The Treasury Of David
by C H Spurgeon
Psalm 33
| Exposition | Explanatory Notes And Quaint Sayings | Hints To The Village Preacher | Works Upon This Psalm |
TITLE. This song of praise bears no
title or indication of authorship; to teach us, says Dickson, "to look upon Holy Scripture as altogether inspired
of God, and not put price upon it for the writers thereof."
SUBJECT AND DIVISION. The praise of
Jehovah is the subject of this sacred song. The righteous are exhorted to praise him, Ps 33:1-3; because of the
excellency of his character, Ps 33:4-5; and his majesty in creation, Ps 33:6-7. Men are bidden to fear before Jehovah
because his purposes are accomplished in providence, Ps 33:8-11. His people are proclaimed blessed, Ps 33:12. The
omniscience and omnipotence of God, and his care for his people are celebrated, in opposition to the weakness of
an arm of flesh, Ps 33:13-19; and the Psalm concludes with a fervent expression of confidence, Ps 33:20-21, and
an earnest prayer, Ps 33:22.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Rejoice in the Lord. Joy is the soul of praise. To delight ourselves in God is most truly to extol him, even if we let no
notes of song proceed from our lips. That God is, and that he is such a God, and our God, ours for ever and ever,
should wake within us an unceasing and overflowing joy. To rejoice in temporal comforts is dangerous, to rejoice
in self is foolish, to rejoice in sin is fatal, but to rejoice in God is heavenly. He who would have a double heaven
must begin below to rejoice like those above. O ye righteous.
This is peculiarly your duty, your obligations are greater, and your spiritual nature more adapted to the work,
be ye then first in the glad service. Even the righteous are not always glad, and have need to be stirred up to
enjoy their privileges. For praise is comely for the upright. God has an eye to things which are becoming. When saints wear their
choral robes, they look fair in the Lord's sight. A harp suits a blood washed hand. No jewel more ornamental to
a holy face than sacred praise. Praise is not comely from unpardoned professional singers; it is like a jewel of
gold in a swine's snout. Crooked hearts make crooked music, but the upright are the Lord's delight. Praise is the
dress of saints in heaven, it is meet that they should fit it on below.
Verse 2. Praise the Lord with harp. Men need all the help they can get to stir them up to praise. This is the lesson to be gathered from
the use of musical instruments under the old dispensation. Israel was at school, and used childish things to help
her to learn; but in these days, when Jesus gives us spiritual manhood, we can make melody without strings and
pipes. We who do not believe these things to be expedient in worship, lest they should mar its simplicity, do not
affirm them to be unlawful, and if any George Herbert or Martin Luther can worship God better by the aid of well
tunes instruments, who shall gainsay their right? We do not
need them, they would hinder than help our praise, but if others are otherwise minded, are they not living in gospel
liberty? Sing unto him. This is the sweetest and best of music.
No instrument like the human voice. As a help to singing the instrument is alone to be tolerated, for keys and
strings do not praise the Lord. With the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. The Lord must have a full octave, for all
notes are his, and all music belongs to him. Where several pieces of music are mentioned, we are taught to praise
God with all the powers which we possess.
Verse 3. Sing unto him a new song. All songs of praise should be unto him. Singing for
singing's sake is nothing worth; we must carry our tribute to the King, and not cast it to the winds. Do most worshippers
mind this? Our faculties should be exercised when we are magnifying the Lord, so as not to run in an old groove
without thought; we ought to make every hymn of praise a new song. To keep up the freshness of worship is a great
thing, and in private it is indispensable. Let us not present old worn out praise, but put life, and soul, and
heart, into every song, since we have new mercies every day, and see new beauties in the work and word of our Lord.
Play skilfully. It is wretched to hear God praised in a slovenly
manner. He deserves the best that we have. Every Christian should endeavour to sing according to the rules of the
art, so that he may keep time and tune with the congregation. The sweetest tunes and the sweetest voices, with
the sweetest words, are all too little for the Lord our God; let us not offer him limping rhymes, set to harsh
tunes, and growled out by discordant voices. With a loud noise.
Heartiness should be conspicuous in divine worship. Well bred whispers are disreputable here. It is not that the
Lord cannot hear us, but that it is natural for great exultation to express itself in the loudest manner. Men shout
at the sight of their kings: shall we offer no loud hosannahs to the Son of David?
Verse 4. For the word of the Lord is
right. His ordinances both natural, moral, and spiritual, are right, and especially his
incarnate Word, who is the Lord our righteousness. Whatever God has ordained must be good, and just, and excellent.
There are no anomalies in God's universe, except what sin has made; his word of command made all things good. When
we look at his word of promise, and remember its faithfulness, what reasons have we for joy and thankfulness! And all his works are done in truth. His work is the outflow of his word, and it is true to it. He neither doth nor saith anything ill; in
deed and speech he agrees with himself and the purest truth. There is no lie in God's word, and no sham in his
works; in creation, providence, and revelation, unalloyed truth abounds. To act truth as well as to utter it is
divine. Let not children of God ever yield their principles in practice any more than in heart. What a God we serve!
The more we know of him, the more our better natures approve his surpassing excellence; even his afflicting works
are according to his truthful word.
"Why should I complain of want of distress,
Afflictions or pain? he told me no less;
The heirs of salvation, I know from his word,
Through much tribulation must follow their Lord."
God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, acts with a hand which never fails.
Bless his name.
Verse 5. He loveth righteousness and
judgment. The theory and practice of right he intensely loves. He doth not only approve
the true and the just, but his inmost soul delights therein. The character of God is a sea, every drop of which
should become a wellhead of praise for his people. The righteousness of Jesus is peculiarly dear to the Father,
and for its sake he takes pleasure in those to whom it is imputed. Sin, on the other hand, is infinitely abhorrent
to the Lord, and woe unto those who die in it; if he sees no righteousness in them, he will deal righteously with
them, and judgment stern and final will be the result. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Come hither, astronomers,
geologists, naturalists, botanists, chemists, miners, yea, all of you who study the works of God, for all your
truthful stories confirm this declaration. From the midge in the sunbeam to leviathan in the ocean all creatures
own the bounty of the Creator. Even the pathless desert blazes with some undiscovered mercy, and the caverns of
ocean conceal the treasures of love. Earth might have been as full of terror as of grace, but instead thereof it
teems and overflows with kindness. He who cannot see it, and yet lives in it as the fish lives in the water, deserves
to die. If earth be full of mercy, what must heaven be where goodness concentrates its beams?
Verse 6. By the word of the Lord were
the heavens made. The angelic heavens, the sidereal heavens, and the firmament or terrestrial
heavens, were all made to start into existence by a word; what if we say by the Word, "For without him was not anything made that is made." It is interesting to note the mention
of the Spirit in the next clause, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth; the breath is the same as is elsewhere rendered Spirit. Thus the three persons of the Godhead unite in creating
all things. How easy for the Lord to make the most ponderous orbs, and the most glorious angels! A word, a breath
could do it. It is as easy for God to create the universe as for a man to breathe, nay, far easier, for man breathes
not independently, but borrows the breath in his nostrils from his Maker. It may be gathered from this verse that
the constitution of all things is from the infinite wisdom, for his word may mean his appointment and determination.
A wise and merciful Word has arranged, and a living Spirit sustains all the creation of Jehovah.
