Psalms 115

Psalms 115:1-9

Many ancient translations join this pfalan to that which goes most before it, the Septuagint particulars, and the vulgar Latin; but it is in the Hebrew a distinct pfalan. In it we are taught to give glory, 1. To God, and not to ourselves, ver. 1. 2. To God, and not to idols, ver. 2—8. We must give glory to God, (1.) By trusting to him, and in his promise and blessing, ver. 9—15. (2.) By blessing him, ver. 16—18.

1. NOT unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. 2. Wherefore should the heathen say, “Where is now their God? 3. But our God is in the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he pleased. 4. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 5. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not. 6. They have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not. 7. They have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their throat. 8. They that make them, are like unto them; so is every one that trutheth in them.

The occasion of this pfalan seems to be some difficult of God’s church and people, under which the pfalmsit endeavours to comfort their hearts, encouraging them to exercise faith in God, shewing them the vanity of idols, and engaging them to give him praise for their sure deliverance.

1. He bids the people of God afecibe not to themselves, but to him, the glory of their salvation, as derived from his boundless mercy, and secured by his unchangeable faithfulness and truth, v. 1. Nor, We must be ever in our own eyes nothing, and Christ all in all: to his grace every good in us, or done by us, must be ascribed, and at his feet our crowns in glory will be for ever laid.

2. He answers the taunts of the insulting heathen, who, puffed up with their fuccels, spurned at Israel’s God, as unable to deliver them. But our God is in heaven, and from his throne laughs them to flour; he hath done whatsoever he pleased, able to save or destroy at his sovereign pleasure; whose will is law, his power omnipotent, and restance against it vain. How unlike their bandit vanities! their rock is not as our rock; senfeels idols, the work of man, fashioned after his form, but destitute of his faculties; they can neither hear, nor see, nor speak, nor feel, nor walk; unable to help themselves, much less their votaries, whose adorations prove them stupid, and senfeels as the flock and stone they worship.

3. O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. 10. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. 11. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. 12. The LORD hath been mindful of us, he will bless us, he will bless the house of Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron. 13. He will bless them that fear the LORD, hath small and great. 14. The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children. 15. You are blessed of the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 16. The heaven, even the heavens are the LORD’s; but the earth hath be given to the children of men. 17. The dead praise are the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. 18. But we will bless the LORD, from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.

We have here.

1. The Psalms’ warm profession of his love to God for the mercies he had tailed, and of his determined dependence upon him. I love the Lord, because, but, or, as the words stand in the original, I love, because the Lord hath heard my voice, and my supplications; his gracious considerations in opening his ear to his requests, and speedily answering his desires, affected his soul with deepest gratitude, and engaged him to make the warmest returns of affection, and to persevere in waiting still upon him, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. Note, (1.) Every answer to our prayers is a fresh obligation, and encouragement to pray without ceasing. (2.) That soul is happy that can with David truly say, I love the Lord. (3.) In prayer should our very parting breath expire, and then we shall go where all will be praise.

2. He mentions the deep distress from which God delivered him. The sorrows of death compassed me, such as dying men feel in their agony; the pains of hell, such as arise in the conscience from the sting of guilt, or of the grave, which brought me to its very gates, gat hold upon me, and fessed me as their prey: I found trouble and misery, trouble which come but God could affuage, and misery which he alone could remove. Note, (1.) The faithful are sometimes brought into great distress; a distempered body, and a more afflicted soul, make them groan, being burdened. (2.) Death is terrible indeed, when accompanied with the tears and pains of hell: blessed the God for Jesus Christ, who hath given us the victory over both.

3. His recourse was to God, Then, in the midst of the sorrows I had in my heart, I called upon the name of the Lord, the Saviour of the miserable and desperate, and with importunity pleaded, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul, that must infidely perish, unleth thy power and grace rescue me from destruction. Whenever the sinner thus dies for refuge to the Divine mercy in Christ, he will not be cast away, as,

4. David by blessed experience found. Gracious is the Lord, I have proved him so to my unspeakable comfort, pardoning my guilty, delivering my helpless soul, and righteous; faithful to his promises, and just in all the dissensions of his providence and grace: yea, our God is merciful, infinite in comparisons, as all his people must acknowledge. The Lord preserved the family, those who, without allowed guilt, place on him their dependence: I was brought low, to the very brink of ruin; yet he magnified his grace the more in my deliverance, and he helped me: in consequence of which my soul was delivered from death, from temporal, from eternal death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling into sin, and the pit of death and hell. And cannot every believer witness this by his own blessed experience? but for these comparisons of our God, long since consigned to the grave, our bodies had seen corruption, and our souls had dropped into hell, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of earth. Well may we say, Our God is merciful.

