The Treasury Of David
by C H Spurgeon
Psalm 32
| Exposition | Explanatory Notes And Quaint Sayings | Hints To The Village Preacher | Works Upon This Psalm |
TITLE. A Psalm of David, Maschil.
That David wrote this gloriously evangelic Psalm is proved not only by this heading, but by the words of the apostle
Paul, in Ro 4:6-8. "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, "&c. Probably his deep repentance over his great sin was followed by such blissful peace,
that he was led to pour out his spirit in the soft music of this choice song. In the order of history it seems
to follow the fifty-first. Maschil is a new title to us, and
indicates that this is an instructive or didactic Psalm. The experience of one believer affords rich instruction
to others, it reveals the footsteps of the flock, and so comforts and directs the weak. Perhaps it was important
in this case to prefix the word, that doubting saints might not imagine the Psalm to be the peculiar utterance
of a singular individual, but might appropriate it to themselves as a lesson from the Spirit of God. David promised
in the fifty-first Psalm to teach transgressors the Lord's ways, and here he does it most effectually. Grotius
thinks that this Psalm was meant to be sung on the annual day of the Jewish expiation, when a general confession
of their sins was made.
DIVISION. In our reading we have found
it convenient to note the benediction of the pardoned, Ps 32:1-2; David's personal confession, Ps 32:3-5; and the
application of the case to others, Ps 32:6-7. The voice of God is heard by the forgiven one in Ps 32:8-9; and the
Psalm then concludes with a portion for each of the two great classes of men, Ps 32:10-11.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Blessed.
Like the sermon on the mount on the mount, this Psalm begins with beatitudes. This is the second Psalm of benediction.
The first Psalm describes the result of holy blessedness, the thirty-second details the cause of it. The first
pictures the tree in full growth, this depicts it in its first planting and watering. He who in the first Psalm
is a reader of God's book, is here a suppliant at God's throne accepted and heard. Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven. He is now blessed and ever shall be. Be he ever
so poor, or sick, or sorrowful, he is blessed in very deed. Pardoning mercy is of all things in the world most
to be prized, for it is the only and sure way to happiness. To hear from God's own Spirit the words, "absolvo te" is joy unspeakable. Blessedness is not in this case ascribed
to the man who has been a diligent law keeper, for then it would never come to us, but rather to a lawbreaker,
who by grace most rich and free has been forgiven. Self righteous Pharisees have no portion in this blessedness.
Over the returning prodigal, the word of welcome is here pronounced, and the music and dancing begin. A full, instantaneous,
irreversible pardon of transgression turns the poor sinner's hell into heaven, and makes the heir of wrath a partaker
in blessing. The word rendered forgiven is in the original taken off
or taken away, as a burden is lifted or a barrier removed. What
a lift is here! It cost our Saviour a sweat of blood to bear our load, yea, it cost him his life to bear it quite
away. Samson carried the gates of Gaza, but what was that to the weight which Jesus bore on our behalf? Whose sin is covered. Covered by God, as the ark was covered by the mercyseat,
as Noah was covered from the flood, as the Egyptians were covered by the depths of the sea. What a cover must that
be which hides away for ever from the sight of the all seeing God all the filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit!
He who has once seen sin in its horrible deformity, will appreciate the happiness of seeing it no more for ever.
Christ's atonement is the propitiation, the covering, the making an end of sin; where this is seen and trusted
in, the soul knows itself to be now accepted in the Beloved, and therefore enjoys a conscious blessedness which
is the antepast of heaven. It is clear from the text that a man may know that he is pardoned: where would be the blessedness of an unknown forgiveness? Clearly it is a matter
of knowledge, for it is the ground of comfort.
Verse 2. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity. The
word blessed is in the plural, oh, the blessednesses! the double joys, the bundles of happiness, the mountains of delight! Note the three words so often used
to denote our disobedience: transgression, sin, and iniquity, are the three headed dog at the gates of hell, but
our glorious Lord has silenced his barkings for ever against his own believing ones. The trinity of sin is overcome
by the Trinity of heaven. Non imputation is of the very essence of pardon: the believer sins, but his sin is not
reckoned, not accounted to him. Certain divines froth at the mouth with rage against imputed righteousness, be
it ours to see our sin not imputed, and to us may there be as Paul words it, "Righteousness imputed without
works." He is blessed indeed who has a substitute to stand for him to whose account all his debts may be set
down. And in whose spirit there is no guile. He who is pardoned,
has in every case been taught to deal honestly with himself, his sin, and his God. Forgiveness is no sham, and
the peace which it brings is not caused by playing tricks with conscience. Self deception and hypocrisy bring no
blessedness, they may drug the soul into hell with pleasant dreams, but into the heaven of true peace they cannot
conduct their victim. Free from guilt, free from guile. Those who are justified from fault are sanctified from
falsehood. A liar is not a forgiven soul. Treachery, double dealing, chicanery, dissimulation, are lineaments of
the devil's children, but he who is washed from sin is truthful, honest, simple, and childlike. There can be no
blessedness to tricksters with their plans, and tricks, and shuffling, and pretending: they are too much afraid
of discovery to be at ease; their house is built on the volcano's brink, and eternal destruction must be their
portion. Observe the three words to describe sin, and the three words to represent pardon, weigh them well, and
note their meaning. (See note at the end.)
Verses 3-5. David now gives us his own experience: no instructor
is so efficient as one who testifies to what he has personally known and felt. He writes well who like the spider
spins his matter out of his own bowels.
Verse 3. When I kept silence. When through neglect I failed to confess, or through despair dared not do so, my
bones, those solid pillars of my frame, the stronger portions of my bodily constitution,
waxed old, began to decay with weakness, for my grief was so
intense as to sap my health and destroy my vital energy. What a killing thing is sin! It is a pestilent disease!
A fire in the bones! While we smother our sin it rages within, and like a gathering wound swells horribly and torments
terribly. Through my roaring all the
day long. He was silent as to confession, but not as to sorrow. Horror at his great guilt,
drove David to incessant laments, until his voice was no longer like the articulate speech of man, but so full
of sighing and groaning, that it resembled to hoarse roaring of a wounded beast. None knows the pangs of conviction
but those who have endured them. The rack, the wheel, the flaming fagot are ease compared with the Tophet which
a guilty conscience kindles within the breast: better suffer all the diseases which flesh is heir to, than lie
under the crushing sense of the wrath of almighty God. The Spanish inquisition with all its tortures was nothing
to the inquest which conscience holds within the heart.
Verse 4. For day and night thy hand
was heavy upon me. God's finger can crush us--what must his hand be, and that pressing
heavily and continuously! Under terrors of conscience, men have little rest by night, for the grim thoughts of
the day dog them to their chambers and haunt their dreams, or else they lie awake in a cold sweat of dread. God's
hand is very helpful when it uplifts, but it is awful when it presses down: better a world on the shoulder, like
Atlas, than God's hand on the heart, like David. My moisture is
turned into the drought of summer. The sap of his soul was dried,
and the body through sympathy appeared to be bereft of its needful fluids. The oil was almost gone from the lamp
of life, and the flame flickered as though it would soon expire. Unconfessed transgression, like a fierce poison,
dried up the fountain of the man's strength and made him like a tree blasted by the lightning, or a plant withered
by the scorching heat of a tropical sun. Alas! for a poor soul when it has learned its sin but forgets its Saviour,
it goes hard with it indeed. Selah. It was time to change the
tune, for the notes are very low in the scale, and with such hard usage, the strings of the harp are out of order:
the next verse will surely be set to another key, or will rehearse a more joyful subject.
Verse 5. I acknowledged my sin unto
thee. After long lingering, the broken heart bethought itself of what it ought to have
done at the first, and laid bare its bosom before the Lord. The lancet must be let into the gathering ulcer before
relief can be afforded. The least thing we can do, if we would be pardoned, is to acknowledge our fault; if we
are too proud for this we double deserve punishment. And mine
iniquity have I not hid. We must confess the guilt as well as
the fact of sin. It is useless to conceal it, for it is well known to God; it is beneficial to us to own it, for
a full confession softens and humbles the heart. We must as far as possible unveil the secrets of the soul, dig
up the hidden treasure of Achan, and by weight and measure bring out our sins. I said. This was his fixed resolution. I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord. Not to my fellow men or to the high priest, but unto Jehovah; even in those days of symbol the faithful
looked to God alone for deliverance from sin's intolerable load, much more now, when types and shadows have vanished
at the appearance of the dawn. When the soul determines to lay low and plead guilty, absolution is near at hand;
hence we read, And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Not
only was the sin itself pardoned, but the iniquity of it; the virus of its guilt was put away, and that at once,
so soon as the acknowledgment was made. God's pardons are deep and thorough: the knife of mercy cuts at the roots
of the ill weed of sin. Selah. Another pause is needed, for
the matter is not such as may be hurried over.
"Pause, my soul, adore and wonder,
Ask, O why such love to me?
Grace has put me in the number
Of the Saviour's family.
Hallelujah!
Thanks, eternal thanks, to thee."
Verse 6. For this shall every one that
is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. If the psalmist means that on account of God's mercy
others would become hopeful, his witness is true. Remarkable answers to prayer very much quicken the prayerfulness
of other godly persons. Where one man finds a golden nugget others feel inclined to dig. The benefit of our experience
to others should reconcile us to it. No doubt the case of David has led thousands to seek the Lord with hopeful
courage who, without such an instance to cheer them, might have died in despair. Perhaps the psalmist meant for this favour or the like all godly souls would seek, and here, again, we
can confirm his testimony, for all will draw near to God in the same manner as he did when godliness rules their
heart. The mercy seat is the way to heaven for all who shall ever come there. There is, however, a set time for
prayer, beyond which it will be unavailing; between the time of sin and the day of punishment mercy rules the hour,
and God may be found, but when once the sentence has gone forth pleading will be useless, for the Lord will not
be found by the condemned soul. O dear reader, slight not the accepted time, waste not the day of salvation. The
godly pray while the Lord has promised to answer, the ungodly postpone their petitions till the Master of the house
has risen up and shut to the door, and then their knocking is too late. What a blessing to be led to seek the Lord
before the great devouring floods leap forth from their lairs, for then when they do appear we shall be safe. Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not
come nigh unto him. The floods shall come, and the waves shall rage, and toss themselves
like Atlantic billows; whirlpools and waterspouts shall be on every hand, but the praying man shall be at a safe
distance, most surely secured from every ill. David was probably most familiar with those great land floods which
fill up, with rushing torrents, the beds of rivers which at other times are almost dry: these overflowing waters
often did great damage, and, as in the case of the Kishon, were sufficient to sweep away whole armies. From sudden
and overwhelming disasters thus set forth in metaphor the true suppliant will certainly be held secure. He who
is saved from sin has no need to fear anything else.