Verse 7. He gathereth the waters of
the sea together as an heap. The waters were once scattered like corn strewn upon a threshing
floor: they are now collected in one spot as an heap. Who else could have gathered them into one channel but their
great Lord, at whose bidding the waters fled away? The miracle of the Red Sea is repeated in nature day by day,
for the sea which now invades the shore under the impulse of sun and moon, would soon devour the land if bounds
were not maintained by the divine decree. He layeth up the depth in
storehouses. The depths of the main are God's great cellars
and storerooms for the tempestuous element. Vast reservoirs of water are secreted in the bowels of the earth, from
which issue our springs and wells of water. What a merciful provision for a pressing need? May not the text also
refer to the clouds, and the magazines of hail, and snow, and rain, those treasures of merciful wealth for the
fields of earth? These aqueous masses are not piled away as in lumber rooms, but in storehouses for future beneficial
use. Abundant tenderness is seen in the foresight of our heavenly Joseph, whose granaries are already filled against
earth's time of need. These stores might have been, as once they were, the ammunition of vengeance, they are now
a part of the commissariat of mercy.
Verse 8. Let all the earth fear the
Lord. Not only Jews, but Gentiles. The psalmist was not a man blinded by national prejudice,
he did not desire to restrict the worship of Jehovah to the seed of Abraham. He looks for homage even to far off
nations. If they are not well enough instructed to be able to praise, at least let them fear. There is an inferior
kind of worship in the trembling which involuntarily admits the boundless power of the thundering God. A defiant
blasphemer is out of place in a world covered with tokens of the divine power and Godhead: the whole earth cannot
afford a spot congenial for the erection of a synagogue of Atheism, nor a man in whom it is becoming to profane
the name of God. Let all the inhabitants
of the world stand in awe of him. Let them forsake their idols, and reverently regard
the only living God. What is here placed as a wish may also be read as a prophecy: the adoration of God will yet
be universal.
Verse 9. For he spake, and it was done. Creation was the fruit of a word. Jehovah said, "Light be, "and light was. The Lord's acts
are sublime in their ease and instantaneousness. "What a word is this?" This was the wondering enquiry
of old, and it may be ours to this day. He commanded, and it stood fast. Out of nothing creation stood forth, and was confirmed in existence. The same power which first uplifted,
now makes the universe to abide; although we may not observe it, there is as great a display of sublime power in
confirming as in creating. Happy is the man who has learned to lean his all upon the sure word of him who built
the skies!
Verse 10. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to nought. While his own will is done, he takes care to anticipate the
wilfulness of his enemies. Before they come to action he vanquishes them in the council chamber; and when, well
armed with craft, they march to the assault, he frustrates their knaveries, and makes their promising plots to
end in nothing. Not only the folly of the heathen, but their wisdom too, shall yield to the power of the cross
of Jesus: what a comfort is this to those who have to labour where sophistry, and philosophy, falsely so called,
are set in opposition to the truth as it is in Jesus. He maketh the devices of the people
of none effect. Their persecutions,
slanders, falsehoods, are like puff balls flung against a granite wall--they produce no result at all; for the
Lord overrules the evil, and brings good out of it. The cause of God is never in danger: infernal craft is outwitted
by infinite wisdom, and Satanic malice held in check by boundless power.
Verse 11. The counsel of the Lord standeth
for ever. He changes not his purpose, his decree is not frustrated, his designs are accomplished.
God has a predestination according to the counsel of his will, and none of the devices of his foes can thwart his
decree for a moment. Men's purposes are blown to and from like the thread of the gossamer or the down of the thistle,
but the eternal purposes are firmer than the earth. The thoughts of his heart to all generations. Men come and go, sons follow their sires
to the grave, but the undisturbed mind of God moves on in unbroken serenity, producing ordained results with unerring
certainty. No man can expect his will or plan to be carried out from age to age; the wisdom of one period is the
folly of another, but the Lord's wisdom is always wise, and his designs run on from century to century. His power
to fulfil his purposes is by no means diminished by the lapse of years. He who was absolute over Pharaoh in Egypt
is not one whit the less today the King of kings and Lord of lords; still do his chariot wheels roll onward in
imperial grandeur, none being for a moment able to resist his eternal will.
Verse 12. Blessed is the nation whose
God is the Lord. Israel was happy in the worship of the only true God. It was the blessedness
of the chosen nation to have received a revelation from Jehovah. While others grovelled before their idols, the
chosen people were elevated by a spiritual religion which introduced them to the invisible God, and led them to
trust in him. All who confide in the Lord are blessed in the largest and deepest sense, and none can reverse the
blessing. And the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Election is at the bottom of it all. The divine choice rules the day; none take Jehovah to be their God
till he takes them to be his people. What an ennobling choice this is! We are selected to no mean estate, and for
no ignoble purpose: we are made the peculiar domain and delight of the Lord our God. Being so blessed, let us rejoice
in our portion, and show the world by our lives that we serve a glorious Master.
Verse 13. The Lord looketh from heaven. The Lord is represented as dwelling above and looking down below; seeing all things, but peculiarly observing
and caring for those who trust in him. It is one of our choicest privileges to be always under our Father's eye,
to be never out of sight of our best Friend. He beholdeth all the sons of men. All Adam's sons are as well watched as was
Adam himself, their lone progenitor in the garden. Ranging from the frozen pole to the scorching equator, dwelling
in hills and valleys, in huts and palaces, alike doth the divine eye regard all the members of the family of man.
Verse 14. From the place of his habitation
he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. Here the sentiment is repeated: it is worth repeating, and it needs repeating, for man is most prone
to forget it. As great men sit at their windows and watch the crowd below, so doth the Lord; he gazes intently
upon his responsible creatures, and forgets nothing of what he sees.
Verse 15. He fashioneth their hearts
alike. By which is meant that all hearts are equally fashioned by the Lord, kings' hearts
as well as the hearts of beggars. The text does not mean that all hearts are created originally alike by God, such
a statement would scarcely be true, since there is the utmost variety in the constitutions and dispositions of
men. All men equally owe the possession of life to the Creator, and have therefore no reason to boast themselves.
What reason has the vessel to glorify itself in presence of the potter? He considereth
all their words. Not in vain doth God see men's acts: he ponders and judges them. He
reads the secret design in the outward behaviour, and resolves the apparent good into its real elements. This consideration
foretokens a judgment when the results of the divine thoughts will be meted out in measures of happiness or woe.
Consider thy ways, O man, for God considereth them!
Verse 16. There is no king saved by
the multitude of an host. Mortal power is a fiction, and those who trust in it are dupes.
Serried ranks of armed men have failed to maintain an empire, or even to save their monarch's life when a decree
from the court of heaven has gone forth for the empire's overthrow. The all seeing God preserves the poorest of
his people when they are alone and friendless, but ten thousand armed men cannot ensure safety to him whom God
leaves to destruction. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. So far from guarding others, the valiant veteran is not able
to deliver himself. When his time comes to die, neither the force of his arms nor the speed of his legs can save
him. The weakest believer dwells safely under the shadow of Jehovah's throne, while the most mighty sinner is in
peril every hour. Why do we talk so much of our armies and our heroes? the Lord alone has strength, and let him
alone have praise.
Verse 17. An horse is a vain thing
for safety. Military strength among the Orientals lay much in horses and scythed chariots,
but the psalmist calls them a lie, a deceitful confidence. Surely the knight upon his gallant steed may be safe,
either by valour or by flight? Not so, his horse shall bear him into danger or crush him with its fall. Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Thus the strongest defences
are less than nothing when most needed. God only is to be trusted and adored. Sennacherib with all his calvary
is not a match for one angel of the Lord, Pharaoh's horses and chariots found it vain to pursue the Lord's anointed,
and so shall all the leaguered might of earth and hell find themselves utterly defeated when they rise against
the Lord and his chosen.
Verse 18. Behold.
For this is a greater wonder than hosts and horses, a surer confidence than chariots or shields. The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him. That eye of peculiar care is their glory and defence. None can take them at unawares, for the celestial
watcher foresees the designs of their enemies, and provides against them. They who fear God need not fear anything
else; let them fix their eye of faith on him, and his eye of love will always rest upon them. Upon
them that hope in his mercy. This one would think to be a small evidence of grace, and
yet it is a valid one. Humble hope shall have its share as well as courageous faith. Say, my soul, is not this
an encouragement to thee? Dost thou not hope in the mercy of God in Christ Jesus? Then the Father's eye is as much
upon thee as upon the elder born of the family. These gentle words, like soft bread, are meant for babes in grace,
who need infant's food.
