The last note of the former is the first note of this Psalm, "rejoice in the Lord, you righteous!" The last Psalm had much in it of the tone of confession and prayer: this is full of praise; for now the forgiven one is taking up his harp in thankfulness: "give thanks to Jehovah with the harp, make music to Him with a ten stringed instrument"
It is a very simple Psalm, yet full of the feelings which a forgiven soul teems with. Never did any heart so abound in those feelings as the heart of the Lord Jesus; and his saints learn from him.
It is He who is to lead the praise in the great congregation - Psalm 22:22. Let us see the topics taken up in turn:
(v1-3) Preparation for song, shaking the strings of our heart. The call for a new song - a redemption melody.
(v4-5) Praise the Lord for his character.
(v6-9) Praise the Lord for his creation work, which his providence still continues.
(v10-11) Praise the Lord for his counsel.
(v12-19) Praise the Lord for his care of his Church, his chosen ones, who are saved by grace alone (v16-17) and kept by grace (v18-19)
(v20-22) The Responses. As exhorted: rejoice in the Lord (v1) - so we reply: our hearts rejoice in Him!
This will be the eternal response of the saints when the salvation yet in reserve comes. Then their waiting (v20), their Jacob-like waiting, is ended (Gen 49:18); then (as v10,11, Psalm 2:1 sing) the nations have raged in vain; and then, in the fullest sense: Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord, as Hosea 2:21,22 describe in part, and as the seraphim celebrate in Isaiah 6:3.
Then shall it be full of the Lord's glory, when love, redeeming love, the love of the God of Love, shall be felt by all the earth, the Gift of Love himself being in the midst.
It is thus a Psalm in which Forgiven ones adore the Lord in his counsels and ways.
Wednesday, 4 December 2013
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Psalm 32 - the way of forgiveness traversed by the Righteous.
We cannot but agree with Ewald in thinking that the word in the title "Maskil" does not refer to any instrument, nor even to mean "Didactic" but a reference to something artistic in the melody, peculiarly calling for the skill of the singer, or harpist. Similarly in Psalm 47:8. Perhaps a Psalm of pardoning mercy was set to some special music, which it required forgiven ones to appreciate, like some of our hymn tunes.
The mention of transgression, iniquity, sin, recalls the name of the Lord proclaimed to Moses in the cleft of the rock, "forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin" (Exodus 34:7). The imputing and non-imputing were well understood in David's day; for we read in 2 Sam 19:19, Shemei confessing sin and yet asking, "Let not my lord impute it."
We generally take up this Psalm as if it was for the members of Christ alone; but we should not forget that the Head himself traversed the way of forgiveness. He stood for us, in our room, in our very place.
He stood as substitute, and all the sins of all "that great multitude which no man can number" were upon him, laid upon him by imputation.
So dreadful was his position, so truly awful did it seem to him to be reckoned a sinner, that even this, apart from the wrath and curse, would have been sufficient to make him cry "O blessed the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin."
He was dumb for our sakes; his bones wasted away; he groaned from day to day, and during the lonesome hours of midnight was kept awake by our woe.
His moisture (v4) or vigour of vitality was changed, "by means of the drought of summer" (Hengstenberg), from the excessive heat of wrath, resembling the most parching heats of summer's hottest days, when the sun is fiercely shedding down his intolerable rays on the arid earth.
In this state He acknowledged our sin; it was only ours he had to acknowledge; he spread it out before God on the cross; he continued to do so until it was forgiven to him as our substitute.
Our head could use these words in that one way. But in a personal sense, from personal experience of wrath, from a personal consciousness of our own sin, every member of His cannot but use the Psalm as expressing what they have passed through.
Yes they have each felt the silence, the waxing old, the roaring, the drying up of moisture, and the spreading out before the Lord of the whole sin and misery of their case; and each has also found the forgiveness (v5).
"You forgave the iniquity of my sin"
Here is a pause. Here is Selah. Stay and ponder.
"On this account, because you forgive sin, -
"On this account shall every godly one pray to you."
Forgiveness is so great, a blessing that all else may follow. If the Lord forgives our sin, what next may we not ask?
On this account, then, His people pray. Our Head intercedes, because through Him we have already got pardon, and may get any other real blessing.
Yes, we may get such blessing that "at the time of the floods of great waters" whenever that is, in personal or national calamity, or the waves of the fiery flood, like that of Noah, that shall yet sweep away the ungodly - even then we shall be altogether safe.
The forgiven man is hidden, instructed, taught, guided by God's tender care (v7,8).
A Selah occurs at verse 7. Solemn truth has been spoken, which the worshipper may muse upon till it sinks into his heart; and then a voice from heaven tells that His eye is ever on them. - "And (says Horne) next to the protecting power of God's being, is the securing prospect of his eye."
The forgiven man is sanctified, yielding up his own will to the Lord's, not like the "horse and mule that have no understanding, whose ornament is bit and bridle, because they will not come near unless by force."
Unhappy those who do not pardon! "Many sorrows" are their portion; while mercy compasses the forgiven, so that "they are glad, they rejoice, they shout for joy!"
Already they anticipate the joy of the kingdom, "glad and rejoice;" though it is when the kingdom comes that they shall say emphatically to one another, feeling mercy compassing them about, and no flood, nor drop of flood touching one of them, "Alleluia! the Lord God Omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him!" (Rev 19:7)
Even then they may use this song of Zion; for the Head and his members will often review, as is done here: the way of forgiveness traversed by the Righteous.
The mention of transgression, iniquity, sin, recalls the name of the Lord proclaimed to Moses in the cleft of the rock, "forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin" (Exodus 34:7). The imputing and non-imputing were well understood in David's day; for we read in 2 Sam 19:19, Shemei confessing sin and yet asking, "Let not my lord impute it."
