04.04. Chapter 4
Psalms 21:1-13 STRENGTH AND SALVATION. This is evidently a companion Psalm to the former. The blessings there asked are here gladly acknowledged to have been granted: and bright anticipations are entertained for the future. How much of it is only true of our King! Let us read it over with an especial reference to Him, as He rides forth on his white horse (Revelation 19:11-16).
Psalms 21:2. His heart’s desire.-The heart’s desire finds its expression by the lips: and so the answer comes. There is no contrast implied between unspoken desire and oral prayer: both ascend together.
Psalms 21:3. Thou preventest him (goest before him).-God’s help anticipates our needs. It precedes us.
Psalms 21:4. He asked life of Thee.-Our true life can be measured only by eternal ages.
Psalms 21:5. Honour and majesty-Similar terms are used of our Lord in Hebrews 2:9-"crowned with glory and honour."
Psalms 21:6. Most blessed for ever.-Blessedly true of our beloved dead (Revelation 20:6).
Psalms 21:7. Trusteth-shall not be moved.-Trust is the secret of permanence.
Psalms 21:8-12. All thine enemies.-Our foes, and the foes of Jesus, must perish. Not one of them shall escape. In the garden of Olivet, Christ’s gentle I am He overthrew the soldiers (John 18:6). How will it be when the wrath of the Lamb flames forth?-who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:16). Fear them not! "they are not able to perform." The dog may snarl, but is muzzled.
Psalms 21:13. Be Thou exalted, 0 Lord!-Every loyal heart must join in that devout wish. But we may ask whether we have exalted Him to the place of power in the inner kingdom. God has exalted Him to be Prince and Saviour; and we shall not have peace until we have done the same (Acts 5:31).
Psalms 22:1-31 THE PSALM OF THE CROSS. The Hebrew inscription to this exquisite ode, which demands as many pages as we can give it lines, is "the hind of the morning." The "hind" stands for one persecuted to death, and is also an emblem of loveliness (Song of Solomon 2:7, Song of Solomon 2:9). The cruel persecutors are designated as "bulls, lions, and dogs." Perhaps the addition "of the morning" (marg.) refers to the dawn of brighter and hotter days.
There is a remarkable exchange in the latter part of the Psalm (Psalms 22:22-31) of triumph for complaint. Of course, our blessed Lord is in every syllable. Indeed, it reads more as a history than a prophecy. It seems as if the Divine Sufferer recited it to Himself during the agonies of his crucifixion, for it begins with "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" and it ends, according to some, in the original, with "It is finished!" "It is the photograph of our Lord’s saddest hours: the record of his dying words; the lachrymatory of his last tears; the memorial of his expiring joys." If we have here the sufferings of Christ, we shall certainly have also the glory that should follow.
Psalms 22:1-8. COMPLAINTS THAT HE IS FORSAKEN AND UNHEARD, ALTHOUGH HE HAD TRUSTED FOR DELIVERANCE.
Psalms 22:9-21. EXPOSTULATIONS ON THE GROUND OF PAST FAVOR AND OF THE EXTREMITY OF HIS SUFFERINGS.
Psalms 22:22-31. EJACULATIONS OF PRAISE, AS THE CLOUD BEGINS TO ROLL AWAY.
Ah, Psalm that was balm to the pierced heart of Jesus, how precious art thou to those who drink his cup!
Psalms 22:1. My God, my God!-Uttered by our Lord after the darkness had lasted for three long hours. His God still, though hidden. God was as near and tender as ever; but the human consciousness of the Sin-bearer, made a curse for us, had lost the sensible enjoyment of his presence.
Psalms 22:2. Thou hearest not.-This is rendered in R.V. answerest not. God’s silence is no reason for our silence; but on the contrary, an incentive to more importunity (Matthew 15:22-23).
Psalms 22:3. Thou art Holy.-Though prayer is not immediately answered, there is no imputation on the character of God. The praises of the saints are the throne of the Eternal.
Psalms 22:4-5. They trusted.-The thrice repetition is very significant. Is this the prominent feature in our character that our children will recall, and on which they will base their pleas?
Psalms 22:7-10. They laugh me to scorn.-His very enemies had remarked how he rolled himself upon God (Psalms 22:8, marg.), and used it as a jeer; but the Sufferer turns it into a prayer. From his birth he had been God’s nursling, and could he be now deserted?
Psalms 22:11. Be not far from me.-Trouble sometimes seems nearer than God. But this is only to the eye of sense. Faith descries the Deliverer coming across the waves, and saying, It is I.
