Psalm 116 › Explanatory notes and quaint sayings (continued)
Verse 12. — "All his benefits toward me." What reward shall we give unto the Lord, for all the benefits he hath bestowed? From the cheerless gloom of nonexistence he waked us into being; he ennobled us with understanding; he taught us arts to promote the means of life; he commanded the prolific earth to yield its nurture; he bade the animals to own us as their lords. For us the rains descend; for us the sun sheddeth abroad its creative beams; the mountains rise, the valleys bloom, affording us grateful habitation and a sheltering retreat. For us the rivers flow; for us the fountains murmur; the sea opens its bosom to admit our commerce; the earth exhausts its stores; each new object presents a new enjoyment; all nature pouring her treasures at our feet, through the bounteous grace of him who wills that all be ours.— Basil, 326—379.
Verse 12. — "All his benefits." As partial obedience is not good, so partial thanks is worthless: not that any saint is able to keep all the commands, or reckon up all the mercies of God, much less return particular acknowledgment for every single mercy; but as he " hath respect unto all the commandments " (Ps. cxix. 6), so he desires to value highly every mercy, and to his utmost power give God the praise of all. An honest soul would not conceal any debt he owes to God, but calls upon itself to give an account for all his benefits. The skipping over one note in a lesson may spoil the grace of the music; unthankfulness for one mercy disparageth our thanks for the rest. — William Gurnall.
Verse 13. — "/ will take the cup of salvation." It may probably allude to the libation offering, Numb, xxviii. 7; for the three last verses seem to intimate that the Psalmist was now at the temple, offering the meat-offering, drink-offering, and sacrifices to the Lord. "Cup " is often used by the Hebrews to denote plenty or abundance. So, " the cup of trembling," an abundance of misery; " the cup of salvation," an abundance of happiness. — Adam Clarke.
Verse 13. — "Cup of salvation." In holy Scripture there is mention made of drink-offerings, Gen. xxv. 14; Levit. xxiii. 13; Num. xv. 5; which were a certain quantity of wine that used to be poured out before the Lord; as the very notation of the word importeth, coming from a root ^cj, efjudit, that signifieth to pour out. As the meat-offerings, so the drink-offerings, were brought to the Lord in way of gratulation and thanksgiving. Some therefore in allusion hereunto so expound the text, as a promise and vow of the Psalmist, to testify his public gratitude by such an external and solemn rite as in the law was prescribed. This lie termeth a cup, because that drink-offering was contained in a cup and poured out thereof; and he adds this epithet, " salvation," because that rite was an acknowledgment of salvation, preservation and deliverance from the Lord.
After their solemn gratulatory sacrifices they were wont to have a feast. When David had brought the ark of God into the tabernacle, they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, which being finished, " he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine." 1 Chron. xvi. 3. Hereby is implied that he made so bountiful a feast, as he had to give thereof to all the people there assembled. In this feast the master thereof was wont to take a great cup, and in lifting it up to declare the occasion of that feast, and then in testimony of thankfulness to drink thereof to the guests, that they in order might pledge him. This was called a cup of salvation, or deliverance, because they acknowledged by the use thereof that God had saved and delivered them. Almost in a like sense the apostle styleth the sacramental cup, the cup of blessing. Here the prophet useth the plural number, thus, " cup of salvations," whereby, after the Hebrew elegancy, he meaneth many deliverances, one after another; or some great and extraordinary deliverance which was instead of many, or which comprised many under it. The word translated lake (up* a *'vi) properly signifieth to lift up, and in that respect may the more fitly be applied to the forementioned taking of the festival cup and lifting it up before the guests. Most of our later expositors of this Psalm apply this phrase, " I will take the cup of salvation," to the forenamed gratulatory drink-offering, or to the taking and lifting up of the cup of blessing in the feast, after the solemn sacrifice. Both of these import one and the same thing, which is, that saints of old were wont to testify their gratefulness for great deliverances with some outward solemn rite. — William Gouge.
Verse 13. — "Cup of salvation." Yeshuoth: Ps. xviii. 50, xxviii. 8, liii. 6. The cup of salvation, symbolized by the eucharistic cup of the Passover Supper. — Zion that had drunk of the " cup of trembling " (Isai. li. 17, 22) might now rise and drink of the cup of salvation.
