious work of God's salvation, and the eternal redemption of Jesus Christ, are not complete, unless a dying mortal lends his arm; that is, unless he, who of himself can do nothing, vouchsafe to begin and accomplish that which all the angels in heaven cannot do; namely, to convert the soul from Satan to God. How contrary is all this to the language of Scripture — how repugnant to the oracles of truth I " Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth. "- Ambrose Serle ( — 1815), in "Horse. Solilarias."
Verse 6. — "In heaven and in the earth," etc. His power is infinite. He can do what he will do everywhere; all places are there named but purgatory; perhaps he can do nothing there, but leaves all that work for the Pope. — Thomas Adams.
Verse 6. — "In the seas, and all deep places." He did wonders in the mighty waters: more than once he made the boisterous sea a calm, and walked upon the surface of it; and as of old he broke up the fountains of the great deep, and drowned the world; and at another time dried up the sea, and led his people through the depths, as through a wilderness; so he will hereafter bind the old serpent, the devil, and cast him into the abyss, into the great deep, the bottomless pit, where he will continue during the thousand years' reign of Christ with his saints. — John Gill.
Verse 6. — The word "pleaseth " limits the general note or particle "all " unto all works which in themselves are good, or else serve for good use, and so are pleasing to the Lord for the use sake. He doth not say that the Lord doth all things which are done, but all things which he pleaseth, that is, he doth not make men sinful and wicked, neither doth he work rebellion in men, which is displeasing unto him; but he doth whatsoever is pleasing, that is, all things which are agreeahle to his nature. And whatsoever is according to his will and good pleasure, that he doth, for none can hinder it. This is the true sense and meaning of the words. — George Walker, in "God made visible in his Works," 1641.
Verse 6. — "Whatsover the LORD pleased, that did he," etc. With reference to the government of Providence, it is said of God, that " he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." Even insensible matter is under his control. Fire and hail, snow and vapour, and stormy wind, fulfil his word: and with reference to intelligent agents, we are told that he maketh the most refractory, even the wrath of man, to praise him, and the remainder of wrath he restrains. The whole Bible exhibits Jehovah as so ordering the affairs of individuals, and of nations, as to secure the grand purpose he had in view in creating the world, — viz., the promotion of his own glory, in the salvation of a multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues. One of the most prominent distinctions between divine revelation and ordinary history is, that when the same general events are narrated, the latter exhibits — (it is its province so to do — it is not able indeed to do more,) the agency of man, the former, the agency of God. Profane history exhibits the instruments by which Jehovah works; the finger of divine revelation points to the unseen but almighty hand which wields and guides the instrument, and causes even Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Jews and the people of Israel, to do what the hand and the counsel of God determined before to be done. — George Payne, in "Lectures on Christian Theology," 1850.
Verse 7. — "He causeth the vapours to ascend," etc. Dr. Halley made a number of experiments at St. Helena as to the quantity of water that is daily evaporated from the sea, and he found that ten square inches of the ocean's surface yielded one cubic inch of water in twelve hours— a square mile therefore yields 401,448,960 cubic inches, or 6,914 tons of water. From the surface of the Mediterranean Sea during a summer's day there would pass off in invisible vapour five thousand millions of tons of water. This being only for one day, the quantity evaporated in a year would be 365 times greater, and in two thousand years it would amount to four thousand billions of tons, which evaporation would in time empty the Mediterranean Sea; but we have good reason for believing that there is as much water there now as in the time of the Romans, therefore the balance is kept up by the downpour of rain, the influx of the rivers, and the currents from the Atlantic.
Now let us consider the amount of power required for all this evaporation. Mr. Joule, whose experiments have given to the world so much valuable informa tion, says that if we had a pool of water one square mile and six inches in depth to be evaporated by artificial heat, it would require the combustion of 30,000 tons of coal to effect it; therefore to evaporate all the water that ascends from the earth it would take 6,000,000,000,000 (six billion) tons, or more than all the coal that could be stowed away in half-a-dozen such worlds as this; and yet silently and surely has the process of evaporation been going on for millions of years. — Samuel Kinns, in "Moses and Geology," 1882.
Verse 7. — "He causeth the vapours to ascend," etc. There is no physical necessity that the boiling-point of water should occur at two hundred and twelve degrees of the Fahrenheit scale. As far as we know, it might have been the same with the boiling-points of oil of turpentine, alcohol or ether. We shall see the benevolence of the present adjustment by noticing some of the consequences which would follow if any change were made.