Verse 7. Thou art my hiding place. Terse, short sentences make up this verse, but they contain a world of meaning. Personal claims upon
our God are the joy of spiritual life. To lay our hand upon the Lord with the clasp of a personal "my"
is delight at its full. Observe that the same man who in the fourth verse was oppressed by the presence of God,
here finds a shelter in him. See what honest confession and full forgiveness will do! The gospel of substitution
makes him to be our refuge who otherwise would have been our judge. Thou shalt preserve
me from trouble. Trouble shall do me no real harm when the Lord is with me, rather it
shall bring me much benefit, like the file which clears away the rust, but does not destroy the metal. Observe
the three tenses, we have noticed the sorrowful past, the last sentence was a joyful present, this is a cheerful
future. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. What a golden sentence! The man is encircled in song, surrounded
by dancing mercies, all of them proclaiming the triumphs of grace. There is no breach in the circle, it completely
rings him round; on all sides he hears music. Before him hope sounds the cymbals, and behind him gratitude beats
the timbrel. Right and left, above and beneath, the air resounds with joy, and all this for the very man who, a
few weeks ago, was roaring all the day long. How great a change! What wonders grace has done and still can do!
Selah. There was a need of a pause, for love so amazing needs
to be pondered, and joy so great demands quiet contemplation, since language fails to express it.
Verse 8. I will instruct thee and teach
thee in the way which thou shalt go.
Here the Lord is the speaker, and gives the psalmist an answer to his prayer. Our Saviour is our instructor. The
Lord himself deigns to teach his children to walk in the way of integrity, his holy word and the monitions of the
Holy Spirit are the directors of the believer's daily conversation. We are not pardoned that we may henceforth
live after our own lusts, but that we may be educated in holiness and trained for perfection. A heavenly training
is one of the covenant blessings which adoption seals to us: "All thy children shall be taught by the Lord."
Practical teaching is the very best of instruction, and they are thrice happy who, although they never sat at the
feet of Gamaliel, and are ignorant of Aristotle, and the ethics of the schools, have nevertheless learned to follow
the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. I will guide thee with mine eye.
As servants take their cue from the master's eye, and a nod or a wink is all that they require, so should we obey
the slightest hints of our Master, not needing thunderbolts to startle our incorrigible sluggishness, but being
controlled by whispers and love touches. The Lord is the great overseer, whose eye in providence overlooks everything.
It is well for us to be the sheep of his pasture, following the guidance of his wisdom.
Verse 9. Be ye not as the horse, or
as the mule, which have no understanding.
Understanding separates man from a brute--let us not act as if we were devoid of it. Men should take counsel and
advice, and be ready to run where wisdom points them the way. Alas! we need to be cautioned against stupidity of
heart, for we are very apt to fall into it. We who ought to be as the angels, readily become as the beasts. Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
It is much to be deplored that we so often need to be severely chastened before we will obey. We ought to be as
a feather in the wind, wafted readily in the breath of the Holy Spirit, but alas! we lie like motionless logs,
and stir not with heaven itself in view. Those cutting bits of affliction show how hard mouthed we are, those bridles
of infirmity manifest our headstrong and wilful manners. We should not be treated like mules if there was not so
much of the ass about us. If we will be fractious, we must expect to be kept in with a tight rein. Oh, for grace
to obey the Lord willingly, lest like the wilful servant, we are beaten with many stripes. Calvin renders the last
words, "Lest they kick against thee, "a version more probable and more natural, but the passage is confessedly
obscure--not however, in its general sense.
Verse 10. Many sorrows shall be to
the wicked. Like refractory horses and mules, they have many cuts and bruises. Here and
hereafter the portion of the wicked is undesirable. Their joys are evanescent, their sorrows are multiplying and
ripening. He who sows sin will reap sorrow in heavy sheaves. Sorrows of conscience, of disappointment, of terror,
are the sinner's sure heritage in time, and then for ever sorrows of remorse and despair. Let those who boast of
present sinful joys, remember the shall be of the future and
take warning. But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Faith is here placed as the opposite of wickedness, since it is the source of virtue. Faith in God is
the great charmer of life's cares, and he who possesses it, dwells in an atmosphere of grace, surrounded with the
bodyguard of mercies. May it be given to us of the Lord at all times to believe in the mercy of God, even when
we cannot see traces of its working, for to the believer, mercy is as all surrounding as omniscience, and every
thought and act of God is perfumed with it. The wicked have a hive of wasps around them, many sorrows; but we have a swarm of bees storing honey
for us.
Verse 11. Be glad. Happiness is not only our privilege, but our duty. Truly we serve a generous God, since he makes it a
part of our obedience to be joyful. How sinful are our rebellious murmurings! How natural does it seem that a man
blest with forgiveness should be glad! We read of one who died at the foot of the scaffold of overjoy at the receipt
of his monarch's pardon; and shall we receive the free pardon of the King of kings, and yet pine in inexcusable
sorrow? "In the Lord." Here is the directory by which
gladness is preserved from levity. We are not to be glad in sin, or to find comfort in corn, and wine, and oil,
but in our God is to be the garden of our soul's delight. That there is a God and such a God, and that he is ours,
ours for ever, our Father and our reconciled Lord, is matter enough for a never ending psalm of rapturous joy.
And rejoice, ye righteous, redouble your rejoicing, peal upon peal. Since God has clothed his choristers in the white garments of
holiness, let them not restrain their joyful voices, but sing aloud and shout as those who find great spoil. And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. Our happiness should be demonstrative; chill penury of love often represses the noble flame of joy, and
men whisper their praises decorously where a hearty outburst of song would be far more natural. It is to be feared
that the church of the present day, through a craving for excessive propriety, is growing too artificial; so that
enquirers' cries and believers' shouts would be silenced if they were heard in our assemblies. This may be better
than boisterous fanaticism, but there is as much danger in the one direction as the other. For our part, we are
touched to the heart by a little sacred excess, and when godly men in their joy over leap the narrow bounds of
decorum, we do not, like Michal, Saul's daughter, eye them with a sneering heart. Note how the pardoned are represented
as upright, righteous, and without guile; a man may have many faults and yet be saved, but a false heart is everywhere
the damning mark. A man of twisting, shifty ways, of a crooked, crafty nature, is not saved, and in all probability
never will be; for the ground which brings forth a harvest when grace is sown in it, may be weedy and waste, but
our Lord tells us it is honest and good ground. Our observation
has been that men of double tongues and tricky ways are the least likely of all men to be saved: certainly where
grace comes it restores man's mind to its perpendicular, and delivers him from being doubled up with vice, twisted
with craft, or bent with dishonesty. Reader, what a delightful Psalm! Have you, in perusing it, been able to claim
a lot in the goodly land? If so, publish to others the way of salvation.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Title. The term Maschil is prefixed to thirteen Psalms. Our translators have not ventured to do more, in the text, than simply print the word in English characters; in the margin however they render it, as the Geneva version had done before them, "to
give instruction." It would be going too far to affirm that this interpretation is subject to no doubt. Some
good Hebraists take exception to it; so that, perhaps, our venerable translators did well to leave it untranslated.
Still the interpretation they have set down in the margin, as it is in the most ancient, so it is sustained by
the great preponderance of authority. It agrees remarkably with the contents of the thirty-second Psalm, which
affords the earliest instance of its use, for that Psalm is preeminently didactic. Its scope is to instruct the
convicted soul how to obtain peace with God, and be compassed about with songs of deliverance. William Binnie, D.D., in "The Psalms: Their History, Teachings, and Use, "1870.
Whole Psalm. This is a Didactic Psalm, wherein David teacheth
sinners to repent by his doctrine, who taught them to sin by his example. This science is universal and pertaineth
to all men, and which necessarily we must all learn; princes, priests, people, men, women, children, tradesmen;
all, I say, must be put to this school, without which lesson all others are unprofitable. But to the point. This
is a mark of a true penitent, when he hath been a stumbling block to others, to be as careful to raise them up
by his repentance as he was hurtful to them by his sin; and I never think that man truly penitent who is ashamed
to teach sinners repentance by his own particular proof. The Samaritan woman, when she was converted, left her
bucket at the well, entered the city, and said, "Come forth, yonder is a man who hath told me all that I have
done." And our Saviour saith to St. Peter, "When thou art converted, strength thy brethren." Joh
4:29 Lu 22:32. St. Paul also after his conversion is not ashamed to call himself chiefest of all sinners, and to
teach others to repent of their sins by repenting for his own. Happy, and thrice happy, is the man who can build
so much as he hath cast down. Archibald Symson.
Whole Psalm. It is told of Luther that one day being asked which
of all the Psalms were the best, he made answer, "Psalmi Paulini, " and when his friends pressed to know which these might be, he said, "The 32nd, the 51st, the 130th,
and the 143rd. For they all teach that the forgiveness of our sins comes, without the law and without works, to
the man who believes, and therefore I call them Pauline Psalms; and David sings, `There is forgiveness with thee,
that thou mayest be feared, 'this is just what Paul says, `God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might
have mercy upon all.' Ro 11:32. Thus no man may boast of his own righteousness. That word, `That thou mayest be
feared, 'dusts away all merit, and teaches us to uncover our heads before God, and confess gratia
est, non meritum: remissio, non satisfactio; it is mere forgiveness, not merit at all." Luther's Table Talk.