Verse 19. To deliver their soul from
death. The Lord's hand goes with his eye; he sovereignly preserves those whom he graciously
observes. Rescues and restorations hedge about the lives of the saints; death cannot touch them till the King signs
his warrant and gives him leave, and even then his touch is not so much mortal as immortal; he doth not so much
kill us as kill our mortality. And to keep
them alive in famine. Gaunt famine knows its master. God has meal and oil for his Elijahs
somewhere. "Verily thou shalt be fed" is a divine provision for the man of faith. The Preserver of men
will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish. Power in human hands is outmatched by famine, but God is good
at a pinch, and proves his bounty under the most straitened circumstances. Believer, wait upon thy God in temporals.
His eye is upon thee, and his hand will not long delay.
Verse 20. Our soul waits for the Lord. Here the godly avow their reliance upon him whom the Psalm extols. To wait is a great lesson. To be quiet
in expectation, patient in hope, single in confidence, is one of the bright attainments of a Christian. Our soul,
our life, must hang upon God; we are not to trust him with a few gewgaws, but with all we have and are. He is our help and our shield.
Our help in labour, our shield in danger. The Lord answereth all things to his people. He is their all in all.
Note the three "ours" in the text. These holdfast
words are precious. Personal possession makes the Christian man; all else is mere talk.
Verse 21. For our hearts shall rejoice
in him. The duty commended and commanded in the first verse is here presented to the
Lord. We, who trust, cannot but be of a glad heart, our inmost nature must triumph in our faithful God. Because we have trusted in his holy name. The root of faith in due time bears the flower of rejoicing. Doubts breed sorrow, confidence creates
joy.
Verse 22. Here is a large and comprehensive prayer to close
with. It is an appeal for mercy, which even joyful believers
need; and it is sought for in a proportion which the Lord has sanctioned. "According to your faith be it unto
you, "is the Master's word, and he will not fall short of the scale which he has himself selected. Yet, Master,
do more than this when hope is faint, and bless us far above what we ask or even think.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. A thanksgiving of the church triumphant in the
latter ages, for her final deliverance, by the overthrow of Antichrist and his armies. Samuel
Horsley.
Whole Psalm. Let us follow the holy man a moment in his meditation.
His Psalm is not composed in scholastic form, in which the author confines himself to fixed rules; and, scrupulously
following a philosophic method, lays down principals, and infers consequences. However, he establishes principles,
the most proper to give us sublime ideas of the Creator; and he speaks with more precision of the works and attributes
of God than the greatest philosophers have spoken of them.
How absurdly have the philosophers treated of the origin of the
world! How few of them have reasoned conclusively on this important
subject! Our prophet solves the important question by one single principle; and, what is more remarkable, this
principle, which is nobly expressed, carries the clearest evidence with it. The principle is this: "By the
word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth, "Ps 33:6. This
is the most rational account that was ever given of the creation of the world. The world is the work of a self
efficient will, and it is this principle alone that can account for its creation. The most simple appearances in
nature are sufficient to lead us to this principle. Either my will is self efficient, or there is some other being
whose will is self efficient. What I say of myself, I say of my parents; and what I affirm of my parents, I affirm
of my more remote ancestors, and of all the finite creatures from whom they derive their existence. Most certainly
either finite beings have a self efficient will, which it is impossible to suppose, for a finite creature with
a self efficient will is a contradiction: either, I say, a finite creature has a self efficient will, or there
is a First Cause who has a self efficient will; and that there is such a Being is the principle of the psalmist;
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth."
If philosophers have reasoned inconclusively on the origin of the world, they have spoken of its
government with equal uncertainty. The psalmist determines this question with a great
facility, by a single principle, which results from the former, and which, like the former, carries its evidence
with it. "The Lord looketh from heaven; he considereth all the works of all the inhabitants of the earth,
" Ps 33:13-14. This is the doctrine of providence. And on what is the doctrine of providence founded? On this
principle: God "fashioneth their hearts alike, "Ps 33:15. Attend a moment to the evidence of this reasoning,
my brethren. The doctrine of providence expressed in these words, "God considereth the works of the inhabitants
of the earth, "is a necessary consequence of his principle, "God fashioneth their hearts alike; "and
this principle is a necessary consequence of that which the psalmist had before laid down to account for the origin
of the world. Yes, from that doctrine of God the Creator of men, follows that of God the inspector, the director,
rewarder, and the punisher of their actions. One of the most specious objections that has ever been opposed to
the doctrine of providence, is a contrast between the grandeur of God and the meanness of men. How can such an
insignificant creature as man be the object of the care and attention of such a magnificent being as God? No objection
can be more specious, or, in appearance, more invincible. The distance between the meanest insect and the mightiest
monarch, who treads and crushes reptiles to death without the least regard to them, is a very imperfect image of
the distance between God and man. That which proves that it would be beneath the dignity of a monarch to observe
the motions of ants, or worms, to interest himself in their actions, to punish, or to reward them, seems to demonstrate
that God would degrade himself were he to observe, to direct, to punish, to reward mankind, who are infinitely
inferior to him. But one fact is sufficient to answer this specious objection: that is, God has created mankind.
Does God degrade himself more by governing than by creating mankind? Who can persuade himself that a wise Being
has given to intelligent creatures faculties capable of obtaining knowledge and virtue, without willing that they
should endeavour to acquire knowledge and virtue? Or who can imagine, that a wise Being, who wills that his intelligent
creatures should acquire knowledge and virtue, will not punish them if they neglect those acquisitions; and will
not show by the distribution of his benefits that he approves their endeavours to obtain them?
Unenlightened philosophers have treated of the attributes of
God with as much abstruseness as they have written of his works.
The moral attributes of God, as they are called in the schools, were mysteries which they could not unfold. These
may be reduced to two classes; attributes of goodness, and attributes
of justice. Philosophers, who had admitted these, have usually
taken that for granted which they ought to have proved. They collected together in their minds all perfections;
they reduced them all to one object which they denominated a perfect being: and supposing, without proving, that a perfect being existed, they attributed to him, without proof,
everything that they considered as a perfection. The psalmist shows by a surer way that there is a God supremely
just and supremely good. It is necessary, in order to convince a rational being of the justice and goodness of
God, to follow such a method as that which we follow to prove his existence. When we would prove the existence
of God, we say, there are creatures, therefore there is a Creator. In like manner, when we would prove that a creature
is a just and a good being, we say, there are qualities of goodness and justice in creatures, therefore he, from
whom these creatures derive their existence, is a being just and good. Now, this is the reasoning of the psalmist
in this Psalm: "The Lord loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord"
Ps 33:5; that is to say, it is impossible to consider the work of the Creator, without receiving evidence of his
goodness. And the works of nature which demonstrate the goodness of God, prove his justice also; for God has created
us with such dispositions, that we cannot enjoy the gifts of his goodness without obeying the laws of his righteousness.
The happiness of an individual who procures a pleasure by disobeying the laws of equity, is a violent happiness,
which cannot be of long duration; and the prosperity of public bodies, when it is founded in iniquity, is an edifice
which, with its basis, will be presently sunk and gone.