The amount of vapour given off at ordinary temperatures by any liquid depends on the temperature at which it boils. If the boiling-point of water were the same as that of alcohol, the vapour given off by the ocean would be two and a half times as much as at present. Such an excess of aqueous vapour would produce continual rains and inundations, and would make the air too damp for animal, and too cloudy for vegetable life. If water boiled at the same temperature as ether, the vapour rising from the ocean would be more than twenty-five times as much as at present. In such a state of things no man could see the sun on account of the clouds; the rain would be so excessive as to tear up the soil and wash away plants; inundations would be constant, and navigation would be impossible in the inland torrents which would take the place of our rivers. In winter the snow of one day might bury the houses. If, on the other hand, water boiled at the same temperature with oil of turpentine, the vapour given off by the ocean would be less than one-fourth of its present amount. In this case rain would be a rarity, like an eclipse of the sun, the dryness of the desert of Sahara would be equalled in a large part of the globe, which would, therefore, be bare of vegetation, and incapable of sustaining animal life. Plants would be scorched by unclouded sunshine, springs and rivulets would be dry, and inland navigation would cease; for nearly all the rain would be absorbed by the porous earth.
We see, then, that the boiling-point of water has been adjusted to various rela tions. It is adjusted to the capacity of space to contain aqueous vapour in a trans parent state; if it were higher than two hundred and twelve degrees, the earth would be scorched by an unclouded sun; if it were lower, it would droop under continual shade. It is suited to the demand of plants for water; if it were higher, they would suffer from drought; if it were lower, they would be torn up by floods. It is in harmony with the texture of the soil; if it were higher, the earth would absorb all the rain which falls; if it were lower, the soil would often be washed away by the surface torrents after a shower. It is adapted to the elevation of the continents above the sea; if it were higher, rivers with their present inclination would be so shallow as to be often dry; if it were lower, most rivers would be so deep as to be torrents, while the land would be covered with floods. — Professor Hemholtz.
Verse 7. — "To ascend from the ends of the earth." Rains in England are often introduced by a south-east wind. " Vapour brought to us by such a wind must have been generated in countries to the south and east of our island. It is therefore,
Srobably, in the extensive valleys watered by the Meuse, the Moselle, and the Rhine, not from the more distant Elbe, with the Oder and the Weser, that the water rises, in the midst of sunshine, which is soon afterwards to form our clouds, and pour down our thunder-showers." " Drought and sunshine in one part of Europe may be necessary to the production of a wet season in another."* — William Whewell (1795 — 1866), m "The Bridgwater Treatise " [Astronomy and General Plwsics], 1839.
Verse 7. — "From the surface of the earth raising the vapours." The whole descrip tion is beautifully exact and picturesque. Not " the ends," or even " the summits " or " extreme mountains," for the original is in the singular number (™p), but from the whole of the extreme layer, the superficies or surface of the earth; from every point of which the great process of exhalation is perpetually going on to supply the firmament with refreshing and fruitful clouds. — John Mason Good.
Verse 7. — "He maketh lightnings for the rain." When the electrical clouds are much agitated, the rain generally falls heavily, and if the agitation is excessive, it hails. As the electricity is dissipated by the frequent discharges the cloud con denses and there comes a sudden and heavy rain; but the greater the accumulation of electricity, the longer is the rain delayed. Thus connected as the electrical phenomena of the atmosphere are with clouds, vapour, and rain, how forcibly are we struck with these appropriate words in the Scriptures. — Edwin Sidney, in "Con versations on the Bible and Science," 1866.
Verse 7. — "He maketh lightnings for the rain." Dr. Russell, in his description of the weather at Aleppo, in September, tells us, that seldom a night passes without much lightning in the north-west quarter, but not attended with thunder; and that when this lightning appears in the west or south-west points, it is a sure sign of the approaching rain, which is often followed with thunder. This last clause, which is not perfectly clear, is afterwards explained in his more enlarged account of the weather of the year 1746, when he tells us that though it began to be cloudy on the 4th of September, and continued so for a few days, and even thundered, yet no rain fell till the llth, which shows that his meaning was, that the lightning in the west or south-west points, which is often followed with thunder, is a sure sign of the approach of rain. I have before mentioned that a squall of wind and clouds of dust are the usual forerunners of these first rains. Most of these things are taken notice of in Ps. cxxxv. 7; Jer. x. 13; li. 16; and serve to illustrate them. Russell's account determines, I think, that the Nesiim, which our translators render vapours, must mean, as they elsewhere translate the word, clouds. It shows that God "maketh lightnings for the rain," they, in the west and south-west points, being at Aleppo the sure prognostics of rain. The squalls of wind bring on these refreshing
* Howard on the Climate of London.
showers, and are therefore " precious things " of the " treasuries " of God. — Thomas Harmer.
Verse 7. — "He maketh lightnings for the rain." The Psalmist mentions it as another circumstance calling for our wonder, that lightnings are mixed with rain, things quite opposite in their nature one from another. Did not custom make us familiar with the spectacle, we would pronounce this mixture of fire and water to be a phenomenon altogether incredible. The same may be said of the phenomena of the winds. Natural causes can be assigned for them, and philosophers have pointed them out; but the winds, with their various currents, are a wonderful work of God. He does not merely assert the power of God, be it observed, in the sense in which philosophers themselves grant it, but he maintains that not a drop of rain falls from heaven without a divine commission or dispensation to that effect. All readily allow that God is the author of rain, thunder, and wind, in so far as he originally established the order of things in nature; but the Psalmist goes farther than this, holding that when it rains, this is not effected by a blind instinct of nature, but is the consequence of the decree of God, who is pleased at one time to darken the sky with clouds, and at another to brighten it again with sunshine. — John Calvin.