Whole Psalm. Some assert that this Psalm used to be sung on
the day of expiation. Robert Leighton.
The Penitential Psalms. When Galileo was imprisoned by the Inquisition
at Rome, for asserting the Copernican System, he was enjoined, as a penance, to repeat the Seven Penitential Psalms
every week for three years. This must have been intended as extorting a sort of confession from him of his guilt,
and acknowledgment of the justice of his sentence; and in which there certainly was some cleverness and, indeed,
humour, however adding to the iniquity (or foolishness) of the proceeding. Otherwise it is not easy to understand
what idea of painfulness or punishment the good fathers could attach to a devotional exercise such as this, which,
in whatever way, could only have been agreeable and consoling to their prisoner. M. Montague,
in "The Seven Penitential Psalms in Verse...with an Appendix
and Notes," 1844.
Verse 1. Blessed.
Or, O blessed man; or, Oh, the felicities of that man! to denote the most supreme and perfect blessedness. As the
elephant, to denote its vast bulk, is spoken of in the plural number, Behemoth. Robert Leighton.
Verse 1. Notice, this is the first Psalm, except the first of
all, which begins with Blessedness. In the first Psalm we have the blessing of innocence, or rather, of him who
only was innocent: here we have the blessing of repentance, as the next happiest state to that of sinlessness.
Lorinus, in Neale's Commentary.
Verse 1. Blessed is the man, saith David, whose sins are pardoned,
where he maketh remission of sins to be true felicity. Now there is no true felicity
but that which is enjoyed, and felicity cannot be enjoyed unless it be felt; and it cannot be felt unless a man
know himself to be in possession of it; and a man cannot know himself to be in possession of it, if he doubt whether
he hath it or not; and therefore this doubting of the remission of sins is contrary to true felicity, and is nothing
else but a torment of the conscience. For a man cannot doubt whether his sins be pardoned or not, but straightway,
if his conscience be not seared with a hot iron, the very thought of his sin will strike a great fear into him;
for the fear of eternal death, and the horror of God's judgment will come to his remembrance, the consideration
of which is most terrible. William Perkins.
Verse 1. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Get your sins hid. There is a covering of sin which proves a curse.
Pr 28:13. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; "there is a covering it, by not confessing it, or which is worse, by denying it--Gehazi's covering--a covering of sin by a
lie; and there is also a covering of sin by justifying ourselves in it. I have not done this thing; or, I did no
evil in it. All these are evil coverings: he that thus covereth his sin shall not prosper. But there is a blessed covering of sin: forgiveness of sin is the hiding it out of sight, and
that's the blessedness. Richard Alleine.
Verse 1. Whose transgression is forgiven. We may lull the soul asleep with carnal delights, but the virtue of that opium will be soon spent. All
those joys are but stolen waters, and bread eaten in secret--a poor sorry peace that dares not come to the light
and endure the trial; a sorry peace that is soon disturbed by a few serious and sober thoughts of God and the world
to come; but when once sin is pardoned, then you have true joy indeed. "Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven
thee." Mt 9:2. Thomas Manton.
Verse 1. Forgiven. Holy David, in the front of this Psalm shows us wherein true happiness consists: not in beauty, honour,
riches (the world's trinity), but in the forgiveness of sin. The Hebrew word to forgive,
signifies to carry out of sight; which well agrees with that Jer 50:20. "In those
days, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah,
and they shall not be found." This is an incomprehensible blessing, and such as lays a foundation for all
other mercies. I shall but glance at it, and lay down these five assertions about it. 1. Forgiveness is an act
of God's free grace. The Greek word to forgive, deciphers the
original of pardon; it ariseth not from anything inherent in us, but is the pure result of free grace. Isa 43:25.
"I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake." When a creditor forgives a
debtor, he doeth it freely. Paul cries out, "I obtained mercy." 1Ti 1:13. The Greek signifies, "I
was be-mercied; "he who is pardoned, is all bestrewed with mercy. When the Lord pardons a sinner, he doth
not pay a debt, but gives a legacy.
2. God in forgiving sin, remits the guilt and penalty. Guilt cries for justice: no sooner had Adam eaten the apple,
but he saw the flaming sword, and heard the curse; but in remission God doth indulge the sinner; he seems to say
thus to him: Though thou art fallen into the hands of my justice, and deserve to die, yet I will absolve thee,
and whatever is charged upon thee shall be discharged.
3. Forgiveness of sin is through the blood of Christ. Free grace is the impulsive cause; Christ's blood is the
meritorious. "Without shedding of blood is no remission." Heb 9:22. Justice would be revenged either
on the sinner or the surety. Every pardon is the price of blood.
4. Before sin is forgiven, it must be repented of. Therefore repentance and remission are linked together. "That
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name." Lu 24:47. Not that repentance doth in a
Popish sense merit forgiveness; Christ's blood must wash our tears; but repentance is a qualification, though not
a cause. He who is humbled for sin will the more value pardoning mercy.
5. God having forgiven sin, he will call it no more into remembrance. Jer 31:34. The Lord will make an act of indemnity,
he will not upbraid us with former unkindnesses, or sue us with a cancelled bond. "He will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea." Mic 7:19. Sin shall not be cast in as a cork which riseth up again, but as lead
which sinks to the bottom. How should we all labour for this covenant blessing! Thomas
Watson.
Verse 1. Sin is covered. Every man that must be happy, must have something to hide and cover his sins from God's eyes; and nothing
in the world can do it, but Christ and his righteousness, typified in the ark of the covenant, whose cover was
of gold, and called a propitiatory, that as it covered the tables that were within the ark, so God covers our sins
against those tables. So the cloud covering the Israelites in the wilderness, signified God's covering us from
the danger of our sins. Thomas Taylor's "David's Learning: or the Way to True Happiness."
1617.
Verse 1. Sin covered. This covering hath relation to some nakedness and
filthiness which should be covered, even sin, which defileth us and maketh us naked. Why, saith Moses to Aaron,
hast thou made the people naked? Ex 32:25. The garments of our merits are too short and cannot cover us, we have
need therefore to borrow of Christ Jesus his merits and the mantle of his righteousness, that it may be unto us
as a garment, and as those breeches of leather which God made unto Adam and Eve after their fall. Garments are
ordained to cover our nakedness, defend us from the injury of the weather, and to adorn us. So the mediation of
our Saviour serveth to cover our nakedness, that the wrath of God seize not upon us--he is that "white raiment"
wherewith we should be clothed, that our filthy nakedness may not appear--to defend us against Satan--he is "mighty
to save, "etc. --and to be an ornament to decorate us, for he is that "wedding
garment:" "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." Re 3:18 Isa 63:1 Mt 22:11
Ro 13:14. Archibald Symson.
Verse 1. The object of pardon--about which it is conversant,
is set forth under diverse expressions--iniquity, transgression, and
sin. As in law many words of like import and signification are
heaped up and put together, to make the deed and legal instrument more comprehensive and effectual. I observe it
the rather, because when God proclaims his name the same words are used, Ex 34:7, "Taking away iniquity, transgressions,
and sin." Well, we have seen the meaning of the expression. Why doth the holy man of God use such vigour and
vehemency of inculcation. "Blessed is the man!" and
again, "Blessed is the man!" Partly with respect to
his own case. David knew how sweet it was to have sin pardoned; he had felt the bitterness of sin in his own soul,
to the drying up of his blood, and therefore he doth express his sense of pardon in the most lively terms. And
then, partly, too, with respect to those for whose use this instruction was written, that they might not look upon
it as a light and trivial thing, but be thoroughly apprehensive of the worth of so great a privilege. Blessed,
happy, thrice happy they who have obtained pardon of their sins, and justification by Jesus Christ. Thomas Manton.
Verses 1-2. In these verses four evils are mentioned; 1. -- Transgression, (evp) pesha.
2. Sin, (hajx) chataah. 3. --Iniquity,
(Nwe) avon. 4. -- Guile, (hymd) remiyah.
The first signifies the passing over
a boundary, doing what is prohibited. The second signifies the missing of a mark, not doing what was
commanded; but it is often taken to express sinfulness, or sin
in the nature, producing transgression in the life. The third
signifies what is turned out of its proper course or situation; anything
morally distorted or perverted. Iniquity,
what is contrary to equity or justice. The fourth signifies
fraud, deceit, guile, etc. To remove these evils, three acts are mentioned: forgiving, covering, and not imputing.
1. TRANSGRESSION, (evp) pesha,
must be forgiven, (ywsn)
nesui, borne away, i.e., by a vicarious sacrifice; for bearing sin, or bearing away sin, always implies this.
2. SIN, (hajx) chataah,
must be covered, (ywob) kesui, hidden
from the sight. It is odious and abominable, and must be put out of sight.
3. INIQUITY, (Nwe) avon,
what is perverse or distorted, must not be imputed, (bsxyal) lo yachshobh, must not be
reckoned to his account.
4. GUILE, (hymd) remiyah,
must be annihilated from the soul. In whose spirit there is no GUILE. The man whose transgression is forgiven; whose sin is hidden, God having cast
it as a millstone into the depths of the sea; whose iniquity and perversion is not reckoned to his account; and
whose guile, the deceitful and desperately wicked heart, is
annihilated, being emptied of sin, and filled with righteousness, is necessarily a happy man. Adam
Clarke.
Verses 1-2. Transgression. Prevarication. Some understand by it sins of omission and commission.
Sin. Some understand those inward inclinations, lusts, and motions,
whereby the soul swerves from the law of God, and which are the immediate cause of external sins.
Iniquity. Notes original sin, the root of all.
Levatus, forgiven, eased, signifies to take away, to bear, to
carry away. Two words in Scripture are chiefly used to denote remission, to expiate, to bear or carry away: the
one signifies the manner whereby it is done, namely, atonement, the other the effect of this expiation, carrying
away; one notes the meritorious cause, the other the consequent.