Psalms 22:14. All my bones are out of joint.-What a vivid picture of the anguish of the cross! The gaping crowds; the strength and virulence of their abuse; the bones wrenched from one another; the broken heart; the fevered lips; the pierced hands and feet; the parted garments; the thrusting of Jehovah’s sword against his fellow (Psalms 22:20; Zechariah 13:7).
Psalms 22:20. My Darling.-We learn from the parallelism that this represents his soul. The Hebrew is my only one.
Psalms 22:21. Thou hast heard me.-In the limits of one verse prayer begins to change to praise. He who had said, "Thou hearest not" (Psalms 22:2), confesses that all the while God had been hearing and helping him. The dog, the lion, the wild oxen (R.V.), are emblems of the hatred of man, from which God had rescued his servant.
Psalms 22:22. I will declare thy name.- John 17:26; Hebrews 2:12.
Psalms 22:24. He hath not despised.-Man may despise (Psalms 22:6), but God cannot. Man may abhor a worm (Psalms 22:6), but God uses such to thresh mountains. And though his face may seem hidden (Psalms 22:1-2) it is not really so.
Psalms 22:25-26. My praise shall be of Thee.-Of Thee, i.e.; originating from Thee, shall be my praise. Praise shall be the ultimate perquisite of all who seek God. And all who feed on the words of Jesus must have everlasting life (John 6:51).
Psalms 22:27-31. All the ends of the world.-There is surely here a forecast of the effects of the death of the cross, first on the Jews (Psalms 22:23), but also in these verses on the Gentiles. The ends of the earth converted; the usurper dethroned (Psalms 22:28); the resurrection accomplished (Psalms 22:29); and the seeing of a spiritual seed to satisfy the travail of the Redeemer’s soul.
Psalms 23:1-6 THE SHEPHERD PSALM. A Sabbath restfulness breathes through this Psalm. It is the favorite of the children; but the oldest and holiest must confess that it touches an experience which lies still in front of them. There is no strife, no fear, no denunciation of the wicked, no effort at self-vindication: the waters, which fretted and chafed in their earlier course, flow in placid repose through the rich pasture lands, and beneath the arms of the spreading trees; and if for a moment there is the suggestion of the dark valley of deathshadow, it is instantly dismissed by the thought that He will he there, whose face makes light in the darkest night.
Jehovah is represented successively as the true Shepherd and Guide and Host of his people. And we are taught to think much less of ourselves in our relations with Him, and more of Him as being responsible for us. After all, it is not so much a question of what we are to Jesus, as of what He is to us. The flock does not keep the Shepherd, but the Shepherd the flock. Look away from self, and trust Him to keep and lead and feed. All that we should care for, is not knowingly to resist any of his gracious promptings and teachings. The Psalm was probably written when the sun of David’s life was westering. The experience of age is grafted on the memories of youth.
Psalms 23:1. The Lord is my Shepherd.-The thought of God as the Shepherd of his saints is familiar to Scripture students from Genesis 48:15 to Revelation 7:17, especially John 10:1-42. Let God see to your wants. There is nothing you really need for which you may not count on Him.
Psalms 23:2. He leadeth me.-"Pastures of tender grass and waters of rest."
Psalms 23:3. He restoreth my soul.-When the soul has spent itself unduly, He recruits it. When diseased, He heals it. When penitent, He puts it back whence it fell. It is only as we look back on life that we see how absolutely right were paths that seemed most wrong. But his name and character are implicated in doing the best for us.
Psalms 23:4. The valley of the shadow.-This is not death only, but any dark ravine through which we have to pass. But God seems nearest then. It is no longer He, but Thou. Club to defend; crook to chasten and guide.
Psalms 23:5. Thou preparest.-Every day is that table spread with food for body and spirit, but we need the purged eye to see, and the believing hand to appropriate. And we must be prepared to break through a ring of enemies to feed, and to get the daily anointing of the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:27).
Psalms 23:6. The house of the Lord.-God’s house is his Presence-Himself. There let us live. And his twin-angels shall follow us. We must not look behind, dreading the pursuit of the evil past. The rear is well protected. Watch-dogs behind; the Shepherd before.
Psalms 24:1-10 THE KING OF GLORY.