We generally take up this Psalm as if it was for the members of Christ alone; but we should not forget that the Head himself traversed the way of forgiveness. He stood for us, in our room, in our very place.
He stood as substitute, and all the sins of all "that great multitude which no man can number" were upon him, laid upon him by imputation.
So dreadful was his position, so truly awful did it seem to him to be reckoned a sinner, that even this, apart from the wrath and curse, would have been sufficient to make him cry "O blessed the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin."
He was dumb for our sakes; his bones wasted away; he groaned from day to day, and during the lonesome hours of midnight was kept awake by our woe.
His moisture (v4) or vigour of vitality was changed, "by means of the drought of summer" (Hengstenberg), from the excessive heat of wrath, resembling the most parching heats of summer's hottest days, when the sun is fiercely shedding down his intolerable rays on the arid earth.
In this state He acknowledged our sin; it was only ours he had to acknowledge; he spread it out before God on the cross; he continued to do so until it was forgiven to him as our substitute.
Our head could use these words in that one way. But in a personal sense, from personal experience of wrath, from a personal consciousness of our own sin, every member of His cannot but use the Psalm as expressing what they have passed through.
Yes they have each felt the silence, the waxing old, the roaring, the drying up of moisture, and the spreading out before the Lord of the whole sin and misery of their case; and each has also found the forgiveness (v5).
"You forgave the iniquity of my sin"
Here is a pause. Here is Selah. Stay and ponder.
"On this account, because you forgive sin, -
"On this account shall every godly one pray to you."
Forgiveness is so great, a blessing that all else may follow. If the Lord forgives our sin, what next may we not ask?
On this account, then, His people pray. Our Head intercedes, because through Him we have already got pardon, and may get any other real blessing.
Yes, we may get such blessing that "at the time of the floods of great waters" whenever that is, in personal or national calamity, or the waves of the fiery flood, like that of Noah, that shall yet sweep away the ungodly - even then we shall be altogether safe.
The forgiven man is hidden, instructed, taught, guided by God's tender care (v7,8).
A Selah occurs at verse 7. Solemn truth has been spoken, which the worshipper may muse upon till it sinks into his heart; and then a voice from heaven tells that His eye is ever on them. - "And (says Horne) next to the protecting power of God's being, is the securing prospect of his eye."
The forgiven man is sanctified, yielding up his own will to the Lord's, not like the "horse and mule that have no understanding, whose ornament is bit and bridle, because they will not come near unless by force."
Unhappy those who do not pardon! "Many sorrows" are their portion; while mercy compasses the forgiven, so that "they are glad, they rejoice, they shout for joy!"
Already they anticipate the joy of the kingdom, "glad and rejoice;" though it is when the kingdom comes that they shall say emphatically to one another, feeling mercy compassing them about, and no flood, nor drop of flood touching one of them, "Alleluia! the Lord God Omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him!" (Rev 19:7)
Even then they may use this song of Zion; for the Head and his members will often review, as is done here: the way of forgiveness traversed by the Righteous.
Monday, 2 December 2013
Psalm 31 - The Righteous, though forlorn, safe and blessed in the hand of the living God.
The Head and his members are here. The Head said (v8), in the hour when He gave up the ghost, "Into your hands I commit my spirit!" And how often have his members taken up his words, from the days of Stephen to Jan Huss, and from Huss to this hour.
Safety in the hands of the living God, and only there, is the theme of this plaintive Psalm. Safety in life as well as in death. Safety from the enemies' snares, and from all adversity, from grief and reproach, from calumny and contempt, from personal despondency and the pressure of outward adversity.
David needed his theme, the true David needed it even more, and his followers will not cease to need it til the nineteenth verse is realised in all its vastness: "O how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who trust you!"
They get at present (like Joseph's brothers) donkey loads of fine wheat from this granary; but they shall yet stand amid it, and trust, because of the immensity of it.
In verse 6, there is an emphatic pronoun, unlike those who regard lying vanities, I, for my part, trust in the Lord. In verse 8, the large room seems to be God's unbounded love, wide like a plain that stretches far beyond our knowledge.
The complaint in verse 11 resembles Lamentations 4:15, where the people are represented as treating exiled Israel as a leper, "depart unclean, depart, do not touch!" and forcing them to flee. Verse 12 reminds us of Job on his dunghill, a broken vessel, a potsherd, like what he took to scrape himself off.
But verse 22 contains an expression which is worth dwelling upon, as it occurs again in Psalm 116:11. It is the expression "in my haste." The words occur in 2 Sam 4:4, of Mephibosheth's nurse, making haste to flee when she heard the evil tidings of Jonathan slain on Gilboa. In Psalm 48:6 the verb is used of gathered kings making haste to flee and 1 Sam 23:26 of David making haste to get out of Saul's way. It is never used of impatience of heat of spirit, or irritation, or excited temper but always to speedy movement from one place to another. It is to be noticed that the cognate word is used regarding the haste with which they were to eat the passover, Exodus 12:11: eat it in haste.
From all this, we infer that in this Psalmist is not to anything else than passover-haste. His words are to this effect: I said when I was like a passover-man, hastening out of Egypt, when I felt my condition to be that of one who must make haste to leave a people who had cast him out.
Left in this condition I was ready to say: I am cut off (v22), even as Israel at the Red Sea. We come to the same conclusion, if we suppose the Psalmist refers to such circumstances of danger, and almost of despair, as refered to when the word is used in 1 Sam 23:26.
In verse 17,18, we hear the prayer of the Head and his members for the overthrow of the ungodly, the language of which, as well as the reference in verse 20, reminds us irresistibly of words hat occur in the prophecy of Enoch.