Covered. Alluding to the covering of the Egyptians in the Red
Sea. Menochius thinks it alludes to the manner of writing among the Hebrews, which he thinks to be the same with
that of the Romans; as writing with a pencil upon wax spread upon tables, which when they would blot out they made
the wax plain, and drawing it over the writing, covered the former letters. And so it is equivalent with that expression
of "blotting out sin, "as in the other allusion it is with "casting sin into the depths of the sea."
Impute. Not charging upon account. As sin is a defection from
the law, so it is forgiven; as it is offensive to God's holiness, so it is covered; as it is a debt involving man
in a debt of punishment, so it is not imputed; they all note the certainty, and extent, and perfection of pardon:
the three words expressing sin here, being the same that are used by God in the declaration of his name. Stephen Charnock.
Verses 1-2, 6-7. Who is blessed? Not he who cloaks, conceals,
confesses not his sin. As long as David was in this state he was miserable. There was guile in his spirit Ps 32:2
misery in his heart, his very bones waxed old, his moisture was dried up as the drought in summer Ps 32:3-4. Who
is blessed? He that is without sin, he who sins not, he who grieves no more by his sin the bosom on which he reclines.
This is superlative blessedness, its highest element the happiness of heaven. To be like God, to yield implicit,
ready, full, perfect obedience, the obedience of the heart, of our entire being; this is to be blessed above all
blessedness. But among those who live in a world of sin, who are surrounded by sin, who are themselves sinners,
who is blessed? He whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered, to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity;
and especially does he feel it to be so, who can, in some degree, enter into the previous
state of David's soul Ps 32:3-4. Ah, in what a wretched state was the psalmist previously to this blessedness!
How must sin have darkened and deadened his spiritual faculties, to have guile in the spirit of one who could elsewhere
exclaim, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked
way in me, " any way of pain or grief, any way of sin which most surely leads to these. Ps 139:23-34. What
a mournful condition of soul was his, who while he roared all the day long, yet kept silence before God, had no
heart to open his heart unto God, was dumb before him, not in submission to his will, not in accepting the punishment
of his iniquity Le 26:46, not in real confession, and honest, upright, and sincere acknowledgment of his iniquity
to him against whom he had committed it. "I kept silence, "not merely I was silent, "I kept silence, "resolutely,
perseveringly; I kept it notwithstanding all the remembrance of my past mercies, notwithstanding my reproaches
of conscience, and my anguish of heart. I kept it notwithstanding "thy hand was heavy
upon me day and night, "notwithstanding
"my moisture, "all that was spiritual in me, my vital
spirit, all that was indicative of spiritual life in my soul, seemed dried up and gone. Yes, Lord, notwithstanding
all this, I kept it. But Nathan came, thou didst send him. He
was to me a messenger full of reproof, full of faithfulness, but full of love. He came with thy word, and with
the word of a King there was power. I acknowledged my sin unto him, and my iniquity did I not hide, but this was
little. Against thee, thee only, did I sin, and to thee was my confession made. I acknowledged my sin unto thee,
O Lord. I solemnly said that I would do so, and I did it. I confessed my transgression unto the Lord, "and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Behold the man who is blessed; blessed in the state of his mind,
his guileless spirit, his contrite heart, the fruit of the spirit of grace; blessed in the forgiveness of a forgiving
God; a forgiveness, perfect, entire, lacking nothing, signified by sin "covered, ""iniquity not
imputed" of the Lord; blessed in the blessings which followed it. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Beneath
the hollow of that hand which was once so heavy upon me, I can now repose. Thou art my hiding place, I dread thee
no more; nay, I dwell in thee as my habitation, and my high tower, my covert, my safety, my house. Safe in thy
love, whatever trouble may be my portion, and by the mouth of Nathan thy servant thou hast declared that trouble
shall be my portion, I shall yet be preserved; yea, more, so fully wilt thou deliver me that I believe thou wilt
encompass me so with the arms of thy mercy, as to call forth songs of grateful praise for thy gracious interposition.
Behold, the blessedness of him whom God forgives! No wonder, then, that the psalmist adds, for
this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time
when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters
they shall not come nigh unto him. As much as if he had said, Surely after this thy gracious
conduct towards me, all that truly love and fear thee, every one that is godly, when
he hears of thy dealings with me, "will pray unto thee." Encouraged by my example, he will not keep silence as I foolishly
and sinfully did, but will confess and supplicate before thee, since thou art to be "found,
"and hast so wondrously shown that thou art, of all that truly seek thee, since
there is the place of finding, as I lay my hand upon the victim,
and look through that victim to him the promised Seed; since there is the time of finding, declared in thy word, and manifested by the secret drawing of my heart to thee by thy grace;
since the unwillingness is not in thee, but in thy sinning creature to come to thee; for
this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, then, however deep the water floods may be, however fierce the torrent, and headlong the stream, they
shall not even come nigh unto him, much less shall they overwhelm him. James Harrington
Evans, M.A., 1785-1849.
Verse 2. Unto whom the Lord imputeth
not iniquity. Aben Ezra paraphrases it, of whose sins God does
not think, does not regard them, so as to bring them into judgment, reckoning them as
if they were not; ou me logizetai does
not count or calculate them; does not require for them the debt of punishment. To us
the remission is entirely free, our Sponsor having taken upon him the whole business of paying the ransom. His
suffering is our impunity, his bond our freedom, and his chastisement our peace; and therefore the prophet says,
"The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed." Robert
Leighton.
Verse 2. In whose spirit there is no
guile. In the saint's trouble, conscience is full of Scripture sometimes, on which it
grounds its verdict, but very ill interpreted. Oh, saith the poor soul, this place is against me! Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not
iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Here, saith he, is a description of
a sincere soul, to be one in whose spirit there is no guile; but I find much guile in me, therefore I am not the
sincere one. Now this is a very weak, yea, false inference. By a spirit without guile, is not meant a person that
hath not the least deceitfulness and hypocrisy remaining in his heart. To be without sin, and to be without guile,
in this strict sense are the same--a prerogative here on earth peculiar to the Lord Christ 1Pe 2:22, "Who
did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." And therefore when we meet with the same phrase attributed
to the saints, as to Levi, Mal 2:6; "Iniquity was not found in his lips; "and to Nathanael, Joh 1:47:
"Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile!" we must sense it in an inferior way, that may suit
with their imperfect state here below, and not put that which was only Christ's crown on earth, and is the glorified
saint's robe in heaven, on the weak Christian while militant here on earth, not only with a devil without, but
with a body of sin within him. Wipe thine eyes again, poor soul, and then if thou readest such places, wherein
the Spirit of God speaks so highly and hyperbolically of his saint's grace, thou shalt find he doth not assert
the perfection of their grace, free from all mixture of sin, but rather to comfort poor drooping souls, and cross
their misgiving hearts, which, from the presence of hypocrisy, are ready to overlook their sincerity as none at
all, he expresses his high esteem of their little grace, by speaking of it as if it were perfect, and their hypocrisy
none at all. William Gurnall.
Verse 2. In whose spirit there is no
guile. When once pardon is realized, the believer has courage to be truthful before God:
he can afford to have done with guile in the spirit. Who would
not declare all his debts when they are certain to be discharged by another? Who would not declare his malady when
he was sure of a cure? True faith knows not only that guile
before God is impossible, but also that it is no longer necessary. The believer has nothing to conceal: he sees
himself as before God, stripped, and laid open, and bare; and if he has learned to see himself as he is, so also
has he learned to see God as he reveals himself. There is no guile in the spirit of one who is justified by faith;
because in the act of justification truth has been established in his inward parts. There is no guile in the spirit
of him who sees the truth of himself in the light of the truth of God. For the truth of God shows him at once that
in Christ he is perfectly righteous before God, and in himself he is the chief of sinners. Such a one knows he
is not his own, for he is bought with a price, and therefore he is to glorify God. There is no guile in the spirit
of him whose real object is to glorify Christ and not himself. But when a man is not quite true to Christ, and
has not quite ceased to magnify self, there may be guile, for he will be more occupied with thoughts about himself
than with the honour of Christ. But if the truth, and honour, and glory of Christ be his supreme care, he may leave
himself out of the question, and, like Christ, "O commit himself to him that judgeth righteously." J. W. Reeve, M.A., in "Lectures on the Thirty-second Psalm," 1860.
Verse 2. No guile. Sincerity is that property to which pardoning mercy is annexed. True, indeed, it is that Christ covers
all our sins and failings; but it is only the sincere soul over which he will cast his skirt. Blessed
is he whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. None will doubt this; but which is the man? The next words
tell us his name; And in whose spirit
there is no guile. Christ's righteousness is the garment which covers the nakedness and
shame of our unrighteousness; faith the grace that puts this garment on; but what faith? None but the faith unfeigned,
as Paul calls it. 2Ti 1:5. "Here is water, "said the eunuch, "what doth hinder me to be baptized?"
Ac 8:36. Now mark Philip's answer, Ac 8:37, "If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest; "as
if he had said, Nothing but an hypocritical heart can hinder thee. It is the false heart only that finds the door
of mercy shut. William Gurnall.
Verse 2. Guile.
The guile of the spirit is an inward corruption in the soul of man, whereby he dealeth deceitfully with himself
before God in the matter of salvation. Thomas Taylor.
Verse 3. My bones waxed old. God sports not at the sins of his elect, but outwardly doth deal with them more hardly, and chastise
them more rigorously than he doth the reprobate. David's troubles and pains were partly external, partly internal:
external I call those that were cast on his body; internal upon his conscience. And in the body were torments and
vexations, seizing sometimes on his flesh-- which was less painful--sometimes on his bones, which was more grievous,
yea, almost intolerable, as experience teacheth. And this is God's just recompense; when we bestow our strength
on sin, God abates it, and so weakens us. Samson spent his strength on Delilah, but to what weakness was he brought!