Psalms 22:1-31 tells of the Cross; Psalms 23:1-6 of the Crook; Psalms 24:1-10 of the Crown. This great choral hymn was evidently composed to celebrate the removal of the Ark from the house of Obed-edom to Mount Zion (2 Samuel 6:1-23). There must have been a great procession by which it was conducted, with music and song, to its restingplace (1 Chronicles 15:2-27). This Psalm was without doubt composed for a choir. The first two verses might have been sung by the entire festal crowd; the third by a single voice; the fourth and fifth by the choir; and the sixth by all. What a sublime challenge on the part of the approaching host is contained in Psalms 24:7, answered by a company already within the gates (Psalms 24:8); to which again the vast shout of the multitudes gives reply. Surely this ode was rightly employed when used by Handel to represent the return of the ascending Saviour to his home. It never reached its perfect accomplishment till the Victor over hell and the grave arose on high.
Psalms 24:1-2. The earth is the Lord’s.-These words were chosen by Albert the Good to be placed as a motto over the Royal Exchange. The earth and men are God’s by right of creation and redemption. The devil is a usurper, and shall be thrust out.
Psalms 24:3-4. The Hill of the Lord.-The Almighty is also the All-Holy. We are his: but we cannot approach Him unless we observe certain conditions, which He will secure in us by the power of the Holy Spirit, if we are only willing that He should.
Psalms 24:5. From Jehovah-from Elohim.-Ah, what a blessing is this! (Genesis 15:6; Genesis 49:25).
Psalms 24:6. Them that seek thy face.-We must evidently insert the name of God before Jacob, as the margin suggests.
Psalms 24:7. Lift up your heads!-The doors are everlasting, grey with hoar antiquity, and destined to stand for ever. The connection between Psalms 15:1-5 and Psalms 24:1-10 has already been pointed out. This Psalm is accomplished in us when Jesus enters our hearts as our King to reign; and it will have its full realization when the earth and its populations welcome Him as its Lord.
Psalms 25:1-22 "THE SECRET OF THE LORD." An acrostic or alphabetical Psalm. The verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; probably to aid the memory: so also Psalms 9:1-20; Psalms 10:1-18; Psalms 25:1-22; Psalms 34:1-22; Psalms 37:1-40; Psalms 111:1-20; Psalms 112:1-10; Psalms 119:1-176; Psalms 145:1-21. It contains many similar expressions, which might be connected by slight Bible markings. Such are wait (Psalms 3:1-8, Psalms 5:1-12, Psalms 21:1-13); ashamed (Psalms 2:1-12, Psalms 3:1-8, Psalms 20:1-9); teach (Psalms 4:1-8, Psalms 5:1-12, Psalms 8:1-9, Psalms 9:1-20, Psalms 12:1-8).
Psalms 25:1. Unto Thee, 0 Lord!-Lift up your soul, that its darkness may be penetrated by his light, its maladies healed by his saving health.
Psalms 25:4-5. Lead me! ... and teach me!-If you utter this prayer in all sincerity, wait for the answer: be sure that it will come, and if you are not yet told what to do, wait till you know certainly. "Wait all the day."
Psalms 25:8-9. Therefore will He teach.-God’s holiness is no barrier, but an encouragement to repentant sinners (compare Matthew 9:13 and Luke 15:1). Not the meek only, but sinners may claim his teaching. Do not be careful as to your lessons, but as to acquiring them. God will set them; we must get them by heart.
Psalms 25:11. For thy Name’s sake! How much the Old Testament writers count on God’s Name! It is his character, his troth, Himself (Joshua 7:9; Isaiah 63:14, Isaiah 63:16; Ezekiel 36:22-23).
Psalms 25:13. His soul shall dwell.-In the darkest, saddest hour we may find a home in the goodness of God.
Psalms 25:14. The secret of the Lord.-What secrets God has to tell his own! (Genesis 18:17; John 13:31; John 15:15; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
Psalms 25:15. Mine eyes are toward the Lord.-Do not look down at your feet, but up to his face.
Psalms 25:20. Oh, keep my soul!-When we are unable to keep ourselves for God, let us trust Him to keep us for Himself. He is able to do this; and it is best to transfer the entire responsibility to Him (2 Timothy 1:12). We cannot be "ashamed" (Isaiah 45:17; Isaiah 49:23; Isaiah 50:7).
Psalms 26:1-12 "JUDGE ME, 0 LORD." In some respects this Psalm is similar to the previous one: only, instead of entreaties for forgiveness, there are protestations of innocence. It may have been composed during Absalom’s rebellion, and is a strenuous protest against the dissembling and hypocrisy on which that revolt had been built. In these avowals of conscious rectitude, we must ever bear in mind that David did not mean to express absolute sinlessness, but his innocence of those specific charges with which he had been assailed.
Psalms 26:1. I shall not slide.-If therefore be omitted, we get the sense that he had not slidden from his attitude of faith. Let us trust God to keep us trusting.