Verse 7. — "He maketh lightnings for the rain." It is a great instance of the divine wisdom and goodness, that lightning should be accompanied by rain, to soften its rage, and prevent its mischievous effects. Thus, in the midst of judg ment, does God remember mercy. The threatenings in his word against sinners are like lightning; they would blast and scorch us up, were it not for his promises made in the same word to penitents, which, as a gracious rain, turn aside their fury, refreshing and comforting our affrighted spirits. — George Home.
Verse 1. — "He bringelh the wind out of his treasuries." That is, say some, out of the caves and hollow places of the earth; but I rather conceive that because the wind riseth many times on a sudden, and as our Saviour saith (John iii. 8), "we cannot tell whence it cometh," therefore God is said here to bring it forth, as if he had it locked up in readiness in some secret and hidden treasuries or storehouses. — Arthur Jackson.
Verse 1. — "He bringelh the wind." The winds are with great beauty, represented as laid up by him as jewels in a treasure house. Indeed, few verses better express creative control, than those in which the winds, which make sport of man's efforts and defy his power, are represented as thus ready to spring forth at God's bidding from the quarters where they quietly sleep. The occasion comes, the thoughts of Jehovah find expression in his providence, and his ready servants leap suddenly forth: "He bringeth the winds out of his treasuries." But this bringing forth is not for physical purposes only; it is for great moral and spiritual ends also. Take one illustration out of many. His people were on the edge of deepest and most brutish idolatry. They were ready to fall into a most degraded form of idol worship, when he offered to them that ever yearning heart of Fatherly love: " Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen." Their God is only " the tree cut out of the forest," silvered over, or decked with gold; " upright as the palm tree, but speaks not; the stock is a doctrine of vanities; but the Lord is the true God; he maketh lightnings with rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasures." Jer. x. 2 — 16. Thus, too, the words of Agur to Ithiel and Ucal, " He hath gathered the wind in his fists." Prov. xxx. 4. — John Duns, in "Science and Christian Thought," 1868.
Verse 8. — "Who smote the firstborn of Egypt." The firstborn only were smitten; these were singled out in every family with unerring precision, the houses of the Israelites, wherever the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the door-posts, being passed over. The death of all those thousands, both of man and beast, took place at the same instant — " at midnight."
Is God unrighteous, then, that taketh vengeance? No; this is an act of retribution. The Egyptians had slain the children of the Israelites, casting their infants into the river. Now the affliction is turned upon themselves; the delight of their eyes is taken from them; all their firstborn are dead, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat upon his throne, unto the the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon. — Thomas S. Millington, in "Signs and Wonders in the Land of Ham," 1873.
Verse 8. — "And beast." The Egyptians worshipped many animals, and when the firstborn of the sacred animals died the circumstance greatly increased the
impressiveness of the plague as an assault upon the gods of Egypt. — C. H. S. Suggested by Otto Von Gerlach.
Verses 8, 9, 10 — 12. — Worthy is Jahve to be praised, for he is the Redeemer out of Egypt. Worthy is he to be praised, for he is the Conqueror of the Land of Promise. — Franz Delitzsch.
Verse 9. — "Who sent tokens and wonders." — "Tokens," that is, signs or evidences of the Divine power. "Wonders," things fitted to impress the mind with awe; things outside of the ordinary course of events; things not produced by natural laws, but by the direct power of God. The allusion here is, of course, to the plagues of Egypt, as recorded in Exodus. — Albert Barnes.
Verse 10. — "Who smote great nations," etc. It is better that the wicked should be destroyed a hundred times over than that they should tempt those who are as yet innocent to join their company. Let us but think what might have been our fate, and the fate of every other nation under heaven at this hour, had the sword of the Israelites done its work more sparingly. Even as it was, the small portions of the Ganaanites who were left, and the nations around them, so tempted the Israelites by their idolatrous practices that we read continually of the whole people of God turning away from his service. But, had the heathen lived in the land in equal numbers, and, still more, had they intermarried largely with the Israelites, how was it possible humanly speaking, that any sparks of the light of God's truth should have survived to the coming of Christ? Would not the Israelites have lost all their peculiar character; and if they had retained the name of Jehovah as of their God, would they not have formed as unworthy notions of his attributes, and worship him with a worship as abominable as that which the Moabites paid to Chemosh or the Philistines to Dagon?