Let us, therefore, learn, that God hath given us bones and the strength thereof for another use, that is, to serve
him, and not waste or be prodigal of them in the devil's service. Archibald Symson.
Verse 3. My bones waxed old. By bones, the strength of the body, the inward strength and vigour of the soul is meant. The conscience
of sin, and the terror of judgment doth break the heart of a true penitent, so long as he beholdeth his sin deserving
death, his judge ready to pronounce the sentence of it, hell open to receive him for it, and the evil angels, God's
executioners, at hand to hurry him to it. Samuel Page, in "David's Broken Heart,
"1646.
Verse 3. My bones waxed old through
my roaring all the day long. David here not only mourns for sin as a man, but he roars,
as it were, like a pained beast. He seems fitter for a wilderness to cry out, than for a secret chamber to weep
in; at other times he can "water his couch" in the night, now he "roars" all the day long; at other times, "his moisture
is dried, "now his "bones, "the pillars of his
house shake and wax old. Alexander Carmichael, 1677.
Verse 4. Thy hand. A correcting hand, whereby God scourges and buffets
his own children. Now the sense of God's power punishing or correcting, is called God's hand, as 1Sa 5:11. The
hand of God was sore at Ekron, because of the ark; and a heavy
hand in resemblance, because when men smite they lay their hand heavier than ordinary. Hence, we may note three
points of doctrine: first, that all afflictions are God's hand; secondly, that God lays his hand heavily often
upon his dear children; thirdly, that God often continues his heavy hand night and day on them. Thomas Taylor.
Verse 4. My moisture is turned into
the drought of summer. Another meaning may be attributed to these words. We may suppose
the psalmist to be referring to spiritual drought. Charles H. Bingham, B.A., in "Lectures on the Thirty-second Psalm," 1836.
Verse 4. My moisture is turned into
the drought of summer. The summer is from the middle of August to the middle of November.
The intensity of the heat is great, and almost intolerable...Up to the beginning or middle of September there are
no showers, rain being as scarce in summer as snow...The dry grass of the fields sometimes takes fire, and produces
desolating conflagrations, and the parched earth is cleft and broken into chasms. John
Eadie, D.D., LL.D., in Biblical Cyclopaedia, 1868.
Verse 4. The drought of summer. Dr. Russell, in his account of the weather at Aleppo, which very much resembles that of Judea, says that
the verdure of the spring fades before the middle of May, and before the end of that month the whole country puts
on so parched and barren an aspect that one would scarce think it capable of producing anything, there being but
very few plants that have vigour enough to resist the extreme heat. Thomas Harmer's "Observations,"
1775.
Verse 4. The drought of summer. During the twelve years from 1846 to 1859 only two slight showers fell in Jerusalem between the months
of May and October. One fell in July, 1858, another in June 1859. Dr. Whitty's "Water
Supply of Jerusalem," quoted in Kitto's Cyclopaedia.
Verse 4. If God striketh those so sore whom he favoureth, how
sharply and sore will he strike them whom he favoureth not. Gregory.
Verses 4-5. If our offences have been not gnats, but camels,
our sorrow must be not a drop, but an ocean. Scarlet sins call for bloody tears; and if Peter sin heinously he
must weep bitterly. If, then, thy former life hath been a cord of iniquity, twisted with many threads, a writing
full of great blots, a course spotted with various and grievous sins, multiply thy confessions and enlarge thy
humiliation; double thy fastings and treble thy prayers; pour out thy tears, and fetch deep sighs; in a word, iterate
and aggravate thy acknowledgments, though yet, as the apostle saith in another case, I say in this, "Grieve
not as without hope, "that upon thy sincere and suitable repentance divine goodness will forgive thee thy
sins. Nathanael Hardy.
Verse 5. I acknowledged my sin unto
thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.
The godly man is ingenuous in laying open his sins. The hypocrite doth vail and smother his sin; he doth not abscindere peccatum, but
abscondere; like a patient that hath some loathsome disease
in his body, he will rather die than confess his disease; but a godly man's sincerity is seen in this--he will
confess and shame himself for sin. "Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly." 2Sa 24:17. Nay, a child
of God will confess sin in particular; an unsound Christian will confess sin by wholesale; he will acknowledge
he is a sinner in general, whereas David doth, as it were, point with his finger to the sore: "I have done
this evil" Ps 51:4; he doth not say I have done evil, but this evil. He points at his blood guiltiness. Thomas Watson.
Verse 5. I said, I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Be thine own
accuser in the free confession of thy sins. Peccavi pater (as
the prodigal child), "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight." For it fares not in the
court of heaven as it doth in our earthly tribunals. With men a free confession makes way for a condemnation; but
with God, the more a sinner bemoans his offence, the more he extenuates the anger of his Judge. Sin cannot but
call for justice, as it is an offence against God; yet, when once it is a wound to the soul it moveth him to mercy
and clemency. Wherefore as David having but resolved to confess his sins, was accosted eftsoon with an absolution:
so, Tu agnosce, et Dominus ignoscet (Augustine.) Be thou unfeigned
in confessing, and God will be faithful in forgiving. 1Jo 1:9. Only let confessio peccati be professo desinendi (Hilary.) --the acknowledgment of thy sin an obligation to leave it; and then thou mayest build upon
it. "He that confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercy." Pr 28:13. Isaac Craven's
Sermon at Paul's Cross, 1630
Verse 5. I said, I will confess, etc. Justified persons, who have their sins forgiven, are yet bound to confess sin to God...There are
many queries to be dispatched in the handling of this point. The first query is, what are the reasons why persons
justified and pardoned are yet bound to make confession of sin unto God in private? The reasons are six. First,
they are to confess sin unto God because holy confession gives a great deal of ease and holy quiet unto the mind
of a sinner: concealed and indulged guilt contracts horror and dread on the conscience. Secondly, because God loves
to hear the complaints and the confessions of his own people. Lying on the face is the best gesture, and the mourning
weed the best garment that God is well pleased with. A third reason is, because confession of sin doth help to
quicken the heart to strong and earnest supplication to God (see Ps 32:6). Confession is to the soul as the whetstone
is to the knife, that sharpens it and puts an edge on it; so doth confession of sin. Confessing thy evils to God
doth sharpen and put an edge on thy supplication; that man will pray but faintly that doth confess sin but slightly.
A fourth reason is, because confession of sin will work a holy contrition and a godly sorrow in the heart. Ps 38:18.
Declaration doth work compunction. Confession of sin is but the causing of sin to recoil on the conscience, which
causeth blushing and shame of face, and grief of heart. A fifth reason is, because secret confession of sin doth
give a great deal of glory to God. It gives glory to God's justice. I do confess sin, and do confess God in justice
may damn me for my sin. It gives glory to God's mercy. I confess sin, yet mercy may save me. It gives glory to
God's omniscience. In confessing sin I do acknowledge that God knoweth my sin. A sixth reason why justified persons
must confess sin unto God is, because holy confession of sin will embitter sin, and endear Christ to them, when
a man shall let sin recoil on his conscience, by a confession. Condensed from Christopher
Love's "Soul's Cordial," 1683.
Verse 5. I said, I will confess...and
thou forgavest. It remaineth as a truth, remission is undoubtedly annexed to confession.
Tantum valent tres syllabae PEC-CA-VI, saith St. Austin, of
so great force are those three syllables in the Latin, three words in the English, when uttered with a contrite
heart, "I have sinned." Nathanael
Hardy.
Verse 5. Thou forgavest the iniquity
of my sin. This sin seems very probably to have been his adultery with Bathsheba, and
murder of Uriah. Now David, to make the pardoning mercy of God more illustrious, saith he did not only forgive
his sin, but the iniquity of his sin; and what was that? Surely the worst that can be said of that, his complicated sin, is that
there was so much hypocrisy in it, he woefully juggled with God and man in it; this, I do not doubt to say, was
the iniquity of his sin, and put a colour deeper on it than
the blood which he shed. And the rather--I lay the accent there--because God himself, when he would set out the
heinousness of this sin, seems to do it rather from the hypocrisy in the fact than the fact itself, as appears
by the testimony given this holy man 1Ki 15:5: "David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and
turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah
the Hittite." Were there not other false steps which David took beside this? Doth the Spirit of God, by excepting
this, declare his approbation of all that else he ever did? No, sure the Spirit of God records other sins that
escaped this eminent servant of the Lord; but all those are drowned here, and this mentioned is the only stain
of his life. But why? Surely because there appeared less sincerity, yea, more hypocrisy in this one sin than in
all his others put together; though David in them was wrong as to the matter of his actions, yet his heart was
more right in the manner of committing them. But here his sincerity was sadly wounded, though not to the total
destruction of the habit, yet to lay it in a long swoon, as to any actings thereof. And truly the wound went very
deep when that grace was stabbed in which did run the life blood of all the rest. We see, then, God hath reason,
though his mercy prompted him, yea, his covenant obliged him, not to let his child die of this wound, yet so to
heal it that a scar might remain upon the place, a mark upon the sin, whereby others might know how odious hypocrisy
is to God. William Gurnall.
Verse 5. Thou forgavest the iniquity
of my sin. We must observe the matter forgiven, and the manner of forgiving. The matter forgiven is
the iniquity of his sin. It is disputed what is here meant by
iniquity, whether culpa or paena. Some understand paenam,
and think that an allusion is made in this word unto the message of Nathan, wherein God
doth remit the heaviest stroke of his wrath, but yet retains some part in punishing the child, and permitting Absalom
to rebel and abuse king David's concubines: so Theodoret, Deus non condigna paena Davidem
punivit. Some understand culpam, and
will have this phrase to be an amplification of that, as if superbia defendens, or taciturnitas celans, or impietas
contra Deum assurgens, or some such great guilt were meant by this phrase. But as I do
not censure these opinions, which may well stand, so I think the phrase looks back into that word which was in
the confession. The sin confessed was (evp) and this is but an analysis of this word; for (ytajx Nwe), what is it, word for word, but the perverseness
of my aberration? (hajx) is an aberration from the scope or mark whereat we aim; all men
aim at felicity, but most men stray from it, because they are not led by the law that guides unto it, the violating
whereof is called (hajx) But some do stray out of
mere ignorance, and they only break the law; some out of stubbornness, which will not submit themselves to the
Lawgiver; these men's sin is called perverseness, which God
is said here to forgive. So that David did not confess more against himself than God includes in his pardon. Well
may God exceed our desire; he never doth come short thereof if it do concern our spiritual, our eternal good. As
he doth exclude no sinner that doth confess, so doth he except against no sin that is confessed. Arthur Lake.