Psalms 26:2. Examine, and prove.-These words are all borrowed from the smelting furnace, and point to the purity which fire gives. If the Baptism of Fire avail not, we must pass through the Fires of Purification (Numbers 31:23; Malachi 3:1-3).
Psalms 26:3. I have walked in thy truth (Zechariah 10:12).
Psalms 26:4-5. I have not sat.-Human society without God is an empty bubble, and cannot satisfy (Psalms 1:1).
Psalms 26:6-7. In innocency. -We must use the laver, if we would minister at the altar. It is more important to be clean than to be clever. We must wash before we publish and tell.
Psalms 26:8. I have loved ... thy house.-Hatred of evil men (Psalms 26:5) is one side of the coin; love to God’s house the other. Seek either; and the other will be yours.
Psalms 26:11. Mine integrity.-Can we also assert our integrity-that is, our whole-heartedness? (Job 2:3, Job 2:9; Job 27:5). Is our eye single? our heart open toward God? Are our motives pure? If so, though we still need "grace to help," yet we are on an even table-land, in which there is no pitfall or cause of stumbling, and from which the glad song of praise shall ascend as sweet incense to God.
Psalms 27:1-14 "SEEK YE MY FACE!" This Psalm probably dates from the time when the exiled king, surrounded by unscrupulous foes, looked from the regions beyond the Jordan to the beloved city, where the Ark of God abode. It would almost seem as if his one thought was-not to resume his throne, but to revisit the sanctuary of God. "One thing have I desired." The "one thing" people are irresistable (Php 3:13).
I. ASSURANCE (Psalms 27:1-6).-How many-sided is God! He is "light," "salvation," and "strength." The trusting soul lives behind a triple door. We may shrink from uttering the desire to dwell evermore in Jehovah’s house. And yet there is a sense in which even busy people can do this, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. God’s presence is God’s house. Abide in Him! You are "in Him" unless you consciously go out. How beautiful is God’s world! How much more beautiful Himself! If you behold that beauty, it will be transferred to your own face, though you wist it not (Psalms 90:17; Psalms 110:3). Temple (Psalms 27:4) is here applied to the tent which David erected on Mount Zion (2 Samuel 6:17). The believer who hides in God is as safe as the young Joash (2 Chronicles 22:12).
II. SUPPLICATION (Psalms 27:7-14) .-The triumphant trust of the Psalm suddenly changes to a tone of sadness, as if a cloud had for a moment passed over the soul. Did the writer for a moment look from his Saviour to the wind and waves? How true to life are these changing strains! What a comfort to know that our experiences do not alter our standing! Sometimes God seems to hide his face, only to lead the soul to a pitch of trust which otherwise it had never dared to adopt (Mark 7:28). Here is the heart-echo. God’s words come back to Him as a prayer. The dearest may forsake, but the Lord gathers (Isaiah 40:11).
Psalms 27:11. Teach me! ... lead me!-Again we have the even path of Psalms 26:12.
Psalms 27:12. Mine enemies.-We may apply this to the wicked spirits of the heavenly places who assail us, if we have no earthly foes who hate us for the truth’s sake. It is an unlikely thing, however, that we should escape hatred, if we are living very near to Christ (John 15:19-20).
Psalms 27:13. Unless I had believed to see.-Look up! and look on!
Psalms 27:14. Wait on the Lord!-It is so much easier to act, or lie down and die, or run to friends, than to wait. But waiting is the true posture. He that waits for God shall not be long without the God for whom he waits.
How delightful are the me and my of this exquisite Psalm!-the pronouns of personal appropriation.
Psalms 28:1-9 "UNTO THEE WILL I CRY!" This Psalm also probably belongs to the time of Absalom’s rebellion. Psalms 28:2-3 closely resemble Psalms 26:8-9.
Psalms 28:1-2. If Thou be silent.-What a thought is suggested in the silence of God! Sometimes He is silent because He loves (Zephaniah 3:17, marg.). Sometimes to test our faith and stir up our zeal (Matthew 15:23). Sometimes because He has already spoken, and we have not heeded his words (Matthew 26:62). But if a period of silence befall us, let us not have recourse to any unhallowed source of help (1 Samuel 28:6-7): let us rather pray and wait, lifting up our hands for help towards God’s oracle.
Psalms 28:3-5. The workers of iniquity.-The world is so made that wickedness is doomed to failure; and the righteous man is glad when God’s righteous government of the world is thus approved. We must look at the punishment of wrong-doing, not only from man’s standpoint, but from God’s.