To the church these words have had a yet deeper significancy added to them by St. Malt. xxvi. 27. Jesus, on that Passover night, drank of the bitter wine of God's wrath, that he might refill the cup with joy and health for his people. — William Kay.
Verses 13, 14, 17 — 19. — A fit mode of expressing our thanks to God is by solemn acts of worship, secret, social, and public. " The closet will be the first place where the heart will delight in pouring forth its lively joys; thence the feeling will extend to the family altar; and thence again it will proceed to the sanctuary of the Most High." (J. Morison). To every man God has sent a large supply of benefits, and nothing but perverseness can deny to him the praise of our lips. — William S. Plumer.
Verse 14. — A man that would have his credit as to the truth of his word kept up, would choose those to be witnesses of his performing who were witnesses of his promising. I think David took this heed in his rendering and paying his vows: "I will do it," saith he, "now in the presence of all his people." The people were witnesses to his straits, prayers, and vows; and he will honour religion by performing in their sight what he sealed, signed, and delivered as his vow to the Lord. Seek not more witnesses than providence makes conscious of thy vows, lest this be interpreted ostentation and vain self-glorying: take so many, lest the good example be lost, or thou suspected of falsifying thy vow. Brifley and plainly: Didst thou on a sick bed make thy vow before thy family, and before the neighbourhood? Be careful to perform it before them; let them see thou art what thou vowedst to be. This care in thy vow will be a means to make it most to the advantage of religion, whilst all that heard or knew thy vow bear thee testimony that thou art thankful, and thus thou givest others occasion to glorify thy Father who is in heaven. — Henry Hurst (1690) in "The Morning Exercises."
Verse 14. — "/ will pay my vows," etc. Foxe, in his Acts and Monuments, relates the following concerning the martyr, John Philpot: — " He went with the sheriffs to the place of execution; and when he was entering into Smithfield the way was foul, and two officers took him up to bear him to the stake. Then he said merrily, What, will ye make me a pope? I am content to go to my journey's end on foot. But first coming into Smithfield, he kneeled down there, saying these words, " I will pay my vows in thee, O Smithfield."
Verse 15. — "Precious in the sight of the LOUD is the death of his saints." It is of value or importance in such respects as the following: — (1) As it is the removal of another of the redeemed to glory — the addition of one more to the happy hosts above; (2) as it is a new triumph of the work of redemption, — showing the power and the value of that work; (3) as it often furnishes a more direct proof of the reality of religion than any abstract argument could do. How much has the cause of religion been promoted by the patient deaths of Ignatius, Polycarp, and Latimer, and Ridley, and Huss, and Jerome of Prague, and the hosts of martyrs 1 What does not the world owe, and the cause of religion owe, to such scenes as occurred on the death-beds of Baxter, and Thomas Scott, and Halyburton, and Payson 1 What an argument for the truth of religion, — what an illustration of its sustaining power. —
what a source of comfort to those who are about to die, — to reflect that religion does not leave the believer when he most needs its support and consolation; that it can sustain us in the severest trial of our condition here; that it can illuminate what seems to us of all places most dark, cheerless, dismal, repulsive — " the valley of the shadow of death." — Albert Barnes.