In this Psalm (as Horsley suggests), the voice from the oracle declares their doom to be:
"They shall be motionless in hell!
Let lying lips be put to silence,
Which speaks grievous things,
Proudly and contemptuously,
Against the righteous."
In Enoch's prophecy we find the foundation of his cry; and inasmuch as Enoch's prophecy was known in the Church in David's time, would it not comfort the Lord's saints then, and the Lord himself when He came?
"Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his saints,
To execute judgement upon all,
to convince all that are ungodly among them,
Of all their ungodly deeds,
which they have ungodly committed,
And of all their hard speeches,
Which ungodly sinners have spoken against him" (Jude 14)
To this expected interposition, the response given is in verse 19,20, "Oh,how great is your goodness!" in which we are reminded of the Lord's granary of goodness, or love, and receive a promise of being hid "from the strike of tongues."
Verses 21,22, contain the grateful acknowledgement -
"Blessed be the Lord, for he has shown me marvellous love!
"In a strong city" (i.e. bringing me into his fortress).
This "strong city" is a contrast to the "hasty flight" of verse 22, when he thought he must surely perish.
But again, in v23, the delivered one speaks: The Lord keeps his faithfulness. His promises! And makes reference to the plentiful reward of wrath on the wicked at the Lord's coming, even as verse 19 told of the abundant reward of His own yet to come.
In prospect of that day, his saints are exhorted to persevere (v22); and it is in some measure with a reference to the glory coming that they are called by name. "You who hope in the Lord."
Both now, however in a present evil world, and in the hour of death, and in the end when glory is revealed, the saints are safe, even as was their Head.
This is the burden of this song of Zion - the Righteous, though forlorn, safe and blessed in the hand of the living God.
Friday, 29 November 2013
Psalm 30 - The Song of the Righteous concerning the Night of Weeping and the Morning of Joy.
A Psalm, a Song of the Dedication of the House; by David. The title refers to the occasion on which the write was moved by the Holy Spirit to take up his harp and touch its plaintively pleasant strings.
It is supposed that "the house of David" means that house or Temple which David wished to have built for the Lord - a house of cedar, a house for my name - 2 Sam 7:7-13.
This house David was not allowed to build; but he was permitted to fix upon the place where it would be built and to dedicate that spot.
This was Ornan's threshing floor on Mount Moriah. The case is recorded in 1 Chron 21:1. The circumstances are altogether such as to furnish a fit occasion for a psalm, whose strains are melancholy intermixed with the gladsome and the bright.
The plague that followed the sin of numbering the people had brought the Psalmist low, to the very gates of death, for the sword was suspended over his head; but the voice that uttered: "it is enough" lifted him up again.
The morning of that day rose in clouds and portentous gloom but its setting sun shed its sweetest rays on Jerusalem from a sapphire sky, and left a forgiven people and a forgiven king reposing in the restored favour of Jehovah.
Our David could take up these strains and adopt them as his own. There was a time when his sacrifice was offered and the temple of his body accepted by the Father.
He too had been low and had been lifted up (v1); had cried and been healed (v2); had been brought up from among the dead (v3). Who could call on men so well as He to sing to Jehovah (v4) and celebrate the memorial of his holiness, that is to celebrate whatever called that holiness to mind, and kept it before men.
Was it not holiness that shone out most brightly in all his suffering? Was it not holiness that shone through the darkness of Calvary? "But you are holy!" was that not the comforting thought that upheld him on the cross? If the Lord's sore judgement on Israel when 70,000 were cut off for one sin showed David how holy the Lord was, surely infinitely more did the outpoured fierceness of wrath manifest on our David, and to all who are his saints.
Yet even as that wrath was not eternal, for the angel put up his sword in its sheath, so that anger poured out on the true David, "endured but a moment," and his resurrection morning was all joy (v5). And once past, it never returns.
Established on the Rock that never changes, He was able to say,
"In my prosperity, I shall never be moved."
"You, Lord, have imparted strength to my mountains by your love" (v6,7).
Once "you did hide your face and I was troubled." and my prayer then was the prayer of one who sought your glory even under gloom, and who pleaded that "your truth" was pledged to deliver me. And you did deliver, with such a deliverance as calls for everlasting praise, and for praise which never has a break in it from this time and for evermore.
At the resurrection morning Christ began to enter into this joy, for it was then that the Father distinctly said: It is enough! Stay your hand - fulfilling the Type given in the angel's sword put up into its scabbard at the sport where "The House" was dedicated. But no one of his members, all of whom have been (v2) headed, can fail to find in this Psalm very much that suits their own experience.
They have had their moment of anger. When the Lord awoke them, and made them know their guilt, and dropped on their conscience a drop of wrath that might make them cry vehemently for deliverance, though He meant soon to wipe it off.
Each of "his holy ones" has known this "Moment of anger," followed by "life in his favour" from the hour when his anger was turned away. From that time forth they have had their "night of weeping" often, but never any more anger.
They have had their sorrows, weeping has lodged in their dwellings often, and they have walked through many a howling wilderness; but it was always followed by a morning of joy, some sweet beams of love and favour making them feel night turning into day.
They are expecting very soon their Resurrection Morning, when unmingled joy comes, joy like that of their Lord's at his resurrection. It is them, that they will, in the highest sense, sit on their Rock of Ages and have their shouting for joy at morning, singing such a song as this:
"I am in peace. I shall never been moved."
"O Lord, you have given strength to my mountain by your love." - Mountain, Zion the seat of royalty.
"Once you did hide your face and I was troubled."
"And I called to you, O Lord."
"And I made more supplication."
"What profit is there in my blood?"
"Shall the dust praise you?"
"Would your faithfulness not be honoured in saving the chief of sinners?"