Verse 6. For this shall every one that
is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found,
etc. Seeing he is such a God, who should refuse or delay his return! Surely every rational
and pious mind will, without delay, invoke so gentle and mild a Lord; will pray to him
while he is exorable, or, as the Hebrew expresses it, in a time
of finding. For he who promises pardon, does not promise tomorrow. There are tempora fandi --certain times in which he may be spoken with, and a certain
appointed day of pardon and of grace, which if a man by stupid perverseness despise, or by sloth neglect, surely
he is justly overwhelmed with eternal might and misery, and must necessarily perish by the deluge of divine wrath;
since he has contemned and derided that Ark of salvation which was prepared, and in which whoever enters into it
shall be safe, while the world is perishing. Robert Leighton.
Verse 6. For this shall every one that
is godly pray to thee, saith David. For this! What? Because of his sins. And who? Not the most wicked, but the godly, in this respect, have cause to pray. And for what should he pray? Surely, for renewed pardon, for increase
of grace, and for the perfection of glory. We cannot say we have no sin. Oh, then let us pray with David, "Enter
not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord!" Where there is a double emphasis observable, it is not ab hoste, but a servo. Though
God's servant, yet he would not have God to enter into judgment with him. And again, ne
intres, it is the very entrance into judgment that he dreads, and prayeth against; not
only do not proceed, but do not so much as enter. Nathanael Hardy.
Verse 6. For this shall every one that
is godly. We are here furnished with a fact which does not appear in the history of David.
It is commonly supposed that after his grievous fall, till Nathan reproved him, he had been careless and stupefied;
and this has often been adduced as a proof of the hardening nature of sin. But the thing was far otherwise. He
was all the while tortured in his mind, yet unwilling to humble himself before God, and condemn himself before
men, as he ought to have done. He kept silence and endeavoured to pass off the distress by time, palliation, and
excuse. But the repression and concealment of his anguish preyed not only upon his peace, but his health, and endangered
life itself. At length he was reduced to the deepest penitence, and threw himself, by an unqualified confession,
on the compassion of God. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee. Here we see not only that all the godly pray,
but every one of them prays for pardon. This is the very thing which our Saviour teaches his disciples: "When
ye pray, say, Forgive us our trespasses." And this praying does not only regard the manifestation of forgiving
mercy, as some would have it, but the exercise of it. William Jay.
Verse 6. Godly.
A godly man is like God, he hath the same judgment with God! he thinks of things as God doth; he hath a God like
disposition; he partakes of the divine nature. 2Pe 1:4. A godly man doth bear God's name and image: godliness is
God likeness. Thomas Watson.
Verse 6. A time.
There be seasons, which, if taken, sweeten actions, and open the door for their better entertainment: Pr 25:11,
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver; "the Hebrew is, A word spoken upon
its wheels: fit times and seasons are wheels to carry words with great advantage. And so for actions; when things
are done in due time they are beautiful, acceptable. When God gives rain to a land in season, how acceptable is
it! when a tree bears fruit in its season, it is grateful: so when angels or men do things seasonably, it is pleasing
to the Lord Christ: there are fit times, which, if we miss, actions are unlovely, and miss of their aims. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee
in a time when thou mayest be found. There are times, if we have the wisdom to discern
them, when prayer will be seasonable, acceptable, effectual. William Greenhill.
Verse 6. Surely in the floods of great
waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
The effects of prayer heretofore have been wonderful. Prayer hath sent down hailstones from heaven to overcome
five kings with their armies. Prayer hath shut up the windows of heaven that it should not rain, and again hath
opened them that the earth might give her increase. Prayer hath stayed the swift course of the sun and caused it
to go backward fifteen degrees. Prayer hath held God's hands that he could not strike when he was ready to plague
his people. Prayer without any other help or means hath thrown down the strong walls of Jericho. Prayer hath divided
the sea that the floods thereof could not come near the Israelites. In this place it delivereth the faithful man
from all the dangers of this world. Surely in the floods of many waters they shall not
come nigh unto him. The sum is this,
That no calamity of this world, no troubles of this life, no terrors of death, no guiltiness of sin, can be so
great, but that a godly man by means of his faith and felicity
in Christ shall wade out of them well enough. For howsoever other things go, still he shall have such a solace
in his soul, such a comfort in his conscience, such a heaven in his heart, knowing himself reconciled to God and
justified by faith, that, Surely in the floods
of many waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Which, that it may better appear, I
shall desire you to observe two things, the danger, the deliverance. The danger is in these words, In the floods of many waters; where
the tribulations that the godly man is subject to in this life are likened, first, to waters;
then to many waters; thirdly, to a
flood of many waters. The deliverance is in these words, Surely they shall not come near him; where the deliverance of the godly man hath three degrees also. First, "they shall not come near; "secondly, him, "they
shall not come near him; "then, surely--"surely they shall not come near him." Thomas Playfere.
Verse 6. The floods of great waters. The afflictions of the faithful are likened to waters.
Fire and water have no mercy, we say. But of the two water is the worst. For any fire may be quenched with water;
but the force of water, if it begins to be violent, cannot by any power of man, be resisted. But these our tribulations
which are waters are "many waters." Our common proverb is, "Seldom comes sorrow alone:" but as waters come rolling
and waving many together, so the miseries of this life. Thomas Playfere.
Verse 6. Floods of great waters. Unfamiliar with the sudden flooding of thirsty water courses, we seldom comprehend the full force of
the most striking images in the Old and New Testaments. W.J. Conybeare, and J.S. Howson,
in "Life and Epistles of St. Paul."
Verse 6. In the floods, etc. Washed he may be, as Paul was in the shipwreck, but not drowned with those floods of great waters:
be they never so great they are bounded. Joseph Trapp.
Verse 6. Him.
This word must in no case be omitted; it helpeth us to answer a very strong objection. For it may be said, Many
holy men have lost their goods, have suffered great torments in their body, have been troubled also in mind; how
then did not the "floods of many waters" come near them? The word him helps us to answer. The very philosophers themselves reckoned their goods pertained no more to them,
than, be it spoken with reverence and regard, the parings of their nails. Zenon hearing news he had lost all he
had by sea, said only thus, Thou hast done very well, Fortune, to leave me nothing but my cloak. Another, called
Anaxarchus, when as Nicocreon the tyrant commanded he should be beaten to death in a mortar, spake thus to the
executioner, Beat and bray as long as thou wilt Anaxarchus his bag or satchel (so he called his own body), but
Anaxarchus thou canst not touch. Yet these, making so small reckoning of their goods and body, set their minds
notwithstanding at a high rate. The mind of a man is himself, say they. Hence it is that Julius Caesar, when Amyclas
the pilot was greatly afraid of the tempest, spake to him thus: What meanest thou to fear, base fellow? dost thou
not know thou carriest Caesar with thee? As if he should say, Caesar's body may well be drowned, as any other man's
may; but his mind, his magnanimity, his valour, his fortitude, can never be drowned. Thus far went philosophy;
but divinity goeth a degree further. For philosophy defines him, that
is, a man, by his reason, and the moral virtues of the mind; but divinity defines a Christian man by his faith,
and his conjunction thereby with Christ. Excellently saith Saint Austin: Whence comes it that the soul dieth? Because
faith is not in it. Whence that the body dieth? Because a soul is not in it. Therefore the soul of thy soul is
faith. So that if we would know what is a faithful man, we must define him, not by his natural soul, as he is reasonable,
but by the soul of his soul, which is his faith. And then we easily answer the objection, that a flood may come
near a faithful man's goods, near his body, near his reasonable soul; but to his faith, that is, to HIM, it can
never come near. Thomas Playfere.
Verse 6. Few verses in the Psalms are harder to be understood
than this: and none has given rise to more varied expositions among the commentators. For
this. Some will have it: encouraged by this example, that after so foul a fall God so
readily forgave. Others again: for this, namely, warned by this
example, they who are holy shall make their prayers that they may not be permitted to fall as David did. Whichever
be the sense, they well argue from this passage, that the state of absolute and enduring perfection is impossible
to a Christian in this life. Lorinus, and Cajetan (1469-1534),
quoted by Neale.
Verse 7. Thou art my hiding place. David does not say, "Thou art a hiding place" merely, as one among many; or the "hiding place, "as the only one; but, "Thou art my hiding place." There
lies all the excellency of the text. "He is mine; I have
embraced the offer of his salvation, "says David; "I have applied to him in my own person: I have, as
a sinner, taken shelter in his love and compassion; I have placed myself under his wings; I have covered myself
with the robe of his righteousness; and now, therefore, I am safe." "Blessed is the man whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered." This is having a part and a lot in the matter, having the personal and
individual benefit of the Saviour's work of atonement. How different is an appropriating from a speculative faith! Men tell us that they believe
the doctrine, that they acknowledge the truth, that they assent to our creed; and they say, that to declare to
them the character of Christ as the sinner's only help and safety, is merely putting before them what they already
know. Now, follow up the idea suggested by the figure in our text, and see the folly and danger of acting thus.
Suppose a traveller upon a bleak and exposed heath to be alarmed by the approach of a storm. He looks out for shelter.