But this was not to be, and therefore the nations of Canaan were to be cut off utterly. The Israelites, sword, in its bloodiest executions, wrought a work of mercy for all the countries of the earth to the very end of the world. They seem of very small importance to us now, these perpetual contests with the Canaanites, and the Midianites, and the Ammonites, and the Philistines, with which the Books of Joshua and Judges and Samuel are almost filled. We may half wonder that God should have interferred in such quarrels, or have changed the course of nature, in order to give one of the nations of Palestine the victory over another. But in these contests, on the fate of one of these nations of Palestine the happiness of the human race depended. The Israelites fought not for themselves only, but for us. It might follow that they should thus be accounted the enemies of all mankind, — it might be that they were tempted by their very distinctness to despise other nations; still they did God's work, — still they preserved unhurt the seed of eternal life, and were the ministers of blessing to all other nations, even though they them selves failed to enjoy it.— Thomas Arnold, 1795—1842.
Verse 10. — "Who smote great nations," etc. Let us not stand in fear of any enemies that rise up against us, and conspire to hinder the peace of the church, and stop the passage of the gospel; when God beginneth to take the cause of his people into his own hand, and smitteth any of his enemies on the jaw-bone, the rest are reserved to the like destruction. For wherefore doth God punish his adversaries, and enter into judgment with them? Wherefore doth he visit them, and strike them down with his right hand I Is it only to take vengeance, and to show his justice in their confusion? No, it serveth for the comfort and consolation of his servants, that howsoever God be patient, yet in the end they shall not escape. — William Attersoll, 1618.
Verse 11. — "Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og." Notice is taken of two kings, Sihon and Og, not as being more powerful than the rest, but because shutting up the entrance to the land in front they were the most formidable enemies met with, and the people, besides, were not as yet habituated to war. — John Calvin.
Verse 11. — "Sihon king of the Amorites." When Israel arrived on the borders of the promised Land they encountered Sihon. (Numb. xxi. 21.) He was evidently a man of very great courage and audacity. Shortly before the time of Israel's arrival he had dispossessed the Moabites of a splendid territory, driving them south of the natural bulwark of the Arnon with great slaughter and the loss of a great number of captives (xxi. 26 — 29). When the Israelite host appears, he does not hesitate or temporize like Balak, but at once gathers his people together and attacks them. But the battle was his last. He and all his host were destroyed, and their district from Arnon to Jabbok became at once the possession of the conqueror.
Josephus (Ant. iv. 5, § 2) has preserved some singular details of the battle, which have not survived in the text either of the Hebrew or LXX. He represents the Amorite army as containing every man in the nation fit to bear arms. He states that they were unable to fight when away from the shelter of their cities, and that being especially galled by the slings and arrows of the Hebrews, and at last suffering severely from thirst, they rushed to the stream and to the recesses of the ravine of the Arnon. Into these recesses they were pursued by their active enemy and slaughtered in vast numbers.
Whether we accept these details or not, it is plain, from the manner in which the name of Sihon fixed itself in the national mind, and the space which his image occupies in the official records, and in the later poetry of Israel, that he was a truly formidable chieftain. — George Grove, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 1863.
Verse 11. — Sihon, although conqueror of Moab, and much more formidable than the Canaanites whom Israel had feared at Kadesh, fell easily because Israel fought in faith. There is no adversary that can really offer any effectual op position to our onward march if assailed in the strength of Christ with a cheerful courage.
Og the king of Bashan was much more formidable even than Sihon, but he seems to have fallen yet more easily, judging from the brief notice of the conquest. Even so, when once we have overcome a difficulty or conquered an evil habit in the strength of faith, other conquests open out before us readily and naturally which we should not have dared to contemplate before. It is most true in religion that " nothing succeeds like success." — R. Winterbotham, in "The Pulpit Commentary," 1881.
Verse 11. — "Og king of Bashan." The task was not an easy one, for Edrei — " the strong " — Og's capital, was in ordinary circumstances almost unassailable, since it was, strange to say, built in a hollow artificially scooped out of the top of a hill, which the deep gorge of the Hieromax isolates from the country round. Its streets may be still seen running in all directions beneath the present town of Adraha. But Kenath, in the district called Argob — " the stony " — was still stronger, for it was built in the crevices of a great island of lava which has split, in cooling, into innumerable fissures, through whose labyrinth no enemy could safely penetrate. In these were its streets and houses, some of which, of a later date, with stone
doors, turning on hinges of stone, remain till this day Nor were these the only fastnesses. No fewer than sixty cities " fenced with high walls, gates, and bars " (Deut. iii. 5), had to be taken; but they all fell, sooner or later, before the vigorous assaults of the invaders, and, long afterwards, there might be seen, in the capital of their allies, the Ammonites, one of the trophies of the campaign — the gigantic iron bedstead of King Og, or as some think, the huge sarcophagus he had prepared for himself, as was the custom with Canaanite kings. — Cunningham Geikie, in "Hours with the Bible," 1881.