"And now you have turned for me mourning to dancing;"
"You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,"
"In order that my glory may sing praise to you, and not be silent."
And with one accord all the holy ones join in the concluding burst of rapturous gratitude, the true David himself leading the song - O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you for ever!
So comes to a blessed close this song of the righteous, which we may call, not improperly: The Song of the Righteous concerning the Night of Weeping and the Morning of Joy.
It is supposed that "the house of David" means that house or Temple which David wished to have built for the Lord - a house of cedar, a house for my name - 2 Sam 7:7-13.
This house David was not allowed to build; but he was permitted to fix upon the place where it would be built and to dedicate that spot.
This was Ornan's threshing floor on Mount Moriah. The case is recorded in 1 Chron 21:1. The circumstances are altogether such as to furnish a fit occasion for a psalm, whose strains are melancholy intermixed with the gladsome and the bright.
The plague that followed the sin of numbering the people had brought the Psalmist low, to the very gates of death, for the sword was suspended over his head; but the voice that uttered: "it is enough" lifted him up again.
The morning of that day rose in clouds and portentous gloom but its setting sun shed its sweetest rays on Jerusalem from a sapphire sky, and left a forgiven people and a forgiven king reposing in the restored favour of Jehovah.
Our David could take up these strains and adopt them as his own. There was a time when his sacrifice was offered and the temple of his body accepted by the Father.
He too had been low and had been lifted up (v1); had cried and been healed (v2); had been brought up from among the dead (v3). Who could call on men so well as He to sing to Jehovah (v4) and celebrate the memorial of his holiness, that is to celebrate whatever called that holiness to mind, and kept it before men.
Was it not holiness that shone out most brightly in all his suffering? Was it not holiness that shone through the darkness of Calvary? "But you are holy!" was that not the comforting thought that upheld him on the cross? If the Lord's sore judgement on Israel when 70,000 were cut off for one sin showed David how holy the Lord was, surely infinitely more did the outpoured fierceness of wrath manifest on our David, and to all who are his saints.
Yet even as that wrath was not eternal, for the angel put up his sword in its sheath, so that anger poured out on the true David, "endured but a moment," and his resurrection morning was all joy (v5). And once past, it never returns.
Established on the Rock that never changes, He was able to say,
"In my prosperity, I shall never be moved."
"You, Lord, have imparted strength to my mountains by your love" (v6,7).
Once "you did hide your face and I was troubled." and my prayer then was the prayer of one who sought your glory even under gloom, and who pleaded that "your truth" was pledged to deliver me. And you did deliver, with such a deliverance as calls for everlasting praise, and for praise which never has a break in it from this time and for evermore.
At the resurrection morning Christ began to enter into this joy, for it was then that the Father distinctly said: It is enough! Stay your hand - fulfilling the Type given in the angel's sword put up into its scabbard at the sport where "The House" was dedicated. But no one of his members, all of whom have been (v2) headed, can fail to find in this Psalm very much that suits their own experience.
They have had their moment of anger. When the Lord awoke them, and made them know their guilt, and dropped on their conscience a drop of wrath that might make them cry vehemently for deliverance, though He meant soon to wipe it off.
Each of "his holy ones" has known this "Moment of anger," followed by "life in his favour" from the hour when his anger was turned away. From that time forth they have had their "night of weeping" often, but never any more anger.
They have had their sorrows, weeping has lodged in their dwellings often, and they have walked through many a howling wilderness; but it was always followed by a morning of joy, some sweet beams of love and favour making them feel night turning into day.
They are expecting very soon their Resurrection Morning, when unmingled joy comes, joy like that of their Lord's at his resurrection. It is them, that they will, in the highest sense, sit on their Rock of Ages and have their shouting for joy at morning, singing such a song as this:
"I am in peace. I shall never been moved."
"O Lord, you have given strength to my mountain by your love." - Mountain, Zion the seat of royalty.
"Once you did hide your face and I was troubled."
"And I called to you, O Lord."
"And I made more supplication."
"What profit is there in my blood?"
"Shall the dust praise you?"
"Would your faithfulness not be honoured in saving the chief of sinners?"
"And now you have turned for me mourning to dancing;"
"You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,"
"In order that my glory may sing praise to you, and not be silent."
And with one accord all the holy ones join in the concluding burst of rapturous gratitude, the true David himself leading the song - O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you for ever!
So comes to a blessed close this song of the righteous, which we may call, not improperly: The Song of the Righteous concerning the Night of Weeping and the Morning of Joy.
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Psalm 29 - The Righteous One's adoration of the God of Glory, in the Day of His storm.
Our attention is called seven times to the "voice of Jehovah," uttering majesty. The psalm presents such adoration as the Lord Jesus (himself "mighty God") could present to the Father, in the days of his flesh, when listening amid the hills round Nazareth, or at the foot of Lebanon by the sources of double-founted Jordan, to the voice of his Father's awful thunder.
The redeemed, too, feel that such scenes furnish occasion for adoring the majesty and omnipotence of Godhead. At the same time, this seems to be more especially a Psalm of adoration for that great and notable Day of the Lord, when the Lamb's song shall be sung. "Great and marvellous are your works, Lord God Almighty - for all nations shall come and worship before you; for your judgments are revealed," (Psalm 15:9).
It is, in this view, a Psalm to rather than for our King. Dr Allix concludes: "This Psalm contains an exhortation to all the princes of the world to submit to Messiah's empire, when he has established his people and given great proof of his vengeance on his enemies as He did in the time of the Flood." This alludes to v10 and the true rendering of it:
"The Lord at the deluge sat,
"The Lord, forever sits as king."