But if his eye discern a place to hide him from the storm, does he stand still and say, "I see there is a shelter, and therefore I may remain where I am"? Does he not betake
himself to it? Does he not run, in order to escape the stormy wind and tempest? It was a "hiding place"
before; but it was his hiding place only when he ran into it,
and was safe. Had he not gone into it, though it might have been a protection to a thousand other travellers who
resorted there, to him it would have been as if no such place existed. Who does not see at once, from this simple
illustration, that the blessings of the gospel are such only in their being appropriated to the soul? The physician can cure only by being
applied to; the medicine can heal only by being taken; money can enrich only by being possessed; and the merchantman in the parable would have been none the wealthier for discovering that there was a
"pearl of great price, "had he not made it his. So
with the salvation of the gospel: if Christ is the "Balm in Gilead, "apply the remedy; if he is the "physician there, "go to him; if he is the "pearl of great price,
"sell all that you have and buy it; and if he is the "hiding
place, "run into it and be safe; there will be no solid
joy and peace in the mind until he is your "hiding place."
Fountain Elwin, 1842.
Verse 7. Thou art my hiding place. An allusion, probably, to the city of refuge. Adam Clarke.
Verse 7. Hiding place. Kirke White has a beautiful hymn upon this word, beginning, "Awake, sweet harp of Judah, wake."
We have no room to quote it, but it will be found in "Our Own Hymn Book, "No. 381.
Verse 7. Thou shalt preserve me from
trouble. If we content ourselves with that word which our translators have chosen here,
trouble, we must rest in one of these two senses; either that
God shall arm, and indue those that are his with such a constancy, as those things that trouble others shall not
trouble them; but, "As the sufferings of Christ abound in them, so their consolation also aboundeth by Christ:"
"As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor,
yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things" 2Co 1:5 6:9; for God uses both these
ways in the behalf of his servants--sometimes to suspend the working of that that should work their torment, as
he suspended the rage of the lions for Daniel, and the heat of the fire in the furnace for the others; sometimes
by imprinting a holy stupefaction and insensibleness in the person that suffers; so St. Lawrence was not only patient,
but merry and facetious when he lay broiling upon the fire, and so we read of many other martyrs that have been
less moved, less affected with their torments than their executioners or their persecutors have been. That which
troubled others never troubled them; or else the phrase must have this sense, that though they be troubled with
their troubles, though God submit them so far to the common condition of men, that they be sensible of them, yet
he shall preserve them from that trouble so as that it shall never overthrow them, never sink them into a dejection
of spirit, or diffidence in his mercy! they shall find storms, but a stout and strong ship under foot; they shall
feel thunder and lightning, but garlands of triumphant bays shall preserve them; they shall be trodden into earth
with scorns and contempt, but yet as seed is buried, to multiply to more. So far this word of our translators assists
our devotion, Thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt
make me insensible of it, or thou shalt make me victorious in it. John Donne.
Verse 7. Thou shalt compass me about
with songs of deliverance. In these words the prophet David riseth up by a gradation,
and goeth beyond that which he had formerly said concerning his confidence in God. First, he had said that God
was his hiding place; secondly, that he would preserve him in trouble; and now, thirdly, that the Lord would make him joyful, and to triumph over his troubles and enemies, by compassing him, instead
of troubles, with mercies... Learn to acknowledge God's goodness to thyself with particular application, as David
saith here, "Thou shalt compass me about with songs of
deliverance." Not only confess his goodness to others, as to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; nor only his deliverance
of Noah, Daniel, Lot; but also his mercies to and deliverance of thyself, as Paul did: "Christ gave himself
for me, and died for me." Ga 2:20. This will exceedingly whet up thankfulness; whereas only to acknowledge God good in himself,
or to others, and not to thyself, will make thee murmur and repine. Thomas Taylor.
Verse 7. Thou shalt compass me about. This word imports, that as we are besieged on every side with troubles, so we are compassed with as many
comforts and deliverances; as our crosses grow daily, so our consolations are augmented day by day. We are on every
side offended and on every side defended; therefore we ought on every side to sound God's praise, as David saith,
"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me." Ps 103:1. Archibald
Symson.
Verse 7. Songs of deliverance. In that he will not be content only with thanks, but also will have them conjoined with songs, he letteth us see how high all the strings of his heart are bent that
he cannot contain himself for the mercies of God to his church, and for his manifold deliverances for the same.
Many sing praises to God with an half open mouth; and, albeit, they can sing aloud any filthy ballad in their house,
they make the mean, I warrant you, in the church, that scarce can they hear the sound of their own voice. I think
they be ashamed to proclaim and show forth God's praises, or they fear to deafen God by their loud singing; but
David bent all his forces within and without to praise his God. Archibald Symson.
Verse 8. I will instruct thee and teach
thee in the way which thou shalt go.
No other than God himself can undertake so much as is promised in the text. For here is faith, a rectifying of
the understanding, I will instruct thee, and in the original
there is somewhat more than our translation reaches to; it is there, Intelligere faciam
te, I will make thee understand. Man can instruct, God only can make us understand. And
then it is Faciam te, I will make thee, thee understand; the work is the
Lord's, the understanding is the man's: for God does not work in man as the devil did in idols and in pythonissis, and in ventriloquis, in possessed persons, who had no voluntary concurrence with the action of the devil, but were merely passive;
God works so in man as that he makes man work too, faciam te, I
will make thee understand; that that shall be done by me, but in thee; the power that rectifies the act is God's,
the act is man's; Faciam te, says God, I will make thee, thee,
every particular person (for that arises out of this singular and distributive word, thee,
which threatens no exception, no exclusion), I will make every person to whom I present
instruction, capable of that instruction; and if he receive it not, it is only his, and not my fault. And so this
first part is an instruction de credendis, of such things, as
by God's rectifying of our understanding we are bound to believe. And then, in a second part, there follows a more
particular instructing, Docebo, "I will teach thee, "and that in via, "in the way;
"it is not only de via, to teach
thee which is the way, that thou mayest find it, but in via, how
to keep the way when thou art in it; he will teach thee, not only ut gradiaris, that you may walk in it and not sleep, but quomodo gradieris, that you may walk in it and not stray; and so this second part is an institution de
agendis, of those things which, thine understanding being formerly rectified, and deduced
into a belief, thou art bound to do. And then in the last words of the text, I will guide
thee with mine eye, there is a third part, and establishment, a confirmation by an incessant
watchfulness in God; he will consider, consult upon us (for so much the original word imports), he will not leave
us to contingencies, to fortune; no, nor to his own general providence, by which all creatures are universally
in his protection and administration, but he will ponder us, consider us, study us; and that with his eye, which
is the sharpest and most sensible organ and instrument, soonest feels if anything be amiss, and so inclines him
quickly to rectify us; and so this third part is an instruction de sperandis, it hath evermore a relation to the future, to the constancy and perseverance of God's goodness towards
us; to the end, and in the end he will guide us with his eye: except the eye of God can be put out we cannot be
put out of his sight and his care. So that, both our freight which we are to take in, that is, what we are to believe
concerning God; and the voyage which we are to make, how we are to steer and govern our course, that is, our behaviour
and conversation in the household of the faithful; and then the haven to which we must go, that is, our assurance
of arriving at the heavenly Jerusalem, are expressed in this chart, in this map, in this instruction, in this text.
John Donne.
Verse 8. This threefold repetition, I
will instruct thee, I will teach thee, I will guide thee, teaches us three properties of a good teacher. First, to make the people understand the way of salvation;
secondly, to go before them; thirdly, to watch over them and their ways. Archibald Symson.
Verse 8. The way.
If we compare this way with all other ways, it will whet our care to enter into and continue in it; for, first,
this is the King's highway, in which we have promise of protection.
Ps 91:11. Secondly, God's ways are the cleanest of all. 2Sa
22:31. Thirdly, God's ways are the rightest ways; and, being
rightest, they be also the shortest ways. Ho 14:9. Fourthly,
God's ways are most lightsome and cheerful. Pr 3:17. Therefore,
God's ways being the safest, cleanest, rightest, shortest, and lightsomest ways, we must be careful to walk in
them. Condensed from Thomas Taylor.
Verse 8. I will guide thee with mine
eye. We read in natural story (A reviewer remarks upon the bad natural history which
we quote. We reply that to alter it would be to spoil the allusions, and we are making a book for men, not for
babes. No person in his senses is likely at this day to believe the fables which in former ages passed current
for facts.), of some creatures, Qui solo oculorum aspectu fovent ova (Pliny), which hatch their eggs only by looking upon them. What cannot
the eye of God produce and hatch in us? Plus est quod probatur aspectu, quam quod sermone (Ambrose.) A man may seem to commend
in words, and yet his countenance shall dispraise. His word infuses good purposes into us; but if God continue
his eye upon us it is a further approbation, for he is a God of pure eyes, and will not look upon the wicked. "This
land doth the Lord thy God care for, and the eyes of the Lord are always upon it from beginning of the year, even
to the end thereof." De 11:12. What a cheerful spring, what a fruitful autumn hath that soul, that hath the
eye of the Lord always upon her! The eye of the Lord upon me makes midnight noon; it makes Capricorn Cancer, and
the winter's the summer's solstice; the eye of the Lord sanctifies, nay, more than sanctifies, glorifies all the
eclipses of dishonour, makes melancholy cheerfulness, diffidence assurance, and turns the jealousy of the sad soul
into infallibility...This guiding us with his eye manifests itself in these two great effects; conversion to him,
and union with him. First, his eye works upon ours; his eye turns ours to look upon him. Still it is so expressed
with an Ecce; "Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon all
them that fear him; "his eye calls ours to behold that; and then our eye calls upon his, to observe our cheerful
readiness...When, as a well made picture doth always look upon him that looks upon it, this image of God in our
soul is turned to him, by his turning to it, it is impossible we should do any foul, any uncomely thing in his
presence...The other great effect of his guiding us with his eye, is, that it unites us to himself; when he fixes
his eye upon us, and accepts the return of ours to him, then he "keeps" us as the "apple" of
his "eye." Zec 2:8 ...These are the two great effects of his guiding us by his eye, that first, his eye
turns us to himself, and then turns us into himself; first, his eye turns ours to him, and then, that makes us
all one with himself, so as that our afflictions shall be put upon his patience, and our dishonours shall be injurious
to him; we cannot be safer than by being his; but thus we are not only his, but he; to every persecutor, in every
one of our behalf, he shall say, Cur me? Why persecutest thou
me? And as he is all power, and can defend us, so here he makes himself all eye, which is the most tender part,
and most sensible of our pressures. Condensed from John Donne.