Verse 12. — "Their land for an heritage." The land was given to them to be transmitted from father to son, by hereditary right and succession. — Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse 13. — "Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever," etc. Immutability is a glory belonging to all the attributes of God. It is not a single perfection of the Divine nature, nor is it limited to particular objects thus and thus disposed. Mercy and justice have their distinct objects and distinct acts: mercy is conversant about a penitent, justice about an obstinate sinner. In our conceptions of the Divine perfections, his perfections are different. The wisdom of God is not his power, nor his power his holiness; but immutability is the centre wherein they all unite. There is not one perfection which may not be said to be, and truly is, immutable; none of them will appear so glorious about this beam, the sun of immuta bility, which renders them highly excellent, without the least shadow of imperfection. How cloudy would his blessedness be, if it were changeable; how dim his wisdom, if it might be obscured; how feeble his power, if it were capable of becoming sickly and languishing; how would mercy lose much of its lustre, if it could change into wrath, and justice much of its dread, if it could be turned into mercy; while the object of justice remains unfit for mercy, and one that hath need of mercy continues
only fit for the Divine fury? But unchangeableness is the thread that runs through the whole web; it is the enamel of all the rest; none of them without it could look with a triumphant aspect. — Stephen Charnock.
Verse 13. — "Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever." God is, and will be always the same to his church, a gracious, faithful, wonder-working God; and his church is, and will be the same to him, a thankful, praising people; and thus his name endures for ever. — Matthew Henry.
Verse 13. — "Thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations; " or, the re membrance of them to generation and generation; to every age. The love of Christ is remembered by his people in every age, as they enjoy the blessings of his grace in redemption, justification, pardon, etc. It cannot be forgotten as long as the gospel is preached, the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper administered, and the Lord has a people in the world; all which will be as long as the sun and moon endure, and there will therefore always be a memorial of him. — John Gill.
Verse 14. — "For the LORD will judge his people," etc. Is it so, that all providence is for the good of the church? This is comfort in the low estate of the church at any time. God's eye is upon his people even whilst he seems to have forsaken them. If he seems to be departed, it is but in some other part of the earth, to show himself strong for them; wherever his eye is fixed in any part of the world, his church hath his heart, and his church's relief is his end. Though the church may sometimes lie among the pots in a dirty condition, yet there is a time of resurrection, when God will restore it to its true glory, and make it as white as a dove with its silver wings: Ps. Ixviii. 13. The sun is not always obscured by a thick cloud, but it will be freed from the darkness of it. "God will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants " [the original is, Comfort himself]. It is a comfort to God to deliver his people, and he will do it when it shall be most comfortable to his glory and to their hearts. — Stephen Charnock.
Verse 14. — "He will repent himself." The original word "repent himself" here has a very extensive signification, which cannot be expressed by any one English rendering. It implies taking compassion upon them, with the intention of being comforted in their future, and of taking vengeance on their oppressors. Such are the several meanings in which the word is used. Language fails to express the mind of God toward his faithful people. How dear ought his counsels to be to us, and the consideration of all his ways! This reflection was continually urged upon the nation of Israel, so liable as they were to fall away to idolatory. — W. Wilson.
Verse 15. — "The idols of the heathen." The shrines on the hill-tops were very rude affairs, enclosures formed by rough stone walls, and containing ragamuffin gods — stocks of weather-beaten wood, blocks of battered stone, and lumps of rusty old iron. The carved wooden gods were so much the worse for the weather, that their features, if they ever had any, were altogether defaced. One, not made of a single piece, like the rest, but built together by joiner work, had fared worse than its more humble neighbours. His arms were gone, and his breast, heart, and stomach had all fallen out; strange to say, his head remained, and it was laughable to see such a hollow mockery stare at you with a solemn face. The stone images were sadly battered by tumbling about among the rubbish, and the cast-metal gods mostly had their heads broken off and set carefully on again, to stand there till the next storm would send them rolling. Thus God is not only robbed in the valley, but men climb up as near to heaven as they can, and insult him to his face. — James Gilmour, in "Among the Mongols," 1883.
Verse 15. — "The idols," etc. Herodotus telleth us that Amasis had a large laver of gold, wherein both he and his guests used to wash their feet. This vessel he brake and made a god of it, which the Egyptians devoutly worshipped. And the like idolomania is at this day found among Papists, what distinction soever they would fain make betwixt an idol and an image, which indeed (as they use them) are all one. — John Trapp.
Verse 15. — "Silver and gold." By singling out these metals, the most precious materials of which the idols were framed, and pouring contempt upon even these costly images, the Psalmist heightens the scorn which he implies for such as were of inferior price, and which had not the one element of costliness in their favour. And when we bear in mind the Apostles saying that covetousness is idolatry we shall be warned that we, too, may need this lesson against worshipping silver and gold, or the worldly wisdom and specious eloquence which may be compared to these metals. — Neale and Littledale.