Verse 15. — "Precious in the sight of the LOUD is the death of his saints." The death of the saints is precious in the Lord's sight. First, because he "seelh not as man seeth." He judgeth not according to the appearance; he sees all things as they really are, not partially: he traces the duration of his people, not upon the map of time, but upon the infinite scale of eternity; he weighs their happiness, not in the little balance of earthly enjoyment, but in the even and equipoised balance of the sanctuary. In the next place, I think the death of the saints is precious in the Lord's sight, because they are taken from the evil to come; they are delivered from the burden of the flesh; ransomed by the blood of the Redeemer, they are his pur chased possession, and now he receives them to himself. Sin and sorrow for ever cease; there is no more death, the death of Christ is their redemption; by death he overcame him that had the power of death; therefore, they in him are enabled to say, " O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? " Again, the death of the saints is precious in the Lord's sight, for in it he often sees the very finest evidences of the work of his own Spirit upon the soul; he sees faith in opposition to sense, leaning upon the promises of God. Reposing upon him who is mighty to save, he sees hope even against hope, anchoring the soul secure and steadfast on him who is passed within the veil; he sees patience acquiescing in a Father's will — humility bending beneath his sovereign hand — love issuing from a grateful heart. Again, the death of the saints is precious in the Lord's sight, as it draws out the tendernesses of surviving Christian friends, and is abundant in the thanksgivings of many an anxious heart; it elicits the sympathies of Christian charity, and realises that communion of saints, of which the Apostle speaks, when he says, " if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; if one rejoice they all joy."... The death of saints is precious, because the sympathy of prayer is poured forth from many a kindly Christian heart.... Nor is this all — the death of saints is precious, for that is their day of seeing Jesus face to face. — Patrick Pounden's Sermon in "The Irish Pulpit," 1831.
Verse 15. — "Precious." Their death is precious (jakar); the word of the text is, in pretio fuit, magni eslimatum est. See how the word is translated in other texts. 1. Honourable, Isai. xliii. 4 (Jakarta); " thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable." 2. Much set by, 1 Sam. xviii. 30; " His name was much set by." 3. Dear, Jer. xxxi. 20. An filius (jakkir) pretiosus mihi Ephraim: " Is Ephraim my dear son? " 4. Splendid, clear, or glorious, Job xxxi. 16. Si vidi lunam (jaker) pretiosam et abeuntem: " the moon walking in brightness."
Put all these expressions together, and then we have the strength of David's word, "The death of the saints is precious "; that is, 1. honourable; 2. much set by; 3. dear; 4. splendid and glorious in the sight of the Lord. — Samuel Torshell, in "The House of Mourning," 1660.
Verse 15. — "Precious." It is proper to advert, in the first place, to the apparent primary import of the phrase, namely, Almighty God watches over, and sels a high value upon the holy and useful lives of his people, and will not lightly allow those lives to be abbreviated or destroyed. In the second place, the words lead us to advert to the control which he exercises over the circumstances of their death. These are under his special arrangement. They are too important in his estimation to be left to accident. In fact, chance has no existence. In the intervention of second causes, he takes care always to overrule and control them for good. Let the weakest believer among you be quite sure, be " confident of this very thing," that he will never suffer your great enemy to take advantage of anything in the manner of your death, to do you spiritual harm. No, on the contrary, he takes all its circumstances under his immediate and especial disposal. The sentiment will admit, perhaps, of a third illustration; when the saints are dying, the Lord looks upon them, and is merciful unto them. Who can say how often he answers prayer, even in the cases of dying believers? Never does he fail to support, even where he does not see good to spare. By the whispers of his love, by the witness of his Spirit, by the assurance of his presence, by the preparatory revelation of heavenly glory, he strengthens his afflicted ones, he makes all their bed in their sickness. Ah 1 and when, perhaps, they scarcely possess a bed to languish upon, when poverty or other calamitous circumstances
leave them, in the sorrow of sickness, no place of repose but the bare ground for their restless bodies, and his bosom for their spirits, do they ever find God fail them? No; many a holy man has slept the sleep of death with the missionary Martyn, in a strange and inhospitable land, or with the missionary Smith, upon the floor of a dungeon, and yet
" Jesus has made their dying bed As soft as downy pillows are."
When no other eye saw, when no other heart felt, for these two never-to-be-forgotten martyrs, murdered men of God, and apostles of Jesus, then were they precious in God's sight, and he was present with them. And so it is with all his saints, who are faithful unto death. Fourthly, we are warranted by the text and the tenor of Scripture, in affirming that the Lord attaches great importance to the death-bed itself. This is in his estimate — whatever it may be in ours — too precious, too important, to be overlooked; and hence it is often with emphasis, though always with a practical bearing, recorded in Scripture. It is possible, certainly, to make too much of it, by substituting, as a criterion of character, that which may be professed under the excitement of dying sufferings, for the testimony of a uniform, conspicuous career of holy living. But it is equally indefensible, and even ungrateful to God, to make too little of it, to make too little account of a good end, when connected with a good beginning and with a patient continuance in well-doing.