But what we would particularly remark is, that the excellent
principle of the psalmist concerning God are not mere speculations; but truths from which he derives practical inferences; and he
aims to extend their influence beyond private persons, even to legislators and conquerors. One would think, considering
the conduct of mankind, that the consequences, which are drawn from the doctrines of which we have been speaking,
belong to none but to the dregs of the people; that lawgivers and conquerors have a plan of morality peculiar to
themselves, and are above the rules to which other men must submit. Our prophet had other notions. What are his
maxims of policy? They are all included in these words: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and
the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance, "Ps 33:12. What are his military maxims? They are
all included in these words: "There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered
by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength, "Ps
33:16-17. Who proposes these maxims? A hermit, who never appeared on the theatre of the world? or a man destitute
of the talents necessary to shine there? No: one of the wisest of kings; one of the most bold and able generals:
a man whom God has self elected to govern his chosen people, and to command those armies which fought the most
obstinate battles, and gained the most complete victories. Were I to proceed in explaining the system of the psalmist,
I might prove, that as he had a right to infer the doctrine of providence from the works of nature, and that of
the moral attributes of God from the works of creation; so from the doctrines of the moral attributes of God, of
providence, and of the works of creation, he had a right to conclude, that no conquerors or lawgivers could be
truly happy but those who acted agreeably to the laws of the just and good Supreme. James
Saurin.
Verse 1. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous. Exult, ye righteous, in Jehovah! The Hebrew verb, according to the etymologists, originally
means to dance for joy, and is therefore a very strong expression for the liveliest exultation. J. A. Alexander.
Verse 1. Rejoice, O ye righteous: not in yourselves, for that is not safe, but in the Lord.
Augustine.
Verse 1. Praise is comely for the upright. Praise is not comely for any but the godly. A profane man stuck with God's praise is like a dunghill
stuck with flowers. Praise in the mouth of a sinner is like an oracle in the mouth of a fool: how uncomely is it
for him to praise God, whose whole life is a dishonouring of God? It is as indecent for a wicked man to praise
God, who goes on in sinful practices, as it is for an usurer to talk of living by faith, or for the devil to quote
Scripture. The godly are only fit to be choristers in God's praise; it is called, "the garment of praise."
Isa 61:3. This garment sits handsome only on a saint's back. Thomas Watson.
Verse 1. This Psalm is coupled with the foregoing one by the
catchword with which it opens, which is a repetition of the
exhortation with which the preceding ends, Rejoice in the Lord, ye
righteous; "Shout for joy, all ye upright." Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 1. He pleaseth God whom God pleaseth. Augustine.
Verse 2. Praise the Lord with harp:
sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Here we have the first mention of musical instruments in the Psalms. It is to be observed that the early
fathers almost with one accord protest against their use in churches; as they are forbidden in the Eastern church
to this day, where yet, by the consent of all, the singing is infinitely superior to anything that can be heard
in the West. J. M. Neale.
Verse 2. Harp; Psaltery, etc. Our church does not use musical instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, that
she may not seem to Judaise. Thomas Aquinas. It was only permitted
to the Jews, as sacrifice was, for the heaviness and grossness of their souls. God condescended to their weakness,
because they were lately drawn off from idols; but now instead of organs, we may use our own bodies to praise him
withal. Chrysostom. The use of singing with instrumental music
was not received in the Christian churches as it was among the Jews in their infant state, but only the use of
plain song. Justin Martyr.
Verse 2. (last clause). It is said that David praised God upon an instrument of ten strings; and he would never have told how many strings there were, but that without doubt he made use of them all.
God hath given all of us bodies, as it were, instruments of many strings; and can we think it music good enough
to strike but one string, to call upon him with our tongues only? No, no; when the still sound of the heart by
holy thoughts, and the shrill sound of the tongue by holy words, and the loud sound of the hands by pious works,
do all join together, that is God's concert, and the only music wherewith he is affected. Sir
Richard Baker.
Verse 3. Sing unto him. I. Singing is the music of nature. The Scriptures
tell us the mountains sing Isa 55:12; the valleys sing Ps 65:13; the trees of the wood sing 1Ch 16:33; nay, the
air is the birds' music room, they chant their musical notes. II. Singing is the music of ordinances. Augustine reports of himself, that when he came to Milan and heard the people sing, he wept for joy in
the church to hear that pleasing melody. And Beza confesses that at his first entrance into the congregation, and
hearing them sing the ninety-first Psalm, he felt himself exceedingly comforted, and did retain the sound of it
afterwards upon his heart. The Rabbins tell us that the Jews, after the feast of the Passover was celebrated, sang
the hundred and eleventh and five following Psalms; and our Saviour and his apostles sang a hymn immediately after
the blessed Supper. Mt 26:30. III. Singing is the music of saints.
(1.) They have performed this duty in their greatest numbers.
Ps 149:1-2. (2.) In their greatest straits. Isa 26:19. (3.)
In their greatest flight. Isa 42:10-11. (4.) In their greatest
deliverances. (5.) In their greatest plenties. Isa 65:14. In all these changes singing hath been their stated duty and delight. And indeed it is meet
that the saints and servants of God should sing forth their joys and praises to the Lord Almighty: every attribute
of him can set both their song and their tune. IV. Singing is the music of angels. Job tells us "the morning stars sang together, "Job 38:7. Now these "morning stars, "as
Pineda tells us, are the angels; to which the Chaldee paraphrase accords, naming these morning stars, aciem angelorum, an host of angels. Nay, when this heavenly host was sent to
proclaim the birth of our dearest Jesus, they deliver their message in this raised way of duty. Lu 2:13. They were
(ainountev), delivering their messages in a laudatory
singing, the whole company of angels making a musical quire. Nay, in heaven there is the angels' joyous music;
they there sing hallelujahs to the Most High, and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne, Re 5:11. V. Singing is
the music of heaven; the glorious saints and angels accent their
praises this way, and make one harmony in their state of blessedness; and this is the music of the Bride chamber.
The saints who were tuning here their Psalms, are now singing their hallelujahs in a louder strain, and articulating
their joys, which here they could not express to their perfect satisfaction; here they laboured with drowsy hearts,
and faltering tongues; but in glory these impediments are removed, and nothing is left to jar their joyful celebration.
John Wells, in "Morning Exercises."
Verse 3. A new song. That is to say, a new and recent composition on account
of recent benefits; or constantly new songs, song succeeding song as daily new material for divine praise offers
itself to the attentive student of the works of God. Or new, that
is, always fresh and full of life, and renewed as new occasions offer themselves: as Job says, "My glory was
fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand." Or new, i.e., not
common but rare and exquisite; as the new name in Re 2:17; the new commandment; Joh 13:34. Or this respects the
gospel state, wherein is a new covenant Heb 8:8, a new Jerusalem Re 21:2, a new man Eph 2:15, and all things new,
2Co 5:17. New, on account of its matter being unknown of men:
as in Re 14:3, "They sung a new song, "and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and
four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. New may be
used in opposition to old. The song of Moses is old, and of the Lamb is new. Martin Geir (1614-1681), in "Poli Synopsis Criticorum."
Verse 3. Sing unto him a new song. Put off oldness: ye know the new song. A new man, a New Testament, a new song. A new song belongeth not
to men that are old; none learn that but new men, renewed through grace from oldness, and belonging now to the
New Testament, which is the kingdom of heaven. Augustine.
Verse 3. A new song; namely, sung with such fervency of affections as novelties usually bring with them; or, always new, seeing
God's graces never wax old; or, sung by the motion of this new spirit of grace, which doth not so much look after
the old benefits of the creation as after the new benefit of the redemption in Christ, which renews all things.
Ps 40:3 96:1 Re 5:9 14:3. John Diodati.
Verse 3. Sing unto him a new song. It is a melancholy proof of the decline of the church, when the exhortation to sing a new song is no
longer attended to: in such a case, there is need of the greatest care to prevent the old ones falling into oblivion.
E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 3. Play skilfully. It is not an easy matter to praise God aright; it must be done corde, ore, spere,
with the very best of the best. John Trapp.