Verse 15. — "The work of men's hands." Therefore they should rather, if it were possible, worship man, as their creator and lord, than be worshipped by him. — Matthew Pool, 1624—1679.
, Verses 15, 16, 17. — The Rev. John Thomas, a missionary in India, was one day travelling alone through the country, when he saw a great number of people waiting near an idol temple. He went up to them, and as soon as the doors were opened, he walked into the temple. Seeing an idol raised above the people, he walked boldly up to it, held up his hand, and asked for silence. He then put his fingers on its eyes, and said, " It has eyes, but it cannot see! It has ears, but it cannot hear! It has a nose, but it cannot smell 1 It has hands, but it cannot handle I It has a mouth, but it cannot speak 1 Neither is there any breath in it! " Instead of doing injury to him for affronting their god and themselves, the natives were all surprised; and an old Brahmin was so convinced of his folly by what Mr. Thomas said, that he also cried out, " It has feet, but cannot run away! " The people raised a shout, and being ashamed of their stupidity, they left the temple, and went to their homes — From "The New Cyclopaedia of Illustrative Anecdote," 1875.
Verses 16, 17. — "Mouths," " eyes," " ears." So many members as the images have, serving to represent perfections ascribed to them, so many are the lies. — David Dickson.
Verses 16 — 17. — They can neither speak in answer to your prayers and enquiries, nor see what you do or what you want, nor hear your petitions, nor smell your incenses and sacrifices, nor use their hands either to take anything from you, or to give any thing to you; nor so much as mutter, nor give the least sign of apprehending your condition or concerns. — Matthew Pool.
A heated fancy or imagination
May be mistaken for an inspiration.
True; but is this conclusion fair to make
That inspiration must be all mistake?
But must a diamond be a pebble too?
To own a God who does not speak to men,
Is first to own, and then disown again;
Of all idolatry the total sum
Is having gods that are both deaf and dumb.
Verse 18. — "Like them shall be those making them, every one who (is) trusting in them." If the meaning had been simply, those who make them are like them, Hebrew usage would have required the verb to be suppressed. Its insertion, there fore, in the future form (vrr) requires it to be rendered strictly shall be, i.e., in fate as well as character. Idolaters shall perish with their perishable idols. See Isa. i. 31. — Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse 18. — People never rise above the level of their gods, which are to them their better nature. — Andrew Robert Faussett.
Verse 18. — "They that make them are like unto them." Idolatry is a benumbing sin, which bereaveth the idolater of the right use of his senses. — David Dickson.
Verse 18. — "They that make them," etc. Teacheth us, that the idol, the idolmaker, and all such also as serve idols, are not only beastly and blockish before men, but shall before God, in good time, come to shame and confusion. — Thomas Wilcocks, 1549—1608.
Verse 18. — "Like unto them." A singular phenomenon, known as the Spectre of the Brocken, is seen on a certain mountain in Germany. The traveller who at dawn stands on the topmost ridge beholds a colossal shadowy spectre. But in fact it is only his own shadow projected upon the morning mists by the rising sun; and it imitates, of course, every movement of its creator. So heathen nations have mistaken their own image for Deity. Their gods display human frailties and passions and scanty virtues, projected and magnified upon the heavens, just as the small figures on the slide of a magic-lantern are projected, magnified, and
illuminated upon a white sheet. — From Elan Foster's New Cyclopaedia of Illus trations, 1870.
Verse 18. — "Like unto them." How many are like idol-images, when they have eyes, ears, and mouths as though they had none: that is, when they do not use them when and how they should I — Christoph Starkc.
Verse 19. — "Bless the LORD." Blessing of God is to wish well to, and speak well of God, out of good-will to God himself, and a sense of his goodness to ourselves. God loves your good word, that is, to be spoken of well by you; he rejoiceth in your well-wishes, and to hear from you expressions of rejoicings in his own independent blessedness. Though God hath an infinite ocean of all blessedness, to which we can add nothing, and he is therefore called by way of eminency, " The Blessed One " (Mark xiv. 61), a title solely proper and peculiar to him, yet he delights to hear the amen of the saints, his creatures, resounding thereto; he delights to hear us utter our " so be it." — Thomas Goodwin.
Verse 19. — "Bless the LORD." And not an idol (Isa. Ixvi. 3), as the Philistines, did their Dagon and as Papists still do their he-saints and she-saints. — John Trapp.
Verse 20. — "Bless the LORD, O house of Levi." In Ps. cxv. the exhortation given is to trust or hope in the Lord; here, to bless him. The Levites are mentioned in addition to the house of Aaron, there being two orders of priesthood. Everything else in the two Psalms is the same, except that, in the last verse, the Psalmist here joins himself, along with the rest of the Lord's people, in blessing God. — Front Delitzsch.