Verse 8. I will guide thee with mine
eye. Margin, I will counsel thee, mine eye shall
be upon thee. The margin expresses the sense of the Hebrew.
The literal meaning is, "I will counsel thee; mine eyes
shall be upon thee." De Wette: "my eye shall be directed towards thee." The idea is that of one who is telling another what way he is to take in order that he may reach a certain place;
and he says he will watch him, or will keep an eye upon him; he will not let him go wrong. Albert
Barnes.
Verse 8. Mine eye. We may consider mercies as the beamings of the Almighty's eye, when the light of his countenance is lifted
up upon us; and that man as guided by the eye, whom mercies attract and attach to his Maker. But oh! let us refuse
to be guided by the eye, and it will become needful that we be curbed with the hand. If we abuse our mercies, if
we forget their Author, and yield him not gratefully the homage of our affections, we do but oblige him, by his
love for our souls, to apportion us disaster and trouble. Complain not, then, that there is so much of sorrow in
your lot; but consider rather how much of it you may have wilfully brought upon yourselves. Listen to the voice
of God. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way in which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye --mine eye, whose glance
gilds all that is beautiful, whose light disperses all darkness, prevents all danger, diffuses all happiness. And
why, then, is it that ye are sorely disquieted? why is it that "fear and the pit" are so often upon you;
that one blessing after another disappears from your circle; and that God seems to deal with you as with the wayward
and unruly, on whom any thing of gentleness would be altogether lost? Ah! if you would account for many mercies
that have departed, if you would insure permanence to those that are yet left, examine how deficient you may hitherto
have been, and strive to be more diligent for the future, in obeying an admonition which implies that we should
be guided by the soft lusters of the eye, if our obduracy did not render indispensable the harsh constraints of
the rein. Henry Melvill.
Verse 9. Be ye not as the horse, or
as the mule, etc. How many run mad of this cause, inordinate and furious lusts! The prophet
Jeremiah, Jer 2:24, compares Israel to "a swift dromedary, traversing her ways, "and to "a wild
ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure." Be ye not,
said the psalmographer, "as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding:
whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle." Men have understanding, not beasts; yet when the frenzy
of lust overwhelms their senses, we may take up the word of the prophet and pour it on them: "Every man is
a beast by his own knowledge." And therefore "man that is in honour and understandeth not, is like unto
beasts that perish" Ps 49:20. Did not the bridle of God's overruling providence restrain their madness, they
would cast off the saddle of reason, and kick nature itself in the face. Thomas Adams.
Verse 9. Be ye not as the horse, or
as the mule, etc. According to the several natures of these two beasts, the fathers and
other expositors have made several interpretations; at least, several allusions. They consider the horse and the
mule to admit any rider, any burden, without discretion or difference, without debate or consideration; they never
ask whether their rider be noble or base, nor whether their load be gold for the treasure, or roots for the market.
And those expositors find the same indifference in an habitual sinner to any kind of sin; whether he sin for pleasure,
or sin for profit, or sin but for company, still he sins. They consider in the mule, that one of his parents being
more ignoble than the other, he is like the worst, he hath more of the ass than of the horse in him; and they find
in us, that all our actions and thoughts taste more of the more ignoble part of the earth than of heaven. St. Hierome
thinks fierceness and rashness to be presented in the horse, and sloth in the mule. And St. Augustine carries these
two qualities far; he thinks that in this fierceness of the horse the Gentiles are represented, which ran far from
the knowledge of Christianity; and by the laziness of the mule the Jews, who came nothing so fast, as they were
invited by their former helps to the embracing thereof. They have gone far in these allusions and applications;
and they might have gone as far further as it had pleased them; they have sea room enough, that will compare a
beast and a sinner together; and they shall find many times, in the way, the beast the better man. John Donne.
Verse 9. Be ye not as the horse, or
as the mule, etc. Consider the causes why a broken leg is incurable in a horse, and easily
curable in a man. The horse is incapable of counsel to submit himself to the farrier; and therefore in case his
leg be set he flings, flounces, and flies out, unjointing it again by his misemployed mettle, counting all binding
to be shackles and fetters unto him: whereas a man willingly resigns himself to be ordered by the surgeon, preferring rather to be a prisoner for some days, than a cripple all
his life. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no
understanding; but "let patience have its perfect work
in thee." Jas 1:4. Thomas Fuller.
Verse 9. Bit and bridle (Norw-ntk) The LXX render the first of
these two words by calinw, the second by kemw. The word calinos signifies the iron of the common bridle, which is put into the horse's mouth, the bit, or curb. But kemoz was something like a muzzle, which was put upon mischievous
horses or mules to keep them from biting. Xenephon says, that it allowed them to breathe, but kept the mouth shut,
so that they could not bite. Not knowing the term of art for this contrivance, I call it a muzzle. The verb (brq) is a military term, and signifies to advance, as an enemy,
to attack. The "coming near, "therefore, intended here, is a coming near to do mischief. The admonition
given by the psalmist to his companions, is to submit to the instruction and guidance graciously promised from
heaven, and not to resemble, in a refractory disposition, those ill conditioned colts which are not to be governed
by a simple bridle; but, unless their jaws are confined by a muzzle, will attack the rider as he attempts to mount,
or the groom as he leads them to the pasture and the stable. Samuel Horsley.
Verse 9. Lest they come near unto thee. The common version of this clause would be suitable enough in speaking of a wild beast, but in reference
to a mule or a horse the words can only mean, because they will not follow or obey thee of their own accord; they
must be constantly coerced, in the way both of compulsion and restraint. J. A. Alexander.
Verse 9. "Be ye not like a horse or mule, which have no
understanding, and whose ornament is a bridle and bit, to hold them: they do not come unto thee of themselves." Charles Carter, in "The Book
of Psalms." 1869. A new Translation.
Verse 10. He that trusteth in the Lord,
mercy shall compass him about. Even
as in the midst of the sphere is the centre, from which all lines being drawn do tend towards their circumference:
so a good Christian man hath God for his circumference; for whatever he thinketh, speaketh, or doth, it tendeth
to Christ, of whom he is compassed round about. Robert Cawdray.
Verse 10. Mercy shall compass him about. He shall be surrounded with mercy--as one is surrounded
by the air, or by the sunlight. He shall find mercy and favour everywhere--at home, abroad; by day, by night; in
society, in solitude; in sickness, in health; in life, in death; in time, in eternity. He shall walk amidst mercies;
he shall die amidst mercies; he shall live in a better world in the midst of eternal mercies. Albert
Barnes.
Verse 10. "Mark that text, "said Richard Adkins to
his grandson Abel, who was reading to him the thirty-second Psalm. "Mark that text, `He that trusteth in the
Lord, mercy shall compass him about.' I read it in my youth and believed it; and now I read it in my old age, thank
God, I know it to be true. Oh! it is a blessed thing in the midst of the joys and sorrows of the world, Abel, to
trust in the Lord." The Christian Treasury, 1848.
Verse 11. Be glad in the Lord, and
rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright
in heart. This exhortation containeth three parts. First, what he doth exhort unto, to rejoice. Secondly, whom,
the righteous, and upright men. Thirdly, the limitation, in the Lord. He exhorteth
them three times--be glad, rejoice, and be joyful; and as he made mention of a threefold blessing, so doth he of
a threefold joy. Wherein we have two things necessary to be observed. First the dulness of our natures, who as
slow horses need many spurs and provocations to spiritual things, whereas we are naturally overmuch bent to carnal
things, that we need no incitations thereunto. But by the contrary in spiritual things, we are cast into a deep
sleep, who cannot be awakened at the first cry; but as men after drink have need to be roused often, that they
may behold the light; so men drunken with the pleasures of sin, as Nazianzen saith, must be wakened by divers exhortations;
as this same prophet in the subsequent Psalm redoubles his exhortations for the same effect. And the apostle to
the Philippians saith: "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, rejoice, "Php 4:4. Next, perceive
that this exhortation grows: for the word be glad, properly
in the original signifieth an inward and hearty joy, by the presence or hope at least of a thing desirable or good.
The word rejoice, to express our joy by some outward gesture,
sometimes used for dancing, as, "The hills skip for gladness." Ps 65:12. The word be
joyful, to cry for gladness, as the dumb man's tongue shall sing. This gradation teacheth
us, that this is the nature of spiritual joy--that it still increaseth in us by certain degrees, until it come
to the perfection of all joy, which is signified by the last word, importing, as it were, a triumph and shouting
after victory. So that they are truly penitent who have overcome sin and Satan in their spiritual combat, and have
triumphed over them as vanquished enemies. Archibald Symson.
Verse 11. Be glad in the Lord, and
rejoice, ye righteous. There's never a joyful man alive but a believer. Will you say
that men take pleasure in their sins? Why, that is the Devil's
joy; or that they rejoice in full barns and bags? That is the fool's
joy; or that they rejoice in wine, that is, all dainties that gratify the palate? That is a Bedlam joy. Read and believe Ec 2:3; indeed, from the first verse to the eleventh, the whole book, but especially
that chapter, is the most divine philosophy that ever was or will be. Christopher Fowler (1610-1678), in "Morning Exercises."
Verse 11. Shout for joy, all ye that
are upright in heart. When the poet Carpani enquired of his friend Haydn, how it happened
that his church music was so cheerful, the great composer made a most beautiful reply. "I cannot, "he
said, "make it otherwise, I write according to the thoughts I feel: when I think upon God, my heart is so
full of joy that the notes dance, and leap, as it were, from my pen: and, since God has given me a cheerful heart,
it will be pardoned me that I serve him with a cheerful spirit." John Whitecross's
Anecdotes.
Ve