Verse 4. The word of the Lord is right. His word of promise given to the church. The divine revelation to all setting forth what is to be believed,
hoped for, and done. The decrees of God and his penal judgments. The whole counsel and determination of God in
the creation and government of the world. Is right, without
defect or error. The word right is opposed to tortuous; it means true or certain. John de Pineda (1577-1637); D.H. Mollerus (1639), and others, in Synopsis.
Verse 4. All his works are done in
truth.
Truth is in each flower
As well as in the most solemn things of God:
Truth is the voice of nature and of time--
Truth is the startling monitor within us--
Nought is without it, it comes from the stars,
The golden sun, and every breeze that blows--
Truth, it is God! and God is everywhere!
--William Thomas Bacon.
Verse 5. The earth is full of the goodness
of the Lord. If we reflect on the prodigious number of human beings who constantly receive
their food, raiment, and every pleasure they enjoy, from their mother earth, we shall be convinced of the great
liberality with which nature dispenses her gifts; and not only human beings, but an innumerable quantity of living
creatures besides--inhabitants of the air, the waters, and the earth--are daily indebted to nature for their support.
Those animals which are under our care are still indebted to the earth for their subsistence; for the grass, which
nature spontaneously produces, is their chief food. The whole race of fishes, except those which men feed for their
amusement, subsist without any of their aid. The species of birds which is perhaps the most despised and most numerous,
is the sparrow. What they require for their support is incredible, but nature takes care to feed them; they are
however but the smallest part of her children. So great is the quantity of insects, that ages may pass before even
their species and classes can be known. How many and how diversified the sorts of flies that play in the air! The
blood taken from us by the gnat is very accidental food for them; and we may suppose that where there is one gnat
that lives upon it, there are millions that have never tasted human blood, or that of any other animal. On what
can all these creatures subsist? Perhaps every handful of earth contains living insects; they are discovered in
every drop of water; their multiplying and means of support are incomprehensible. While nature is thus prolific
in children, she is also fruitful in means for their subsistence; or, rather, it is the God of nature who has poured
into her bosom this inexhaustible store of riches. He provides each creature with its food and dwelling. For them
he causes the grass and other herbs to grow, leaving each to select its proper food. And, however mean many creatures
may appear to us, he feeds and assists them all. O Almighty God, how manifest is thy greatness! Thou dost what
the united efforts of all mankind would fail to accomplish. Thou hast given life, and breath, and being to all
creatures that live in the air, the waters, or the earth. Surely thou wilt do for thy believing people what thou
dost for animals and insects! When we are filled with doubts and fears, let us consider the ravens whom the Lord
feeds when they cry. Let them and all creatures beside, which man takes no care of, teach us the art of contentment.
The great Author of nature knows all our wants. Let us cast our every care on him, for he careth for us; and may
we come boldly to the throne of grace in faith and sincerity, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help
us in every time of need. Christopher Christian Sturm.
Verse 5. The earth is full of the goodness
of the Lord. To hear its worthless inhabitants complain, one would think that God dispensed
evil, not good.
To examine the operation of his hand, everything is marked with mercy, and there is no place where his goodness
does not appear. The overflowing kindness of God fills the earth.
Even the iniquities of men are rarely a bar to his goodness: he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends his rain upon the just and the unjust. Adam Clarke.
Verse 5. The goodness of the Lord. In discoursing on the glorious perfections of God, his goodness must by no means be omitted; for though all his perfections are his glory, yet this is particularly so
called, for when Moses, the man of God, earnestly desired to behold a grand display of the glory of Jehovah, the
Lord said in answer to his petition, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee; "thus intimating that he himself accounted his goodness to be his glory Ex 33:19
34:7; and it includes that mercy, grace, longsuffering, and truth, which are afterwards mentioned. When it relieves
the miserable, it is mercy; when it bestows favours on the worthless,
it is grace; when it bears with provoking rebels, it is long suffering; when it confers promised blessings, it is truth;
when it supplies indigent beings, it is bounty. The goodness of God is a very comprehensive term;
it includes all the forms of his kindness shown to men; whether considered as creatures, as sinners, or as believers.
George Burder, 1838
Verse 5. The goodness of the Lord. He might, if he had pleased, have made everything we tasted bitter, everything we saw loathsome, everything
we touched a sting, every smell a stench, every sound a discord. William Paley, D.D.,
1743-1805.
Verse 6. By the word of the Lord were
the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of
his mouth. That the (hwd)
is not spirit, but breath, is evident from the words of his mouth (compare Isa 11:4), and from the parallelism with word.
Simple word is simple breath; both together, they stand in contrast to that exercise of strength, that labour, that use of means and
instruments without which feeble man can bring nothing to perfection. Then there are the parallel passages, "All
the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils." Job 27:3. "The Spirit of God
hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." Job 33:4. "Thou takest away their breath,
they die, and return to their dust, thou sendest forth thy breath, they
are created." Ps 104:29,30. On the other hand, however, the exposition which would interpret (wyp xwr), without reference to the Spirit
of God, cannot be a correct one. In the history of the creation, to which the verse before
us, as well as verses seven and nine, generally refer, the creation is described as the work of the SPIRIT of God,
and his WORD. First, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, then God said.
We may also suppose that the Spirit and the power of God are here represented by the figure of breath, because that in man is the first sign of life. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 6. By the word of the Lord. May be understood of the hypostatic Word, as John teaches us. Joh 1:1. (John
Cocceius), 1603-1669. This is an illustration of the old saying, that while Grotius finds
Christ nowhere, Cocceius finds Christ everywhere. C. H. S.
Verse 6. Let any make a world, and he shall be a God, saith
Augustine; hence is it that the church maketh it the very first article of her Creed to believe in God the Father
Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. John Weemse.
Verses 6, 9. It is all one with God to do as to say, to perform
as to promise; it is as easy, he is as willing, as able, to do the one as the other. There is no such distance
betwixt God's saying and doing, as amongst men. His saying is doing: He spake, and it
was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. By the word of the
Lord were the heavens made. "The
worlds were framed by the word of God." Heb 11:3. There is omnipotence in his word, both of command and promise;
therefore called, "The word of his power." Heb 1:3. One word of his can do more in an instant than the
united powers of heaven and earth can do in eternity. This consideration removes at once the chief discouragements
that hinder the lively actings of faith; for what is it that weakens our confidence of the promises' performance,
but because we look upon the accomplishment as uncertain or difficult, or future and afar off! Now from hence faith
may conclude the performance is certain, easy, and present. David Clarkson.
Verse 7. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap,
etc. "God called the gathering together of the waters, seas." Ge 1:10. This unstable element must, like
all other elements, be put under law, and confined within bounds, that there might be a habitable earth for man
and all the creatures around him. Thus the psalmist sings, He gathereth the waters of
the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. The boundary was such as to cause his servants to wonder. They looked from the shore, as we do, and under
the influence of a well known law, the billows in their heaving swells, seemed as if they would, as if they did,
touch the sky itself; and as if they were so much higher than the shore, that they were in danger of leaving their
basin and stretching over the land. Just such an impression, we with all our science, popularly hold. The prophets
thus looked as we do, and under the same kind of feeling. How wonderful, they thought, is all this! A low barrier
of sand is made Jehovah's agent for bounding the deep. "The Lord hath placed the sand for the bound of the
sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet they not prevail;
though they roar, yet can they not pass over it." Jer 5:22. John Duns, D.D., in "Science
and Christian Thought, "1868.