Verse 20. — "Ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD." These are distinct from the Israelites, priests, and Levites, and design the proselytes among them of other nations that truly feared God, as Jarchi notes; and all such persons, whoever and wherever they are, have reason to bless the Lord for the fear of him they have, which is not from nature but from grace; and for the favours shown them, the blessings bestowed upon them, the good things laid up for them, and the guard that is about them, which the Sriptures abundantly declare, and experience confirms. — John Gill.
Verse 20. — "Ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD." In Scripture it is quite common to find this "fear " put for holiness itself, or the sum of true religion. It is not, therefore, such a fear as seized the hearts of our first parents when, hearing the voice of the Lord God, they hid themselves amongst the trees of the garden; nor such as suddenly quenched the noise of royal revelry in the night of Babylon's overthrow; nor such as, on some day yet future, shall drive desparing sinners to the unavailing shelter of the mountains and rocks. It is not the fear of guilty distrust, or of hatred, or of bondage — that fear which hath torment, and which perfect love casteth out; but a fear compatible with the highest privileges, attain ments, and hopes of the Christian life. It is the fear of deep humility and reverence, and filial subjection, and adoring gratitude; the fear which " blesseth the Lord," saying, "His mercy endureth for ever." — John Lillie (1812 — 1867), in "Lectures on the Epistles of Peter."
Verse 21. — The conclusion, verse 21, alludes to the conclusion of the preceding Psalm. There, the Lord blesses thee out of Zion; here, let him be blessed out of Zion. The praise proceeds from the same place from which the blessing issues. For Zion is the place where the community dwells with God. — E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 21. — "Praise ye the LORD." When the song of praise is sung unto God, the work of his praise is not ended, but must be continued, renewed, and followed still: "Praise ye the LORD." — David Dickson.
Verse 21. — "Bless," " Praise." We are not only to bless God, but to praise him: " All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee." Blessing relateth to his benefits, praise to his excellencies. We bless him for what he is to us, we praise him for what he is in himself. Now, whether we bless him, or praise him; it is still to increase our love to him, and delight in him; for God is not affected with the flattery of empty praises; yet this is an especial duty, which is of use to you, as all other duties are. It doth you good to consider him as an infinite and eternal Being, and of glorious and incomprehensible majesty. It is pleasant and profitable to us. — Thomas Manton.
Verses 1 — 4. — I. The Employment. Praise three times commended, and in three respects. 1. With respect to God: not his works merely, but himself. 2. With respect to ourselves: it is pleasant and profitable. 3. With respect to others: it best recommends our religion to all who hear it. All others are religions of fear, ours of joy and praise. II. The Persons: servants in attendance at his house, who stand there by appointment, ready to hear, ready to obey. III. The Motives. 1. In general. It is due to God, because he is good; and it is pleasant to us: verse 3. 2. In particular. Those who are specially privileged by God should specially praise him: verse 4. " This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." — G. jR.
Verse 1. — " Praise ye the LORD." I. The Lord ought to be praised. II. He ought to be praised by you. III. He ought to be praised now: let us remember his present favours. IV. He ought to be praised in everything for ever.
Verse 1. — "Praise him, 0 ye servants of the LORD." I. Praise him for the privilege of serving him. II. Praise him for the power to serve him. III. Praise him for the acceptance of your service. IV. Praise him as the chief part of your service. V. Praise him that others may be induced to engage in his service. — W. H. J. P.
Verse 2. — What is at this day " the house of the Lord "? Who may be said to stand in it? What special reasons have they for praise?
Verse 2. — The nearer to God, the dearer to God; and the better our place, the sweeter our praise. — W. B. H.
Verse 3. — Praise the Lord, I. For the excellence of his nature. II. For the revelation of his name. III. For the pleasantness of his worship.
Verse 4. — It is a song of praise, and therefore election is mentioned because it is a motive for song. I. The Choice — " The Lord hath chosen." Divine. Sovereign. Gracious. Immutable. II. The Consecration — " Chosen Jacob to himself." To know him. To preserve his truth. To maintain his worship. To manifest his grace. To keep alive the hope of the Coming One. III. The Separation — implied in the special choice. By being taken into covenant: Abraham and his seed. By receiving the covenant inheritance: Canaan. By redemption. By power and by blood out of Egypt. Wilderness separation. Settled establishment in their own land. IV. The Elevation. In name — from Jacob to Israel. In value — from worthless to precious. In purpose and use — crown jewels. In preser vation — kept as treasures. In delight — God rejoices in his people as his heritage.
Verse 5. — "/ know that the LORD is great." I. By observing nature and providence. II. By reading his word. III. By my own conversion, comfort, and regeneration. IV. By my after-experience. V. By my overpowering com munion with him.
Verse 5. — Delicious dogmatism. "/ know," etc. I. What I know. 1. The Lord. 2. That he is great. 3. That he is above all. II. Why I know it. 1. Because he is " our Lord." 2. By his operations in nature, providence, and grace (vers. 6 — 13) III. My incorrigible obstinacy in this regard is proof against worshippers of all other gods: which gods are effeminate; without sovereignty; no god, or any god.— W. B. H.