" The chamber where the good man meets his fate Is privileged beyond the common walk of virtuous life."
Its transactions are sometimes as fraught with permanent utility as with present
§ood. The close of a Christian's career on earth, his defiance, in the strength of his aviour, of his direst enemy, the good confession which he acknowledges when he is enabled to witness before those around his dying bed, all these are precious and important in the sight of the Lord, and ought to be so in our view, and redound, not only to his own advantage, but to the benefit of survivors, " to the praise of the
nof his grace." — W. M. Bunting, in a Sermon at the City Road Chapel, 1836. crse 15. — Why need they beforehand be afraid of death, who have the Lord to take such care about it as he doth? We may safely, without presuming, we ought securely without wavering, to rest upon this, that our blood being precious in God's eyes, either it shall not be split, or it is seasonable, and shall be profitable to us to have it spilt. On this ground " the righteous are bold as a lion," Prov. xxviii. 1. " Neither do they fear what man can do unto them." Heb. xiii. 6. Martyrs were, without question, well instructed herein, and much supported hereby. When fear of death hindereth from any duty, or draweth to any evil, then call to mind this saying, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his favourites." For who would not valiantly, without fainting, take such a death as is precious in God's sight. — William Gouge.
Verse 15. — "His saints " imports appropriation. Elsewhere Jehovah asserts, " All souls are mine." But he has an especial property in — and therefore claim upon — all saints. It is he that made them such. Separate from God there could be no sanctity. And as his right, his original right, in all men, is connected with the facts of their having been created and endowed by his hand, and thence subjected to his moral government, so, and much more, do all holy beings, all holy men, who owe to his grace their very existence as such, who must cease to be saints, if they could cease to be his saints, whom he has created anew in Christ Jesus by the com munication of his own love, his own purity, his own nature, whom he continually upholds in this exalted state, so, and much more, do such persons belong to God. They are " his saints " through him and in him, saints of his making, and modelling, and establishing, and therefore his exclusively. Let this reference to the mighty working of God by his Spirit in you, your connection, your spiritual connection, with him, and your experience of his saving power, — let this reference convert the mystery into the mercy of sanctification in your hearts.
"H is saints " denotes, in the second place, devotedness. They are saints not only through him, but to him; holy unto the Lord, sanctified or set apart to his service, self-surrendered to the adorable Redeemer.
"His saints " may import resemblance — close resemblance. Such characters arc emphatically God-like, holy and pure; children of their Father which is in heaven;
certifying to all around their filial relationship to him, by their manifest participation of his nature, by their reflection of his image and likeness.
"His saints " suggests associations of endearment, of complacency. " The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in all them that hope in his mercy "; "a people near unto him "; " the Lord's portion is his people "; and " Happy is that people that is in such a case, yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord."- Condensed from a Sermon by W. M. Bunting, 1836.
Verse 15. — "Saints." The persons among whom implicitly he reckons himself, styled saints, are in the original set out by a word (a'TPq) that importeth an especial respect of God towards them. The root whence that word issueth sigmfieth mercy (i?n consecravit, benefecit). Whereupon the Hebrews have given such a name to a stork, which kind among fowls is the most merciful; and that not only the old to their young ones, as most are, but also the young ones to the old, which they use to feed and carry when through age they are not able to help themselves.
This title is attributed to men in a double respect; 1. Passively, in regard of God's mind and affection to them; 2. Actively, in regard of their mind and affection to others. God's merciful kindness is great towards them; and their mercy and kindness are great towards their brethren. They are, therefore, by a kind of ex cellency and property styled " men of mercy." Isai. Ivii. 1. In regard of his double acceptation of the word, some translate it, " merciful, tender, or courteous," Ps. xviii. 25. Others with a paraphrase with many words, because they have not one fit word to express the full sense, thus, " Those whom God followeth with bounty, or to whom God extendeth his bounty." This latter I take to be the most proper to this place; for the word being passively taken for such as are made partakers of God's kindness, it sheweth the reason of that high account wherein God hath them, even his own grace and favor. We have a word in English that in this passive signification fitly answereth the Hebrew, which is this, favourite. — William Gouge.