Verse 7. The waters of the sea. Of all objects that I have ever seen, there is none which affect my imagination so much as the sea or
ocean. I cannot see the heavings of this prodigious bulk of waters, even in a calm, without a very pleasing astonishment;
but when it is worked up in a tempest, so that the horizon on every side is nothing but foaming billows and floating
mountains, it is impossible to describe the agreeable horror that rises from such a prospect. A troubled ocean,
to a man who sails upon it, is, I think, the biggest object that he can see in motion, and consequently gives his
imagination one of the highest kinds of pleasure that can arise from greatness. I must confess it is impossible
for me to survey this world of fluid matter without thinking on the hand that first poured it out, and made a proper
channel for its reception. Such an object naturally raises in my thoughts the idea of an Almighty Being, and convinces
me of his existence as much as a metaphysical demonstration. The imagination prompts the understanding, and by
the greatness of the sensible object, produces in it the idea of a Being who is neither circumscribed by time nor
space. Spectator.
Verse 7. As a heap. Dealing with fluids as if they were solids, with an obvious allusion to Ex 15:8. Depths,
masses of water. The main point of the description is God's handling these vast liquid
masses, as men handle solid substances of moderate dimensions, heaping the waves up, and storing them away, as
men might do with stones or wheat. J. A. Alexander.
Verse 7. The vast masses of waters which had hitherto covered
the entire surface of the globe, was on the third day of creation brought within narrower compass, and large tracts
of the submerged earth reclaimed and rendered habitable ground...The waters were, for
the most part, congregated together
in one vast body, instead of being universally diffused over the face of the earth. This is the state of things
which we now contemplate; the various great seas and oceans constituting in fact but one body of water called in
different regions by different names, as the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Southern, etc., oceans. George Bush, on Ge 1:9.
Verse 8. Let all the earth. For who can doubt that God can do as he wills upon earth, since he so tamed the unconquerable nature
of the sea? Hugo Grotius, 1583-1645.
Verse 8. Let all the earth fear the
Lord, etc. Let them not fear another instead of him. Doth a wild beast rage? Fear God.
Doth a serpent lie in wait? Fear God. Doth man hate thee? Fear God. Doth the devil fight against thee? Fear God.
For the whole creation is under him whom thou art commanded to fear. Augustine.
Verse 9. He spake, and it was done. As we say in Latin, Dictum factum,
SAID DONE, no delay having interposed. Hugo Grotius.
Verse 9. He spake, and it was done;
so that the creatures were not emanations from the divine nature, but effects of the
divine will, the fruits of intelligence, and design, and counsel. William Binnie, D.D.
Verse 10. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to nought, etc. The more the Pharisees of old, and their successors the
prelates of late, opposed the truth, the more it prevailed. The Reformation in Germany was much furthered by the
Papists' opposition; yea, when two kings (amongst many others), wrote against Luther, namely, Henry 8th of England,
and Ludovicus of Hungary, this kingly title being entered into the controversy (making men more curious to examine
the matter), stirred up a general inclination towards Luther's opinions. Richard Younge's
Christian Library, 1655.
Verse 11. The counsel of the Lord. Note the contrast between the counsel of the heathen in the last verse, and the counsel of the Lord in
this. C. H. S.
Verse 11. The thoughts. The same word as devices in the preceding verse. William de Burgh, D.D., in loc.
Verse 11. The wheels in a watch or a clock move contrary one
to another, some one way, some another, yet all serve the intent of the workman, to show the time, or to make the
clock strike. So in the world, the providence of God may seem to run cross to his promises; one man takes this
way, another runs that way; good men go one way, wicked men another, yet all in conclusion accomplish the will,
and centre in the purpose of God the great Creator of all things. Richard Sibbes.
Verse 11. (last clause). Think not, brethren, because he said, The thoughts of his heart, that God as it were sitteth down and thinketh what he should do, and taketh counsel to do anything, or
not to do anything. To thee, O man, belongs such tardiness. Augustine.
Verse 12. Blessed--whom he hath chosen. A man may have his name set down in the chronicles, yet lost; wrought in durable marble, yet perish;
set upon a monument equal to a Colossus, yet be ignominious; inscribed on the hospital gates, yet go to hell; written
in the front of his own house, yet another come to possess it; all these are but writings in the dust, or upon
the waters, where the characters perish so soon as they are made; they no more prove a man happy than the fool
could prove Pontius Pilate because his name was written in the Creed. But the true comfort is this, when a man
by assurance can conclude with his own soul that his name is written in those eternal leaves of heaven, in the
book of God's election, which shall never be wrapped up in the cloudy sheets of darkness but remain legible to
all eternity. Thomas Adams.
Verse 12. The people whom he hath chosen. Some read it, The people which hath chosen him for their inheritance. It cometh all to one. See De 26:17-19.
John Trapp.
Verse 12. It's an happiness to have an interest in one greater
than ourselves; an interest in a beggar is of no worth, because he is of no power; but interest in a prince all
men seek, therefore it is said, Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. Joseph Symonds.
Verse 12. Lest it should be thought that men obtain so great
a good by their own efforts and industry, David teaches us expressly that it proceeds from the fountain of God's
gracious electing love that we are accounted the people of God. John Calvin.
Verse 12. I have sometimes compared the great men of the world, and the good men of the world to
the consonants and vowels in the alphabet. The consonants are the most and the
biggest letters; they take up most room, and carry the greatest bulk; but, believe it, the vowels though they are the fewest and least of all the letters, yet they are most useful; they give the greatest
sound of all; there is no pronunciation without vowels. O beloved, though the great men of the world take up room, and make a show above others, yet they are but consonants,
a company of mute and dumb consonants
for the most part; the good men they are the vowels that are of the greatest use and most concernment at every turn: a good man to help with his prayers; a good man to advise with his counsels; a good man to interpose
with his authority; this is the loss we lament, we have lost a good man; death has blotted out a vowel; and I fear me there
will be much silence where he is lacking; silence in the bed, and silence in the house, and silence in the shop,
and silence in the church, and silence in the parish, for he was everywhere a vowel, a
good man in every respect. John Kitchin, M.A., in a Funeral
Sermon, 1660.
Verse 15. He fashioneth their hearts
alike. As an illustration of the passage as it stands in our version, we append the following:
-- "Every circumstance concurs in proving that mankind are not composed of species essentially different from
each other; that, on the contrary, there was originally but one species, which, after multiplying and spreading
over the whole surface of the earth, has undergone various changes, from the influence of climate, food, mode of
living, diseases, and mixture of dissimilar individuals; that at first these changes were not so conspicuous, and
produced only individual varieties; that these varieties became afterward more specific, because they were rendered
more general, more strongly marked, and more permanent, by the continual action of the same causes; and that they
are transmitted from generation to generation." G. L. Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, 1707-1788.
Verse 15. The Creator of all things fashioneth
their hearts alike; the word (dxy), which signifies together at once, intimating that the hearts
of all men though separated from one another by never so vast a gulf of time or place, are as exactly alike in
respect of their original inclinations, as if they had been all moulded at the same time. The worship of a God
and then some kind of religion, is necessary to us, we cannot shift it off. William Pinke,
1631.
Verse 15. (last clause). Two men give to the poor, one seeketh his reward in heaven, the other the praise of men. Thou in two
seest one thing, God understandeth two. For he understandeth what is within, and knoweth what is within; their
ends he seeth, their base intentions he seeth. He understandeth all their works. Augustine.
Verse 16. There is no king saved by
the multitude of an host. At the battle of Arbela, the Persian hosts numbered between
five hundred thousand and a million men, but they were utterly put to the rout by Alexander's band of fifty thousand;
and the once mighty Darius was soon vanquished. Napoleon led more than half a million of men into Russia:
"Not such the numbers, nor the host so dread,
By northern Bren, or Scythian Timour led."
But the terrible winter left the army a mere wreck, and their leader was soon a prisoner on the lone rock of St.
Helena. All along the line of history this verse has been verified. The strongest battalions melt like snowflakes
when God is against them. C. H. S.
Verse 16. A mighty man; or a giant; Goliath for instance. As the most skilful
swimmers are often drowned, so here. John Trapp.
Verses 16-17.