5. He addresses his soul, and bids it now rest in peace, under the guardian care of this gracious God. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; whatever hath troubled thy report, whither af-

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fiction, persecution, temptation, or corruption, since all thy burdens are now cast on the Lord, confidently expect, and quietly wait to the salvation of God, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee in all his past dissensions, and therefore deserved to be trusted for all that is to come. Learn, my soul, thus to reason, and trust still in God!

6. He resolves to devote to God’s service the life preserved by his mercy. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living, seeking to glorify him upon earth, by letting his light shine before men, and willing of his salvation from day to day; or it is expensive of his faith, as looking to that better world where life eternal reigns, and in which he trusted to stand among the redeemed throng, and join their everlasting songs of praise.

7. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted. 11. I said in my haste, “All men are liars. 12. What shall I render unto the LORD, for all his benefits towards me? 13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD, 14. I will pay my vows unto the LORD, now in the presence of all his people. 15. Precious in the sight of the LORD, is the death of his saints. 16. O LORD, truly! I am thy servant, I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid: thou hast looted my bonds. 17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 18. I will pay my vows unto the LORD, now in the presence of all his people: 19. In the courts of the LORD’s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

Psalms 115:9-18

Having exposed the vanities of the heathen, the Pfalmsit, 21.

1. Exhorts God’s people to trust in him. The house of Israel, however distressed; the house of Aaron, the peculiar servants of the sanctuary, and therefore the especial object of the heathen barred: yes, all that fear the Lord, shall find him their help and shield. Their help in every time of need, to deliver them; their shield in every hour of danger, to defend them. Now, They cannot fail, whose faith doth not; this ensures the final victory.

2. Abundant reason there is, why we should trust in him. He hath been mindful of us, as past experience comfortably testifies, and which should engage us still to commit ourselves to him, confident of finding the same kind remembrance, protection, and care. He will bless us with all needful things of this life, and all the spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. He must bless the house of Israel, the congregation of his church in general, and the house of Aaron, his ministers, who labour in the word and doctrine: yes, all that fear the Lord, hath found and great, every individual believer, whatever his circumstances and condition may be, shall find the blessings of providence and grace exactly found to his necessities. The Lord shall increase you more and more, so far as he sees fit with worldly goods, and fuccels in earthly affairs; but especially with that hell increase of the gifts and graces of his spirit, enabling them to bring forth fruit unto God; and the mercy not be theirs alone, but descend upon their children: for you are the blessed of the Lord, and whom he blesseth must be blessed; he who made heaven and earth having all power to communicate the blessings he pronounces on his people.

3. They who trust him will praise him, and find abundant matter for their songs. Great is he, and worthy to be praised; the heaven, even the heavens are the Lord’s, not only the firmament spread over us, but all that is within that veil, secluded from mortal eye; the heaven of heavens, where the angelic hosts take up their abode, and glorified spirits dwell, all own him their creator, preserver, and rightful owner. And good as he is great: the earth hath be given to the children of men, appointed it for their use, and to be enjoyed to his glory and their comfort: justly therefore is the grateful tribute of thanksgiving due, and who shall pay it, if we do not? The dead praise are the Lord, neither any that go down into silence; those who are gone down into the silent grave, can no more join the sacred choir; those who are dead in trespasses and sins, have no heart to praise him. But we, who are maintained in life by the bounties of his providence, and are by his spirit quickened to a better life of grace in our souls; we, as most bounden, will bless the Lord from this time forth for evermore; whilst sojourners below, in this delightful work will we be employed, and when removed to that better world, our service there shall be everlasting praise. Hallerhaph?