We might no doubt apply every clause of it to the Lord's display of his majesty in any tremendous thunder storm. An awestruck spectator cries as the lightning plays and thunder rolls; "The God of glory thunders!" (v5). "The voice of Jehovah is breaking the cedars!" and as the crash is heard, "The Lord has broken the cedars of Lebanon."
Travellers tell us of the solemnity and terrific force of storms in the East. The thunders of the Great Day shall most of all call out these strains to the Lord the King. Earth at large, and the heavens too, shall shake on that day, when the Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem (Joel 3:16). While Israel's land from Lebanon on the north to Kadesh to the south, shall be in the vortex of that storm.
Meanwhile, secure as Noah in his ark, He and his redeemed witness the storm sweep along, beating down the wicked; and they burst into this song (Isaiah 30:32):
"Give to the Lord, you sons of the mighty"
"Give to the Lord glory and strength"
"Give to the Lord the glory due to his name." (v1,2)
Like the voice of the people heard in heaven by John (Rev 19:1) saying -
"Alleluia"
"Salvation and glory!"
"And honour and power"
"Unto the Lord our God"
Followed up by the call "Praise our God - small and great," while the multitude who sing appear to their fine linen, clean and white, corresponding to the description here (v2), "worship the Lord in the beauties of Holiness" - in holy attire, in sanctuary array, in the beautiful robes of the priesthood.
Then again, v9, seems to tell of Earth filled with his glory. In his temple everything says "glory"
Happy are those on whose side Jehovah stands (v11). He can say to the soul as Jesus said to the sea in Mark 4:39, Peace! That this is the full reference of the Psalm, we may fully believe; and yet this reference by no means forbids our using it as an appropriate song to the Lord when celebrating the majesty of his voice heard in the storms that sweep over the land. Or that voice heard in the hearts of men, when He stirs their conscience and speaks his message of grace.
It is the same Lord, and the same majesty, that is shown inn scenes of nature, in the doings of grace, and in the full outburst of glory. Our Lord, in the days of his flesh, might use it in that threefold way, and we still do the same.
We celebrate his present bestowal of strength and of peace in v11. While still we wait for the completeness of both in the day when we shall get the grace that shall be brought us at the Appearing of Jesus Christ. The Psalm is thus suitable for many occasions, though especially for the day of the Lord throughout The Righteous One's adoration of the God of Glory, in the Day of His storm.
The redeemed, too, feel that such scenes furnish occasion for adoring the majesty and omnipotence of Godhead. At the same time, this seems to be more especially a Psalm of adoration for that great and notable Day of the Lord, when the Lamb's song shall be sung. "Great and marvellous are your works, Lord God Almighty - for all nations shall come and worship before you; for your judgments are revealed," (Psalm 15:9).
It is, in this view, a Psalm to rather than for our King. Dr Allix concludes: "This Psalm contains an exhortation to all the princes of the world to submit to Messiah's empire, when he has established his people and given great proof of his vengeance on his enemies as He did in the time of the Flood." This alludes to v10 and the true rendering of it:
"The Lord at the deluge sat,
"The Lord, forever sits as king."
We might no doubt apply every clause of it to the Lord's display of his majesty in any tremendous thunder storm. An awestruck spectator cries as the lightning plays and thunder rolls; "The God of glory thunders!" (v5). "The voice of Jehovah is breaking the cedars!" and as the crash is heard, "The Lord has broken the cedars of Lebanon."
Travellers tell us of the solemnity and terrific force of storms in the East. The thunders of the Great Day shall most of all call out these strains to the Lord the King. Earth at large, and the heavens too, shall shake on that day, when the Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem (Joel 3:16). While Israel's land from Lebanon on the north to Kadesh to the south, shall be in the vortex of that storm.
Meanwhile, secure as Noah in his ark, He and his redeemed witness the storm sweep along, beating down the wicked; and they burst into this song (Isaiah 30:32):
"Give to the Lord, you sons of the mighty"
"Give to the Lord glory and strength"
"Give to the Lord the glory due to his name." (v1,2)
Like the voice of the people heard in heaven by John (Rev 19:1) saying -
"Alleluia"
"Salvation and glory!"
"And honour and power"
"Unto the Lord our God"
Followed up by the call "Praise our God - small and great," while the multitude who sing appear to their fine linen, clean and white, corresponding to the description here (v2), "worship the Lord in the beauties of Holiness" - in holy attire, in sanctuary array, in the beautiful robes of the priesthood.
Then again, v9, seems to tell of Earth filled with his glory. In his temple everything says "glory"
Happy are those on whose side Jehovah stands (v11). He can say to the soul as Jesus said to the sea in Mark 4:39, Peace! That this is the full reference of the Psalm, we may fully believe; and yet this reference by no means forbids our using it as an appropriate song to the Lord when celebrating the majesty of his voice heard in the storms that sweep over the land. Or that voice heard in the hearts of men, when He stirs their conscience and speaks his message of grace.
It is the same Lord, and the same majesty, that is shown inn scenes of nature, in the doings of grace, and in the full outburst of glory. Our Lord, in the days of his flesh, might use it in that threefold way, and we still do the same.
We celebrate his present bestowal of strength and of peace in v11. While still we wait for the completeness of both in the day when we shall get the grace that shall be brought us at the Appearing of Jesus Christ. The Psalm is thus suitable for many occasions, though especially for the day of the Lord throughout The Righteous One's adoration of the God of Glory, in the Day of His storm.
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Psalm 28 - The appeal and thanksgiving of the righteous as they view the tents of the ungodly.
The cry at the commencement is the appeal heavenward of one who anticipates, in the future (v9), full salvation to the Lord's people, and a time when their Shepherd shall feed them in green pastures, and lift them up as his heritage to their place of dignity and dominion.