Not the chief his serried lances,
Not his strength secures the brave;
All in vain the warhorse prances,
Weak his force his lord to save.
--Richard Mant.
Verses 16-17. The weakness and insufficiency of all human power, however great, as before of all human intellect. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verses 16-17. As a passenger in a storm, that for shelter against
the weather, steps out of the way, betakes him to a fair spread oak, stands under the boughs, with his back close
to the body of it, and finds good relief thereby for the space of some time; till at length comes a sudden gust
of wind, that tears down a main arm of it, which falling upon the poor passenger, either maims or mischieves him
that resorted to it for succour. Thus falleth it out with not a few, meeting in the world with many troubles, and
with manifold vexations, they step aside out of their own way, and too, too often out of God's, to get under the
wing of some great one, and gain, it may be, some aid and shelter thereby for a season; but after awhile, that
great one himself coming down headlong, and falling from his former height of favour, or honour, they are also
called in question and to fall together with him, that might otherwise have stood long enough on their own legs,
if they had not trusted to such an arm of flesh, such a broken staff that deceived them. Thomas
Gataker.
Verse 17. An horse. If the strength of horses be of God, or be his gift Job 39:19, then trust not in the strength of horses:
use the strength of horses, but do not trust the strength of horses. If you trust the strength which God hath given
to horses, you make them your god. How often doth God forbid trusting in the strength of horses, as knowing that
we are apt to trust in anything that is strong, though but a beast. An horse is a vain
thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great
strength. As if God had said, you think a horse can save you, but know he is a vain thing.
And when the psalmist saith, "A horse is a vain thing, "he doth not mean it of a weak horse, but of a
horse of the greatest strength imaginable; such a horse is a vain thing to save a man, neither can he deliver any
by his strength; and therefore the Lord, when he promised great deliverances to his people, lest they should expect
it by the strength of horses, saith Ho 1:7, "I will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them
by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen; "as if he had told them, do not look after
creature strength to be saved by; a horse will be a vain thing to save you, and I can save you effectually without
horses, and I will. Joseph Caryl.
Verses 17-20. Man is sensible of his want of earthly blessings,
and will never cease, with excessive care, diligence, and vexation, to hunt after them, till he come to know that
God will provide for him. When one hath great friends which they are known to lean upon, we say of them, such need
take no care, they know such and such will see to them. On the contrary, come to one who knows no end of toiling
and caring, ask him, Why will you thus tire yourself out? He will answer, I must needs do it, I have none but myself
to trust to. So Christ followeth his disciples' carefulness to this door, their unbelief, which did not let them
consider our heavenly Father cared for them. No present estate, though never so great, can free the heart from
distraction, because it is subject to decay and vanishing; we shall never cast the burden of care off our own shoulders,
till we learn by faith to cast it upon the Lord, whose eye is over us for good. He will never renounce carnal supports
who make not God the stay of his soul for outward things. He will trust in the abundance of his riches, wisdom,
friends, or strength, that makes not God his strength. The heart of man, being aware of his inability to sustain
himself if he be not underset, will seek out some prop, true or false, sound or rotten, to lean unto. They will
go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen because
they are very strong, who look not to the Holy One of Israel, and seek not the Lord. John
Ball.
Verse 18. Behold, etc. Hitherto he had given a proof of God's providence towards all men, but now he descends to a particular proof of it, by his care over his church,
which he wonderfully guides, defends, and protects in all dangers and assaults; and that
notice may be taken of it, he begins with, "Behold!"
Adam Clarke.
Verse 18. The eye of the Lord is upon. Look upon the sun, how it casts light and heat upon the whole world in its general course, how it shineth
upon the good and the bad with an equal influence; but let its beams be but concentrated in a burning glass, then
it sets fire on the object only, and passeth by all others: and thus God in the creation looketh upon all his works
with a general love, erant omnia valde
bona, they pleased him very well. Oh! but when he is pleased to cast the beams of his
love, and cause them to shine upon his elect through Christ, then it is that their hearts burn within them, then
it is that their affections are inflamed; whereas others are but as it were a little warmed, have a little shine
of common graces cast upon them. Richard Holdsworth, 1651.
Verse 18. Behold, the eye of the Lord
is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. This is a very encouraging
character. They who cannot claim the higher distinctions of religion, may surely know that they "fear God,
and hope in his mercy." Some may wonder at the combination; and suppose that the qualities are incompatible
with each other. But the first Christians "walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy
Ghost." They may think that the fear will injure the hope, or the hope the fear. But these are even mutually
helpful; and they are, not only never so beautiful, but never so influential as when they are blended. The fear
promotes hope by the evidence it affords; and by keeping us from loose and careless walking, which must always
affect our peace and pleasure. And hope no less befriends this fear. For never is God seen so glorious, so worthy
of all our devotedness to him as when we hope in his mercy; and even the more assured we are of his regard, the
more we shall enquire, Lord, what wilt thou have ne to do? The more we shall tremble at the thought of offending
and grieving him, the more we shall continue upon our knees praying, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation
of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my Strength
and my Redeemer." It is called "a lively hope:"
and Christians know, by experience, that upon all their principles and duties it has the same influence as Spring
has upon the fields and the gardens. William Jay.
Verse 18. Who hope in his mercy. When thou canst not get assurance, make as much improvement of the grounds upon which thou mayest build
hopes of salvation. The probable grounds thou hast, thou wouldst
not part with for all the world. If thy heart is not full of joy through sense of God's love, yet thine eyes are
full of tears, and thy soul full of sorrow, through the sense of thy sin: wouldst thou change thy condition with
any hypocrite whatsoever, with the richest man that hath no grace? I would not have thee rest satisfied with a
probability, but yet bless God for a probability of salvation. Is it nothing that one that hath deserved hell most
certainly, should have a probability that he should escape it? Would not this be a little ease to the torments
of the damned, if they had but a strong probability that they should be saved? but no
hope makes it heavy. When thou art sick, thou enquirest of the physician, Sir, what do
you think of me? Shall I live, or shall I die? If he reply it is not certain, but there is good
hopes, it is probable you will live and do well; this is some support unto thee in thy
sickness. Thomas Doolittle, M.A. (1630-1707), in "Morning Exercises."
Verse 18. The weakest believer, the least of saints, hath ground
to hope. The gospel is so ordered, the covenant so methodised, God hath made such ample provision, that every one
may "have good hope through grace" 1Th 2:16; and all that bear this character are allowed, encouraged,
nay, commanded to hope: their hoping is as mighty a pleasure to God, as it is a comfort to themselves. Samuel Doolittle's "Righteous Man's Hope in Death, "1693.