PSALM

This is a thanksgiving psalm, wherein he observes, 1. The great distress and danger that he was in, which aloudly drove him to defiance, ver. 3, 10, 11. 2. The application he made to God is that distress, ver. 4. 3. The experience he had of God; goodness to him in answer to prayer; God heard him, ver. 1, 2. pious him, ver. 5, 6. delivered him, ver. 8. 4. His care what acknowledgments he should make of the goodness of God to him, ver. 12. (1.) He will love God, ver. 1. (2.) He will continue to call upon him, ver. 2, 13, 17. (3.) He will rest in him, ver. 7. (4.) He will would before him, ver. 9. (5.) He will pay his sums of thanksgiving, in which he will sum the tender regard God had to him, and this publicity, ver. 13—15, and ver. 17—19. Lastly, He will continue God’s faithful servant to his life; and, ver. 18. These are such breathings of a holy soul as before it very happy.

Heb. In see here. 5, 6. Heb. viii. 6. Heb. ivii. 17. 13.

1. Love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice, and my supplications. 2. Because he hath declined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 3. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. 4. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 5. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous: yea, our God is merciful. 6. The LORD preserved the simple: I was brought low and he helped me. 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. 8. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

Psalms 115:10-19

The Septuagint, and other ancient veritons, here begin a new psalm, but the authority of the original, as well as the connection, shews it to be a part of the time.

1. He declares his unshaken confidence in God. I believed the promises of his grace, of protection here, and glory hereafter, therefore have I spoken, to God in prayer, assured of being heard, to men with boldness, knowing the truth of what he declared. Note, Faith inspires the heart with freedom of speech, and no danger can discourage the faithful minister from proclaiming the gospel truths, nor the faithful christian from the profession of them. See 2 Cor. iv. 13.

2. He owns the discouragements he was under. I was greatly afflicted, persecuted by Saul, reviled, and reduced to the greatest distress: and this is in a measure the lot of all the faithful. I said in my haste, rashly, through the provocation I had received, or in my sight, when pursued by Saul or Abraham, all men are liars, as having basely forsaken and betrayed him. Note, (1.) In fore provocations, and deep afflictions, the faith of God’s strongest saints have been sometimes shaken, and they have spoken unavoidably with their lips. (2.) There is a great difference between a surprise of temptation, and wilful and premeditate sin. The words also will bear a different sense, and speak the language of his triumphant faith in his greatest afflictions, yea, even when an exile, and all detained of ever seeing him return, he would trust God; and though all men concluded it was impossible he should ever come to the throne, he could rest on the promise. Compare Rom. iii. 4.

3. Overwhelmed with the sense of the goodness of God, he seems at a loss how to express the infinite gratitude he owes, v. 12. and resolves in his lips and life for ever to proclaim and exalt his great and glorious name. I will take the cup of salvation; the drink-offerings that should extend his sacrifice of thanksgiving, v. 17. and call upon the name of the Lord, praying to him, and praising him for all his esteem; in public, in the presence of all the people, and the courts of the Lord’s house, praying the vows to make in trouble, glorying in the profession of his deep obligations to the God of his mercies, and encouraging others to the like open professions of his service; nor should his lips only be employed in thanksgiving, his life should be for ever devoted to his service. O Lord, truly! I am thy servant, in all fidelity and zeal; he repeats it to shew the heartiness of his surrenders, I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid, born of pious parents, and from early youth brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord: thou hast looted my bonds; the bonds of sin, corruption, affliction, had bound him; but now let free, he became the servant of God, and his service is the most perfect freedom. Note, (1.) The sacrifice of thanksgiving is the tribute we are ever bound to pay. (2.) To be the servant of God is the most honourable of all mine; so thought Israel’s king. (3.) When grace hath looted the hands of sin, the powerful pleasing cords of love shall for ever bind our hearts to God.

4. He can look forward without fear, or meet death with satisfaction. Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his saints; he will not suffer the wicked to destroy them, preserves them when there seemed to be but a step between them and death; and when in his appointed time the hour arrives of their

2 Cor. iv. 13. Phil. xxii. 10. Rom. iii. 4. Luke xiii. 15. Phil. xxii. 11. Ver. 18. Rom. xxii. 10. PC. lxxvii. 14. Rev. iv. 19. Phil. xxiii. 11. PC. lxxxvi. 18. Lev. vii. 10. Ver. 14. PC. xiv. 35. Psalm-CXVIII

their dislobenion, their last moments shall tell how dear they are to him who fall away in Jesus; yea, even in their graves they shall be remembered by him, and brought forth with glory at a reformation-day.