The secret persuasion of this final issue pervades this song. If the previous Psalm took us up to a field of Zophim, where we might spy the encamped legions, this Psalm shows us form the same height these hosts of ungodly shattered and dissipated, in answer to the prayer of Him who makes intercession against them.
We may imagine the Psalmist - whether David or David's Son, the Church's head, or any member of the Church - as ascending an eminence, overlooking the tents of the ungodly, and there listening to their mirth and witnessing their revelry!
He is a Moses, crying to heaven against Amalek. It may be David, who is the original Anointed of v8, but he is so as uttering what the Lord and all his own might use in other days.
What intensity of earnest vehemence in v1. Not to be heard will be death. It will be the black despair of those who go down to the pit. But his reasons for being heard are powerful. I lift up my hand toward your Holy Oracle (v2). This is the Holy of Holies, where the mercy seat stood. For the oracle is the spot where Jehovah spoke to men, referring probably to his promise in Exodus 25:22. "There I will meet you and commune with you."
The supplicant refers God, in this brief way, to his own provision for sinful men, and his own promise of blessing whenever that provision should be used. If we take the words as uttered by Christ, how interesting to find him pleading with reference to the Types of his own person and work, presenting them to the Father for us.
If we use them as the words of David, or any saint, they still convey the same truth, namely that the strongest plea which can rise from earth to heaven is drawn from the person and work of Jesus.
No doubt, when Daniel prayed "with his windows open in his chamber toward Jerusalem" (Dan 6:10), he had his eye on "the Holy Oracle," - on the person and work of Him who was set forth in Jerusalem in the significant Types that were to be found in the Holy of Holies.
In v3, the sympathy of the Righteous One in God's love of holiness appears; and in v4, his sympathy in God's justice, even when his burning wrath descends. It is full acquiescence that is expressed - almost position desire.
But it is only as the redeemed in Rev 19:1,3 are enabled to shout "Alleluia" over the lost; or as the Redeemer (Luke 13:9), in the parable of the Fig-tree, promised to cease at last from intercession, and bid the axe take its swing.
Verse 5 is the answer whispered to the conscious heart of those who pray; which causes thanksgiving and rapturous triumph in the Lord, reviving faith bestowing strength (in v6,7,8) and raising the anticipation of bright days approaching when full "salvation" comes out of Zion (v9), and there shall be no more casting down.
Every stream seems to flow onward to the future day when joy shall no more be pent up within narrow banks, but have unlimited scope - the people "saved" - the "blessing" come - there being no more curse - the heirs arrived at their inheritance, joint-heirs of Him who is "Heir of all things" - the shepherd leading them to living fountains - and reproach all fled away!
We express the tone and substance of the Psalm if we describe it as - The appeal and thanksgiving of the righteous as they view the tents of the ungodly.
The secret persuasion of this final issue pervades this song. If the previous Psalm took us up to a field of Zophim, where we might spy the encamped legions, this Psalm shows us form the same height these hosts of ungodly shattered and dissipated, in answer to the prayer of Him who makes intercession against them.
We may imagine the Psalmist - whether David or David's Son, the Church's head, or any member of the Church - as ascending an eminence, overlooking the tents of the ungodly, and there listening to their mirth and witnessing their revelry!
He is a Moses, crying to heaven against Amalek. It may be David, who is the original Anointed of v8, but he is so as uttering what the Lord and all his own might use in other days.
What intensity of earnest vehemence in v1. Not to be heard will be death. It will be the black despair of those who go down to the pit. But his reasons for being heard are powerful. I lift up my hand toward your Holy Oracle (v2). This is the Holy of Holies, where the mercy seat stood. For the oracle is the spot where Jehovah spoke to men, referring probably to his promise in Exodus 25:22. "There I will meet you and commune with you."
The supplicant refers God, in this brief way, to his own provision for sinful men, and his own promise of blessing whenever that provision should be used. If we take the words as uttered by Christ, how interesting to find him pleading with reference to the Types of his own person and work, presenting them to the Father for us.
If we use them as the words of David, or any saint, they still convey the same truth, namely that the strongest plea which can rise from earth to heaven is drawn from the person and work of Jesus.
No doubt, when Daniel prayed "with his windows open in his chamber toward Jerusalem" (Dan 6:10), he had his eye on "the Holy Oracle," - on the person and work of Him who was set forth in Jerusalem in the significant Types that were to be found in the Holy of Holies.
In v3, the sympathy of the Righteous One in God's love of holiness appears; and in v4, his sympathy in God's justice, even when his burning wrath descends. It is full acquiescence that is expressed - almost position desire.
But it is only as the redeemed in Rev 19:1,3 are enabled to shout "Alleluia" over the lost; or as the Redeemer (Luke 13:9), in the parable of the Fig-tree, promised to cease at last from intercession, and bid the axe take its swing.
Verse 5 is the answer whispered to the conscious heart of those who pray; which causes thanksgiving and rapturous triumph in the Lord, reviving faith bestowing strength (in v6,7,8) and raising the anticipation of bright days approaching when full "salvation" comes out of Zion (v9), and there shall be no more casting down.
Every stream seems to flow onward to the future day when joy shall no more be pent up within narrow banks, but have unlimited scope - the people "saved" - the "blessing" come - there being no more curse - the heirs arrived at their inheritance, joint-heirs of Him who is "Heir of all things" - the shepherd leading them to living fountains - and reproach all fled away!
We express the tone and substance of the Psalm if we describe it as - The appeal and thanksgiving of the righteous as they view the tents of the ungodly.
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Psalm 27 - The Righteous One's confident assertion of safety when lonely amid surrounding foes.
The Righteous One does not walk without opposition. We are led here to a field of conflict; or rather to the height, whence the Righteous One surveys the legions of foes that are embattled against him; and standing by his side, we hear his song of confidence, and cry of dependence, as he looks up to the Lord as his "light and salvation."