Verse 15. — Death now, as he hath done also to mine, has paid full many a visit to your house; and in very deed, he has made fell havoc among our comforts. We shall yet be avenged on this enemy — this King of Terrors. I cannot help at times clenching my fist in his face, and roaring out in my agony and anguish, " Thou shalt be swallowed up in victory 1 " There is even, too, in the meantime, this consolation; " O Death, where is thy sting? " " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death for his saints," in the first place; in the second place, and resting on the propitiatory death, " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." The Holy Ghost, Psalm cxvi. 15, states the first; our translators, honest men, have very fairly and truly inferred the second. We are obliged to them. The death of your lovely child, loveliest in the beauties of holiness, with all that was most afflictive and full of sore trial in it, is nevertheless, among the things in your little family which are right precious in the sight of the Lord; and this in it, is that which pleases you most; precious, because of the infinite, the abiding, and the unchanging worth of the death of God's own holy child Jesus. The calm so wonderful, the consolation so felt, yea, the joy in tribulation so great, have set before your eyes a new testimony, heart-touching indeed, that, after eighteen hundred years have passed, "the death of his saints " is still precious as ever in the sight of the Lord. Take your book of life, sprinkled with the blood of the covenant, and in your family record, put the death of Rosanna down among the precious things in your sight also — I should rather have said likewise.
Present my kindest regards to Miss S —. Tell her to wipe that tear away — Rosanna needs it not. I hope they are all well at L —, and that your young men take the way of the Lord in good part. My dear Brother, " Go thy way, thy child liveth," is still as fresh as ever it was, from the lips of Him that liveth for ever and ever, and rings with a loftier and sweeter sound, even than when it was first heard in the ears and heart of the parent who had brought and laid his sick and dying at the feet of Him who hath the keys of hell and of death. — John Jameson, in "Letters; True Fame," etc., 1838.
Verse 16. — "O LORD, truly 1 am thy servant." Thou hast made me free, and I am impatient to be bound again. Thou hast broken the bonds of sin; now, Lord, bind me with the cords of love. Thou hast delivered me from the tyranny of Satan, make me as one of thy hired servants. I owe my liberty, my life, and all that I have, or hope, to thy generous rescue: and now, O my gracious, my Divine Friend and Redeemer, I lay myself and my all at thy feet. — Samuel Lavington, 1728 — 1807.
Verse 16. — "/ am thy servant." The saints have ever had a holy pride in being God's servants; there cannot be a greater honour than to serve such a Master as commands heaven, earth, and hell. Do not think thou dost honour God in serving him; but this is how God honours thee, in vouchsafing thee to be his servant. David could not study to give himself a greater style than — " O Lord, or, truly I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid," and this he spake, not in the phrase of a human compliment, but in the humble confession of a believer. Yea, so doth the apostle commend this excellency, that he sets the title of servant before that of an apostle; first servant, then apostle. Great was his office in being an apostle, greater his blessing in being a servant of Jesus Christ: the one is an outward calling, the other an inward grace. There was an apostle condemned, never any servant of God. — Thomas Adams.
Verse 16. — "/ am thy servant." This expression of the king of Israel implies (1). A humble sense of his distance from God and his dependence upon him. This is the first view which a penitent hath of himself when he returns to God. It is the first view which a good man hath of himself in his approaches to, or communion with God. And, indeed, it is what ought to be inseparable from the exercise of every other pious affection. To have, as it were, high and honourable thoughts of the majesty and greatness of the living God, and a deep and awful impression of the immediate and continual presence of the heart-searching God, this naturally produces the greatest self-abasement, and the most unfeigned subjection of spirit before our Maker. It leads to a confession of him as Lord over all, and having the most absolute right, not only to the obedience, but to the disposal of all his creatures. I cannot help thinking this is conveyed to us in the language of the Psalmist, when he says, "O LOJID, truly I am thy servant." He was a prince among his subjects, and had many other honourable distinctions, both natural and acquired, among men; but he was sensible of his being a servant and subject of the King of kings; and the force of his expression, "Truly, I am thy servant," not only signifies the certainty of the thing, but how deeply and strongly he felt a conviction of its truth.