Verse 6. — "Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he." God's good pleasure in the work of grace. Seen, not in the death of the wicked, Ezek. xxxiii. 11; but in the election of his people, 1 Sam. xii. 22; in the infliction of suffering on the substitute, Isa. liii. 10; in the provision of all fulness for his people in Christ, Col. i. 19, in the arrangement of salvation by faith in Christ, John vi. 39; in instituting preaching as the means of salvation, 1 Cor. i. 21; in the adoption of believers as his children, Eph. i. 5; in their sanctification, 1 Thess. iv. 3; in their ultimate triumph and reign, Luke xii. 32. — C. A. D.
Verse 6 (last words). — The power of God in places of trouble, change, and danger — seas; and in conditions of sin, weakness, despair, perplexity — in all deep places.
Verses 6 — 12. — The Resistless Pleasure of Jehovah. I. Behold it as here exemplified: 1. Ruling all nature. 2. Overturning a rebellious nation. 3. Making sport of kings and crowns. 4. Laying a fertile country at the feet of the chosen. II. Be wise in view thereof. 1. Submit to it: it sweeps the seas, and lays hands on earth and heaven. 2. Think not to hide from it: the " ends of the earth "
and " all deep places " are open to it; it is swifter than its own lightnings. 3. Be awed by its majesty: God's way is strewn with crowns and the bones of kings. 4. Seek its protection: its mightiest efforts are in defence of those it favours. 5. Let the Lord's people fear not with so great a God, and so exhaustless an armoury. — W. B. H.
Verse 13. — "Thy name, O LORD, endureth /or ever." I. As the embodiment of perfection: God's attributes and glory. II. As the object of veneration: " Holy and reverend is his name." III. As the cause of salvation: " For my name's sake," etc. IV. As the centre of attraction: " In his name shall the Gentiles trust." " Our desire is to the remembrance of thy name." " Where two or three are gathered in my name," etc. V. As a plea in supplication: " For thy name's sake, pardon," etc. " Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name." VI. As a warrant for action: " Whatsoever ye do, do all in the name," etc. VII. As a refuge in tribulation: " The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." " I have kept them in thy name." VIII. As a mark of glorification: " I will write upon him the name of my God." IX. As a terror to transgressors: " My name is dreadful among the heathen." — W. J.
Verse 14. — "The LORD will judge his people." Others would like to do it, but must not. The world has seven judgment-days in every week, but shall not be able to condemn the saints. He himself will judge. How will he judge them?
I. Their persons, as to whether they are in or out of Christ. 2. Their principles, as to whether they are genuine or spurious. 3. Their prayers, as to whether they are availing or useless. 4. Their profession, as to whether it is true or false. 5. Their procedure, as to whether it is good or bad. — W. J.
Verse 14. — I. The position of believers — "his people," "his servants." II. The discipline of God's family. III. The tenderness of the Lord to them. IV. The safety of believers: they are still the Lord's.
Verse 15. — "Silver and gold." These are idols in our own land, among world lings, and with some professors. Show the folly and wickedness of loving riches, and the evils which come of it.
Verses 16, 17. — The Portrait of many. I. "Mouths, but they speak not." No prayer, praise, confession. II. "Eyes, but they see not." Discern not, understand not, take no warning; do not look to Christ. III. "Ears, but they hear not.' Attend no ministry, or are present but unaffected; hear not God. IV. "Neither is there any breath in their mouths." No life, no tokens of life, no prayer and praise which are the breath of spiritual life.
Verse 18. — I. Men make idols like themselves. II. The idols make their makers like themselves. Describe both processes.
Verse 19. — "House of Israel." The Lord's great goodness to all his people, perceived and proclaimed, and the Lord praised for it.
Verse 19. — "House of Aaron." God's blessing on Aaron's house typical of his grace to those who are priests unto God.
Verses 19 — 21. — I. The Exhortation. 1. To bless the Lord. 2. To bless him in his own house. II. To whom it is addressed. 1. To the house of Israel, or the whole church. 2. To the house of Aaron, or ministers of the sanctuary. 3. To the house of Levi, or the attendants upon ministers, and assistants in the services. 4. To all who fear God, wherever they may be. Even they who fear God are invited to praise him, which is a sure sign that he delighteth in mercy. — G. R.
Verse 20. — The Levites, their history, duties, rewards, and obligations to bless God.
Verse 20 (second clause).— I. The fear of God includes all religion. II. The fear of the Lord suggests praise. III. The fear of the Lord renders praise acceptable.
Verse 21. — I. The double fact. 1. Blessing perpetually ascending from Zion to God. 2. God perpetually blessing his people by dwelling with them in Zion.
II. The double reason for praise, which is found in the double fact, and concerns every member of the church.
Explanatory notes and quaint sayings — The Treasury of David (Psalms) · Charles Spurgeon · Cloud of Witnesses