Is it Christ that we hear thus expressing what his soul felt? Or is it one of his own who encounters the same foes? It is both; for David was taught by the Spirit to write the blessed experience of the Church and its Head. The Church's experience here is obvious. Let us dwell a little on her Lord's.
Is this, then, "the light of the world" walking through darkness, and staying himself on his Father? What an illustration of his own words, in John 16:32,33, "the hour comes when you shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, for the father is with me. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
And then, soon after, his enemies "stumbled and fell," (v2). The band, with Judas at their head, "went backwards and fell to the ground" (John 18:6), as if in token of the future falling of all that come out against him; while Judas, their leader, stumbled over the cornerstone to his eternal ruin.
So sure is this, that in v3 he appropriates to his own use, and the use of all the righteous, the protecting hosts that Elisha saw round Dothan (2 Kings 6:15).
Our Lord's words, "Do you think I cannot pray to my Father, and He will presently give more than twelve legions of angels?" were at once a reference to the guard of Elisha, and a breathing forth of the strong confidence of this Psalm.
The words, "In this will I be confident" refer back to the faith of v1, "I will be confident, that Jehovah is my light, salvation, strength,."
We have our Lord's style, so to speak, in v4 - "one thing." He, who on earth pointed out the "one thing lacking," to the Rule: and "the one thing needful," to Martha declares what himself felt regarding that "one thing."
To see the Lord, in his temple where everything spoke of redemption - there to see the Father's beauty, what the essence of his soul's desire. This beauty is the Lord's pleased look; such a look as the Father gave when his voice proclaimed: this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. It also means, all that make God an object of affection and delight to the soul.
Luther understood it: the beautiful services of the Lord. In the Tabernacle, the spiritual truths reflected in the mirror of that symbolic worship.
Nothing could be more desirable to Christ, than this approving look of his Father, telling as it did, his love to the uttermost.
And nothing to us sinners, can equal this look of love; it is the essence of heaven now, and heaven forever. It is the one thing. For from this holy love proceed all the other blessings. To catch glimpses of this beauty in the temple was our Lord's aim. He engaged in no other pursuit on earth.
Neither did David, this true disciple, amid the glory of the kingdom. In the light of this Divine smile, the soul is sure of deliverance manifold, deliverance from every evil, and eternal gladness; and can sing (v7) even now, as if full deliverance were already come.
Real assurance of salvation depends on seeing the Father's beauty, his reconciled countenance, his heart of love, in seeing which, the soul feels certain beyond measure, that his future state will be well, for that love is too deep to change; and so it "sings and makes music to Jehovah."
But, verse 8 has a tinge of sadness again. It is, in our Lord's case, like John1 2:17, "Now is my soul troubled," after a season of peaceful rest. Never was there an experience so varied and full as our Lord's in his human nature; and never as experience which his saints so often turn to as their own.
The cry for help ascends; and perhaps the broken words of v9 are intentional, being the difficult utterance of one in trouble quoting words of hope -
"My heart says to you: see my face."
My soul repeats to you your own call and encouragement. How often have you invited us: seek my face? My heart reminds you of your own words; I will not let you go. To me, and to the sons of men, you have sent out an invitation: seek my face. Therefore, my heart in all its distress holds up to you this call of yours. I will seek your face and I will urge you - Hide not your face (v9).
In v10, the harp sings of a lonely, friendless, orphan stat. My father and mother have left me! But from here faith responds: The Lord will take me in (Josh 20:4, Judges 19:5). Our Lord, no doubt felt as man the desire for a father's and a mother's sympathy and help.
In lack of that sympathy and help, he turns to what he finds in Jehovah; for the Lord has a father's heart. Like a father pities his children so the Lord pities those who fear him. Psalm 103:13. And the mother's affections, too. "As one whom his mother comforts, so the Lord will comfort you." (Isaiah 66:13). Our Lord uses words equivalent to "take me in" in Matt 25:43,
A shrill note of the harp touches upon reproach and calumny in v13,14 "false witnesses have risen up." In Matt 26 these false witnesses come in against our Lord, before the high priest; and on that occasion, our Lord bursts out after long silence to declare: after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, coming on the clouds of heaven.
Is this the train of thought in this Psalm? For v15 sees out the hope of seeing what Zecharaiah 9:17 speaks of as to come in great measure: His Goodness. "The goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
Our Lord was content, as a real man, to sustain his soul by faith and hope; resting on what He knew of his Father, and animating it in suffering and trouble with the "hope set before him" (Heb 12:2).
Is this not his testimony, and the testimony of all his saints who have used this Psalm, to the advantages and blessedness of hope? The words in the Hebrew run like this: Unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord (v15). There is no "I had fainted." It is an imperfect sentence.
There is something to be supplied. It is like our Lord's own words in Luke 19:42. "If you had known" - a sentence never ended, and all the more emphatic and awfully significant for this very reason.
Here, also, there is the same significance. It is "who can tell, what heart of man can conceive, what might have come on me - unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord!" Faith, and the "hope set before Him" carried Him through his darkest hour.
Hence, in v16, He leaves for the Church in all ages the counsel of one who has tried it himself - "Wait on the Lord." Keep your eye ever on the Lord, expecting the light to break and help to come.
The Church, and the Church's head, can lay claim to every clause of this blessed Psalm. That pledge of its truth in v5 has already in ages been found faithfully performed.
The Lord has ever hid his own in evil days, finding an Obadiah to feed his prophets, or sending them to a Cherith, where his ravens shall carry provision. So that Augustine's confidence is that of all saints: his guarantee that he will not abandon his pilgrims. We may call it them - The Righteous One's confident assertion of safety when lonely amid surrounding foes.