Psalms 28:6-7. He hath heard!-The answer has already begun to steal into the psalmist’s soul. Some herald-ray has announced the coming dawn. Some stray flowers of hope piercing the sod tell of coming spring. The quick ear can tell the pibroch of the Highlanders, though foes engirdle the beleaguered city. "I am helped."
Isaiah 28:8-9. The Lord is my strength.-Note the contrast between my strength (Psalms 28:7) and their strength (Psalms 28:8). Trust is contagious as well as panic. What heart, which has experienced God’s help, does not long that all may know the blessed help and salvation of God! Feed them (Psalms 81:10, Psalms 81:16). Bear them (R.V.; Isaiah 63:9; Isaiah 40:11).
It is thus that prayer clears itself in its utterance, and changes its note to praise; and, as a rising lark, breaks into song as it soars.
Psalms 29:1-11 "THE VOICE OF THE LORD." A perfect specimen of Hebrew poetry, giving a magnificent description of a thunderstorm, marching from north to south of Palestine.
PRELUDE (Psalms 29:1-2).-Addressed to the firstborn sons of light (marg.), who stand above the tumult of earth and sky. Heaven is viewed as a temple, the priests of which are angels, clad in holy vestments (2 Chronicles 20:21; Psalms 110:3). THE DESCRIPTION OF THE STORM (Psalms 29:3-9).-We hear first the low, distant muttering of the thunder. The "many waters" may refer to the Mediterranean, from which the storm arose (Psalms 29:3). Coming nearer, the tempest breaks on Lebanon and Sirion, the Sidonian name for Hermon; the cedars of which sway to and fro before the wild fury of the storm. And each thunder peal is accompanied by the zig-zag forked lightning (Psalms 29:4-7). The storm passes southwards to the desert Kadesh, and to the rock-hewn cities of Petra. The very beasts are stricken with terror, and the forests are stripped of their leafy dress, so that their ground and floor is discovered. And in the Temple the gathered worshippers respond to the challenge of nature, and say, "Glory!" "Every whit of it uttereth glory" (marg.). Oh that every whit of the inner temple of our hearts, and of the spiritual temple of the Church-each nail, and thread, and splint-might utter that same cry, "Glory to God in the Highest!" The voice of the Lord is mentioned SEVEN times, reminding us of the seven thunders of Revelation 10:3. THE CONCLUSION (Psalms 29:10-11).-God’s supremacy is the subject of these closing words. He sits upon the clouds as on a throne or chariot. He is King of Nature and of Grace. He is in the strength of the storm, and in the halcyon peace that breaks out like a smile, when the storm has passed; and He can give both to his people. It has been truly said that the Psalm begins with Gloria in excelsis! and ends with Pax in terris! "Glory to God" implies "peace on earth."
Psalms 30:1-12 "THOU HAST LIFTED ME UP!"
It becomes the child of God to dedicate to Him the house in which he lives, so that each room of it should be part of His temple, dedicated to His service and used for His glory. David wrote this psalm and song on the occasion referred to in 2 Samuel 5:11. It records the emotions which befitted the transition from the cave of Adullam to the splendor and comfort of a house of cedar.
Psalms 30:1. I will extol Thee!-Lift Him up in song, who has lifted thee up in mercy. Exalt Him, from each eminence to which He has exalted thee.
Psalms 30:2-3. Thou! Thou! Thou!-It may be that David celebrates here his recovery from some deadly sickness. At such times we must not put the physician or remedy in the place of God (2 Chronicles 16:12).
Psalms 30:4-5. Sing! .. and give thanks!-No one saint, though he were a sweet singer like David, always engaged in making melody, could tell forth all God’s praise. In what arrears then must most of us be! Weeping is here personified; she is a lodger, who tarries for the brief Eastern night, and then, veiled, glides out of the house before daybreak. And with the first ray of light joy comes to stay; and there is a shout in the vestibule.
Psalms 30:6-9. I cried to Thee!-When our circumstances are prosperous, we begin to rest in them rather than in God; and we forget Him, by whom alone our mountain is made to stand strong. Then He hides his face. The Chaldee says, "His sheckinah." And the soul, panic-stricken, turns from the creature to the Creator.
Psalms 30:10. "Lord, be Thou my helper," is a prayer which will well befit our life every day. How swiftly the prayer was heard!
Psalms 30:11-12. In these utterances the past tense is used of Him who turneth the shadow of death into morning .. Christ might have used these words of rapture on the Resurrection day. Each penitent may use them. And we shall use them when we have put off the body of our humiliation, and stand before God in his sanctuary (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).