This declaration of the Psalmist implies (2) a confession of his being bound by particular covenant and consent unto God, and a repetition of the same by a new adherence. This, as it was certainly true with regard to him, having often dedicated himself to God, so I take it to be confirmed by the reiteration of the expression here, *'O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant." As if he had said, " O Lord, it is undeniable; it is impossible to recede from it. I am thine by many ties. I am by nature thy subject and thy creature; and I have many times confessed thy right and promised my own duty." I need not mention to you, either the example in the Psalmist's writings, or the occasions in his history, on which he solemnly sur rendered himself to God. It is sufficient to say, that it was very proper that he should frequently call this to mind, and confess it before God, for though it could not make his Creator's right any stronger, it would certainly make the guilt of his own violation of it so much the greater.
This declaration of the Psalmist is (3) an expression of his peculiar and special relation to God. "I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid." There is another passage of his writings where the same expression occurs: Ps. Ixxxvi. 16. " O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid." There is some variation among interpreters in the way of illustrating this phrase. Some take it for a figurative way of affirming, that he was bound in the strongest manner to God, as those children who were born of a maid-servant, and born in his own house, were in the most absolute manner their master's property. Others take it to signify his being not only brought up in the visible church of God, but in a pious family, and educated in his fear; and others would have it to signify still more especially that the Psalmist's mother was an eminently pious woman. And indeed I do not think that was a circumstance, if true, either unworthy of him to remember, or of the Spirit of God to put upon record. — John Witherspoon, 1722—1797.
Verse 16. — O Lord, / am thy servant by a double right; (and, oh, that I could do thee double service;) as thou art the Lord of my life, and I am the son of thy handmaid: not of Hagar, but of Sarah; not of the bontfwoman, but of the free; and therefore I serve thee not in fear, but in love; or therefore in fear, because in love: and then is service best done when it is done in love. In love indeed I am bound to serve thee, for, "Thou hast loosed my bonds"; the bonds of death which compassed me about, by delivering me from a dangerous sickness, and restoring me to health: or in a higher kind; thou hast loosed my bonds by freeing me from being a captive to be a servant; and which is more, from being a servant to be a son: and more than this from being a son of thy handmaid, to be a son of thyself. — Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 16. — Bless God for the privilege of being the children of godly parents. Better be the child of a godly than of a wealthy parent. I hope none of you are of so vile a spirit as to contemn your parents because of their piety. Certainly it is a great privilege when you can go to God, and plead your Father's covenant: "Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid." So did Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 25, 26, " Lord, make good thy word to thy servant David, my father." That you are not born of infidels, nor of papists, nor of upholders of superstition and formality, but in a strict, serious, godly family, it is a great advantage that you have. It is better to be the sons of faithful ministers than of nobles. — Thomas Manton, in a Sermon preached before the Sons of the Clergy.
Verse 16. — "Thou hast loosed my bonds." Mercies are given to encourage us in God's service, and should be remembered to that end. Rain descends upon the earth, not that it might be more barren, but more fertile. We are but stewards; the mercies we enjoy are not our own, but to be improved for our Master's service. Great mercies should engage to great obedience. God begins the Decalogue with a memorial of his mercy in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, — " I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt." How affectionately doth the Psalmist own his relation to God as his servant, when he considers how God had loosed his bonds: "O LOUD, truly I am thy servant; thou hast loosed my bonds! " the remembrance of thy mercy shall make me know no relation but that of a servant to thee. When we remember what wages we have from God, we must withal re member that we owe more service, and more liveliness in service, to him. Duty is but the ingenuous consequent of mercy. It is irrational to encourage ourselves in our way to hell by a remembrance of heaven, to foster a liberty in sin by a con sideration of God's bounty. When we remember that all we have or are is the gift of God's liberality, we should think ourselves obliged to honour him with all that we have, for he is to have honour from all his gifts. It is a sign we aimed at God's glory in begging mercy, when we also aim at God's glory in enjoying it. It is a sign that love breathed the remembrance of mercy into our hearts, when at the same time it breathes a resolution into us to improve it. It is not our tongues, but our lives must praise him. Mercies are not given to one member, but to the whole man. — Stephen Charnock.