Verses 18-19. During the siege of Rochelle, which was endured
with unexampled bravery for nearly fifteenth months, the inhabitants were reduced by famine to the misery of being
obliged to have recourse to the flesh of horses, asses, mules, dogs, cats, rats, and mice; and a single peck of
corn is said to have been sold for a sum equivalent to about twenty-five pounds sterling of our money in the present
day. There were numerous examples of great and liberal generosity among the inhabitants. Some dispensed their charity
so secretly that their names were never discovered. Among the rest, the following example is narrated: --"The
Sieur de la Goute, an honorary king's advocate, had a sister, the widow of a merchant named Prosni, who, being
a very religious and benevolent woman, at the time when the famine became more severe than it had been, freely
assisted the poor with her present surplus. Her sister-in-law, the wife of her brother, De la Goute, being differently
inclined, reproved her for her conduct, asking her in anger, `What she would do when all should be expended?' Her
reply was, `My sister, the Lord will provide for me.' The siege
was continued, and the famine increased its fearful ravages; and poor widow Prosni, who had four children, found
herself in a great strait--all her store of provisions being exhausted. She applied to her sister for relief, who,
in the stead of comforting, reproached her for her improvidence; tauntingly adding that, as she had done mighty
well to be so reduced under all her great faith and fine words, that `the Lord will provide
for her.'so in good time he might provide for her. Wounded to the heart by these words,
poor widow Prosni returned to her house in sad distress; resolving nevertheless to meet death patiently. On reaching
her home, her children met her with gladdened hearts and joyous faces, and told her that a man, to them an entire
stranger, had knocked at the door, it being late; and, on its being opened, he threw in a sack of about two bushels
of wheat; and then, without saying a word, suddenly departed. The widow Prosni, scarcely able to believe her own
eyes, with an overflowing, grateful heart towards her gracious benefactor, immediately ran to her sister-in-law
as quickly as her famished condition would allow; and upon seeing her, exclaimed aloud, `My
sister, the Lord HATH provided for me; 'and,
saying no more, returned home again. By means of this unexpected relief, conveyed to her so opportunely, she was
enabled to support herself and family until the end of the siege, and she never knew to whom she was instrumentally
indebted for this timely and merciful assistance." The Biblical Treasury, Vol. 4
Verse 20. Our soul waiteth for the
Lord. There is an emphasis on the word soul which should be attended to; for although this is a common mode of speech among the Hebrews, yet it expresses
earnest affection; as if believers should say, We sincerely rely upon God with our whole heart, accounting him
our shield and help. John Calvin.
Verse 20. Our soul. Not our souls, but our soul, as if they all had only
one. And what is the language of God by the prophet? "I will give them one heart and one way." And thus
the two disciples going to Emmaus exclaimed, upon their discovery and surprise, "Did not our heart burn within
us?" And thus in the beginning of the gospel it was said, "The multitude of them that believed were of
one heart, and of one soul." We have seen several drops of water on the table, by being brought to touch,
running into one. If Christians were better acquainted with each other, they would easily unite. William Jay.
Verse 20. He is our help. Antigonus, king of Syria, being ready to give battle near the Isle of Andreos, sent out a squadron to
watch the motions of his enemies, and to descry their strength: return was made that they had more ships, and better
manned than he was. "How?" says Antigonus, "that cannot be; quam multis
meipsum opponis (for how many dost thou reckon me?)" intimating that the dignity
of a general weighed down many others, especially when poised with valour and experience. And where is valour,
where is experience to be found, if not in God? He is the Lord of hosts; with him alone is strength and power to
deliver Israel our of all her troubles. He may do it, he can do it, he will do it; he is wise in heart and mighty
in strength; besides him there is no Saviour, no deliverer; he is a shield to the righteous, strength to the weak,
a refuge to the oppressed. He is instar omnium (all in all),
and who is like unto him in all the world? John Spencer.
Verse 20. There is an excellent story of a young man, that was
at sea in a mighty raging tempest; and when all the passengers were at their wits' end for fear, he only was merry;
and when he was asked the reason of his mirth, he answered, "That the pilot of the ship was his father, and
he knew his father would have a care of him." The great and wise God, who is our Father, hath from all eternity
decreed what shall be the issue of all wars, what the event of all troubles; he is our pilot, he sits at the stern;
and though the ship of the church or state be in a sinking condition, yet be of good comfort, our Pilot will have
a care of us. There is nothing done in the lower house of Parliament on earth, but what is first decreed in the
higher house in heaven. All the lesser wheels are ordered and overruled by the upper. Are not five sparrows, saith
Christ, sold for a farthing? One sparrow is not worth half a farthing. And there's no man shall have half a farthing's
worth of harm more than God hath decreed from all eternity. Edmund Calamy.
Verse 22. According as we hope in thee;
not according to any merits of theirs, but according to the measure of grace, of the
grace of hope which God had bestowed on them, and encouraged them to exercise on him, in expectation of finding
grace and mercy with him. John Gill.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Whole Psalm. This Psalm is eucharistic: the contents are:
1. An exhortation to praise God Ps 33:1-3.
2. The arguments to enforce the duty Ps 33:4-19.
3. The confidence of God's people in his name, their happiness,
and petition Ps 33:20-22.
--Adam Clarke.
Verse 1. Rejoicing--the soul of praise; the Lord--a wellspring
of joy. Character--indispensable to true enjoyment.
Verse 1. (last clause). Praise comely. What? Vocal, meditative, habitual
praise. Why? It is comely as wings to an angel, we mount with
it; as flowers to a tree, it is our fruit; as a robe to a priest, it is our office; as long hair to a woman, it
is our beauty; as a crown to a king, it is our highest honour. When?
Evermore, but chiefly amid blasphemy, persecution, sickness, poverty, death. Whom? Not from the ungodly, hypocritical, or thoughtless. To be without praise is to miss our comeliest adornment.
Verse 2. Instrumental music. Is it lawful? Is it expedient?
If so, its uses, limits, and laws. A sermon to improve congregational music.
Verse 3. (first clause). The duty of maintaining the freshness of our devotions. Freshness, skill, and heartiness, to be combined
in our congregational psalmody.
Verse 4. God's word and works, their rightness, and agreement,
and our view of both.
Verse 4. (first clause). The word doctrinal, preceptive, historical, prophetic, promissory, and experimental, always right,
i.e., free from error or evil.
Verse 4. (second clause). God's work of creation, providence, and grace, always in conformity with truth. His hatred of everything
like a sham.
Verses 4-5. A fourfold argument for praise, from the truth, the faithfulness the
justice, and goodness of God:
1. For the word of the Lord is right.
2. All his works are done in truth.
3. He loveth righteousness and judgment.
4. The earth is full of his goodness.
--Adam Clarke.
Verse 5. Justice and goodness equally conspicuous in the divine
action.
Verse 5. (last clause). A matchless theme for an observant eye and an eloquent tongue.
Verse 6. The power of the Word and the Spirit in the old and
new creations.
Verse 7. God's control of destructive and reconstructive agencies.
Verse 7. The storehouses of the Great Husbandman.
Verse 8. Reasons for universal worship, obstacles to it, future
prospects of it, our duty in relation to it.
Verse 8. (last clause). Awe--the soul of worship.
Verse 9. The irresistible word of Jehovah in creation, in calling his people, in their comfort and deliverance, in their entrance to glory.
Verse 10. Educated and philosophical heathen within the reach
of missions.
Verses 10-11. The opposing counsels.
Verse 11. The eternity, immutability, efficiency, and wisdom
of the divine decrees. God's purposes, "the thoughts of his heart, " hence their wisdom, and yet more
their love.
Verse 12. Two elections made by a blessed people and a gracious
God, and their happy result. The happiness of the church of God. God's delight in his people, and their delight
in him.
Verse 13. Omniscience and its lessons.
Verses 13-15. The doctrine of providence.
Verse 15. God's acquaintance with men hearts, and his estimate
of their actions. The similarity of human nature.
Verses 16-18. The fallacy of human trust, and the security of
faith in God.
Verse 18. Hoping in the mercy of God--false and true forms distinguished.
Verse 18.
1. The eyes of God's knowledge are upon them.
2. The eyes of his affection are upon them.
3. The eyes of his providence are upon them.
--William Jay.
Verse 19. Life in famine, natural and spiritual, especially
a famine of inward hope and legal satisfaction.
Verse 20. Waiting for the Lord, includes:
1. Conviction --a persuasion that the Lord is the supreme good.
2. Desire --it is expressed by hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
3. Hope.
4. Patience --God is never slack concerning his promise.
--William Jay.
Verse 20. (first clause). The believer's hourly position.
Verse 21. Joy, the outflow of faith.
Verse 22. A prayer for believers only.
Verse 22. Measure for measure, or mercy proportioned to faith.
WORKS UPON THE THIRTY-THIRD PSALM
nil
| Top | Home | The Treasury Of David Index
| Previous Psalm | Next Psalm |