Is it Christ that we hear thus expressing what his soul felt? Or is it one of his own who encounters the same foes? It is both; for David was taught by the Spirit to write the blessed experience of the Church and its Head. The Church's experience here is obvious. Let us dwell a little on her Lord's.
Is this, then, "the light of the world" walking through darkness, and staying himself on his Father? What an illustration of his own words, in John 16:32,33, "the hour comes when you shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, for the father is with me. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
And then, soon after, his enemies "stumbled and fell," (v2). The band, with Judas at their head, "went backwards and fell to the ground" (John 18:6), as if in token of the future falling of all that come out against him; while Judas, their leader, stumbled over the cornerstone to his eternal ruin.
So sure is this, that in v3 he appropriates to his own use, and the use of all the righteous, the protecting hosts that Elisha saw round Dothan (2 Kings 6:15).
Our Lord's words, "Do you think I cannot pray to my Father, and He will presently give more than twelve legions of angels?" were at once a reference to the guard of Elisha, and a breathing forth of the strong confidence of this Psalm.
The words, "In this will I be confident" refer back to the faith of v1, "I will be confident, that Jehovah is my light, salvation, strength,."
We have our Lord's style, so to speak, in v4 - "one thing." He, who on earth pointed out the "one thing lacking," to the Rule: and "the one thing needful," to Martha declares what himself felt regarding that "one thing."
To see the Lord, in his temple where everything spoke of redemption - there to see the Father's beauty, what the essence of his soul's desire. This beauty is the Lord's pleased look; such a look as the Father gave when his voice proclaimed: this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. It also means, all that make God an object of affection and delight to the soul.
Luther understood it: the beautiful services of the Lord. In the Tabernacle, the spiritual truths reflected in the mirror of that symbolic worship.
Nothing could be more desirable to Christ, than this approving look of his Father, telling as it did, his love to the uttermost.
And nothing to us sinners, can equal this look of love; it is the essence of heaven now, and heaven forever. It is the one thing. For from this holy love proceed all the other blessings. To catch glimpses of this beauty in the temple was our Lord's aim. He engaged in no other pursuit on earth.
Neither did David, this true disciple, amid the glory of the kingdom. In the light of this Divine smile, the soul is sure of deliverance manifold, deliverance from every evil, and eternal gladness; and can sing (v7) even now, as if full deliverance were already come.
Real assurance of salvation depends on seeing the Father's beauty, his reconciled countenance, his heart of love, in seeing which, the soul feels certain beyond measure, that his future state will be well, for that love is too deep to change; and so it "sings and makes music to Jehovah."
But, verse 8 has a tinge of sadness again. It is, in our Lord's case, like John1 2:17, "Now is my soul troubled," after a season of peaceful rest. Never was there an experience so varied and full as our Lord's in his human nature; and never as experience which his saints so often turn to as their own.
The cry for help ascends; and perhaps the broken words of v9 are intentional, being the difficult utterance of one in trouble quoting words of hope -
"My heart says to you: see my face."
My soul repeats to you your own call and encouragement. How often have you invited us: seek my face? My heart reminds you of your own words; I will not let you go. To me, and to the sons of men, you have sent out an invitation: seek my face. Therefore, my heart in all its distress holds up to you this call of yours. I will seek your face and I will urge you - Hide not your face (v9).
In v10, the harp sings of a lonely, friendless, orphan stat. My father and mother have left me! But from here faith responds: The Lord will take me in (Josh 20:4, Judges 19:5). Our Lord, no doubt felt as man the desire for a father's and a mother's sympathy and help.
In lack of that sympathy and help, he turns to what he finds in Jehovah; for the Lord has a father's heart. Like a father pities his children so the Lord pities those who fear him. Psalm 103:13. And the mother's affections, too. "As one whom his mother comforts, so the Lord will comfort you." (Isaiah 66:13). Our Lord uses words equivalent to "take me in" in Matt 25:43,
A shrill note of the harp touches upon reproach and calumny in v13,14 "false witnesses have risen up." In Matt 26 these false witnesses come in against our Lord, before the high priest; and on that occasion, our Lord bursts out after long silence to declare: after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, coming on the clouds of heaven.
Is this the train of thought in this Psalm? For v15 sees out the hope of seeing what Zecharaiah 9:17 speaks of as to come in great measure: His Goodness. "The goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
Our Lord was content, as a real man, to sustain his soul by faith and hope; resting on what He knew of his Father, and animating it in suffering and trouble with the "hope set before him" (Heb 12:2).
Is this not his testimony, and the testimony of all his saints who have used this Psalm, to the advantages and blessedness of hope? The words in the Hebrew run like this: Unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord (v15). There is no "I had fainted." It is an imperfect sentence.
There is something to be supplied. It is like our Lord's own words in Luke 19:42. "If you had known" - a sentence never ended, and all the more emphatic and awfully significant for this very reason.
Here, also, there is the same significance. It is "who can tell, what heart of man can conceive, what might have come on me - unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord!" Faith, and the "hope set before Him" carried Him through his darkest hour.
Hence, in v16, He leaves for the Church in all ages the counsel of one who has tried it himself - "Wait on the Lord." Keep your eye ever on the Lord, expecting the light to break and help to come.
The Church, and the Church's head, can lay claim to every clause of this blessed Psalm. That pledge of its truth in v5 has already in ages been found faithfully performed.
The Lord has ever hid his own in evil days, finding an Obadiah to feed his prophets, or sending them to a Cherith, where his ravens shall carry provision. So that Augustine's confidence is that of all saints: his guarantee that he will not abandon his pilgrims. We may call it them - The Righteous One's confident assertion of safety when lonely amid surrounding foes.
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