" When all the heart is pure, each warm desire Sublimed by holy love's ethereal fire, On winged words our breathing thoughts may rise, And soar to heaven, a grateful sacrifice."
Verse 18. — "Vows." Are well-composed vows such promoters of religion? and are they to be made so warily? and do they bind so strictly? Then be sure to wait until God give you just and fit seasons for vowing. Be not over-hasty to vow: it is an inconsiderate and foolish haste of Christians to make more occasions of vowing than God doth make for them. Make your vows, and spare not, so often as God bids you; but do not do it oftener. You would wonder I should dissuade you from vowing often, when you have such constant mercies; and wonder well you might, if God did expect your extraordinary bond and security for every ordinary mercy: but he requires it not; he is content with ordinary security of gratitude for ordinary mercies; when he calls for extraordinary security and acknowledgment, by giving extraordinary mercies, then give it and do it. — Henry Hurst.
Verse 18. — "Now." — God gave an order that no part of the thankoffering should be kept till the third day, to teach us to present our praises when benefits are newly received, which else would soon wax stale and putrefy as fish doth. "/ will pay my vows now," saith David. — Samuel Clarke (1599 — 1682) in "A Mirrour or Lookingglasse, both for Saints and Sinners."
Verse 18. — "In the presence of all his people." For good example's sake. This also was prince-like, Ezek. xlvi. 10. The king's seat in the sanctuary was open, that all might see him there, 2 Kings xi. 14, and xxiii. 3. — John Trapp.
Verse 18. — "In the presence of all his people." Be bold, be bold, ye servants of the Lord, in sounding forth the praises of your God. Go into presses of people; and in the midst of them praise the Lord. Wicked men are over-bold in pouring forth their blasphemies to the dishonour of God; they care not who hear them. They stick not to do it in the midst of cities. Shall they be more audacious to dishonour God, than ye zealous to honour him? Assuredly Christ will shew himself as forward to confess you, as you are, or can be to confess him. Matt. x. 32. This holy boldness is the ready way to glory. — William Gouge.
Verse 19 (second clause). — He does not simply say in the midst of Jerusalem: but, "in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem." He speaks to the city as one who loved it and delighted in it. We see here, how the saints were affected towards the city in which was the house of God. Thus we should be moved in spirit towards that church in which God dwells, the temple he inhabits, which is built up, not of stones, but of the souls of the faithful. — Wolfgang Musculus.
Verses 1, 2. — Personal experience in reference to prayer. I. We have prayed, often, constantly, in different ways, etc. II. We have been heard. A grateful retrospect of usual answers and of special answers. III. Love to God has thus been promoted. IV. Our sense of the value of prayer has become so intense that we cannot cease praying.
Verses 1, 2, 9. — If you cast your eyes on the first verse of the Psalm, you find a profession of love — "/ love the LORD "; if on the second, a promise of prayer — "/ will call on the LORD"; if on the ninth, a resolve of walking — "/ will walk before the LORD." There are three things should be the object of a saint's care, the devotion of the soul, profession of the mouth, and conversation of the life: that is the sweetest melody in God's ears, when not only the voice sings, but the heartstrings keep tune, and the hand keepeth time. — Nathanael Hardy.
Verses 2, 4, 13, 17. — Calling upon God mentioned four times very suggestively — I will do it (verse 2), I have tried it (4), I will do it when I take (13), and when I offer (17).
Verse 5. — I. Eternal grace, or the purpose of love. II. Infinite justice, or the difficulty of holiness. III. Boundless mercy, or the outcome of atonement.
Verse 1. — "Return unto thy rest, 0 my soul." Rest in God may be said to belong to the people of God on a fourfold account. I. By designation. The rest which the people of God have in him is the result of his own purpose, and design, taken up from his mere good pleasure and love. II. By purchase. The rest which they wanted as creatures they had forfeited as sinners. This, therefore, Christ laid down his life to procure. III. By promise. This is God's kind engagement. He has said, " My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest," Exod. xxxiii. 14. IV. By their own choice gracious souls have a rest in God. — D. Wilcox.
Verse 7. — "Return unto thy rest, O my soul." When, or upon what occasion a child of God should use the Psalmist's language. I. After converse with the world in the business of his calling every day. II. When going to the sanctuary on the Lord's-day. III. In and under any trouble he may meet with. IV. When departing from this world at death. — D. Wilcox.
Verse 7. — I. The rest of the soul: " My rest," this is in God. 1. The soul was created to find its rest in God. 2. On that account it cannot find rest elsewhere. II. Its departure from that rest. This is implied in the word " Return." III. Its return. 1. By repentance. 2. By faith, in the way provided for its return. 3. By prayer. IV. Its encouragement to return. 1. Not in itself, but in God. 2. Not in the justice, but in the goodness of God: " for the Lord," etc. " The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." — G. R.
Verse 8. — The trinity of experimental godliness. I. It is a unity — " Thou hast delivered "; all the mercies come from one source. II. It is a trinity of deliverance, of soul, eyes, feet; from punishment, sorrow, and sinning; to life, joy, and stability. III. It is a trinity in unity: all this was done for me and in me — " my soul, mine eyes, my feet."
Verse 9. — The effect of deliverance upon ourselves. " I will walk," etc.
I. Walk by faith in him. II. Walk in love with him. III. Walk by obedience to him.— G. R.
Verses 10, 11. — I. The rule: " I believed," etc. In general the Psalmist spoke what he had well considered and tested by his own experience, as when he said, " I was brought low and he helped me." " The Lord hath dealt bountifully with me." II. The exception: " I was greatly afflicted, I said," etc. 1. He spoke wrongfully: he said " All men are liars," which had some truth in it, but was not the whole truth. 2. Hastily: " I said in my haste," without due reflection. 3. Angrily, under the influence of affliction, probably from the unfaithfulness of others. Nature acts before grace — the one by instinct, the other from consideration. — G. R.
Verse 11. — A hasty speech. I. There was much truth in it. II. It erred on the right side, for it showed faith in God rather than in the creature. III. It did err in being too sweeping, too severe, too suspicious. IV. It was soon cured. The remedy for all such hasty speeches is — Get to work in the spirit of verse 12.
Verses 12, 14. — Whether well-composed religious vows do not exceedingly promote religion. Sermon by Henry Hurst, A.M., in " The Morning Exercises."
Verse 13. — Sermon on the Lord's supper. We take the cup of the Lord — I. In memory of him who is our salvation. II. In token of our trust in him. III. In evidence of our obedience to him. IV. In type of communion with him. V. In hope of drinking it new with him ere long.
Verse 13. — The various cups mentioned in Scripture would make an interesting subject.
Verse 14. — "Now." Or the excellence of time present.
Verse 15. — I. The declaration. Not the death of the wicked, nor even the death of the righteous is in itself precious; but, 1, because their persons are precious to him. 2. Because their experience in death is precious to him. 3. Because of their conformity in death to their Covenant-Head; and 4. Because it puts an end to their sorrows, and translates them to their rest. II. 7/s manifestation. 1. In preserving them from death. 2. In supporting them in death. 3. In giving them victory over death. 4. In glorifying them after death.
Verse 17. — This is due to our God, good for ourselves, and encouraging to others.
Verse 17. — "The sacrifice of thanksgiving." I. How it may be rendered. In secret love, in conversation, in sacred song, in public testimony, in special gifts and works. II. Why we should render it. For answered prayers (verses 1, 2), memorable deliverances (3), choice preservation (6); remarkable restoration (7, 8), and for the fact of our being his servants (16). III. When should we render it. Now, while the mercy is on the memory, and as often as fresh mercies come to us.
Verse 18. — I. How vows may be paid in public. By going to public worship as the first thing we do when health is restored. By uniting heartily in the song. By coming to the communion. By special thankoffering. By using fit oppor tunities for open testimony to the Lord's goodness. II. The special difficulty in the matter. To pay them to the Lord, and not in ostentation or as an empty form. III. The peculiar usefulness of the public act. It interests others, touches their hearts, reproves, encourages, etc.
