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Psalm Five
Psalm 5
Chapter Contents
God will certainly hear prayer: David gives to God the
glory, and takes to himself the comfort. (1-6) He prayed for himself, that God
would guide him, and for all the Lord's people, that God would give them joy,
and keep them safe. (7-12)
Commentary on Psalm 5:1-6
(Read Psalm 5:1-6)
God is a prayer-hearing God. Such he has always been, and
he is still as ready to hear prayer as ever. The most encouraging principle of
prayer, and the most powerful plea in prayer, is, to look upon him as our King
and our God. David also prays to a sin-hating God. sin is folly, and sinners
are the greatest of all fools; fools of their own making. Wicked people hate
God; justly are they hated of him, and this will be their endless misery and
ruin. Let us learn the importance of truth and sincerity, in all the affairs of
life. Liars and murderers resemble the devil, and are his children, therefore
it may well be expected that God should abhor them. These were the characters
of David's enemies; and such as these are still the enemies of Christ and his
people.
Commentary on Psalm 5:7-12
(Read Psalm 5:7-12)
David prayed often alone, yet was very constant in
attendance on public worship. The mercy of God should ever be the foundation
both of our hope and of our joy, in every thing wherein we have to do with him.
Let us learn to pray, not for ourselves only, but for others; grace be with all
that love Christ in sincerity. The Divine blessing comes down upon us through
Jesus Christ, the righteous or just One, as of old it did upon Israel through
David, whom God protected, and placed upon the throne. Thou, O Christ, art the
righteous Saviour, thou art the King of Israel, thou art the Fountain of
blessing to all believers; thy favour is the defence and protection of thy
church.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 5
Verse 1
[1] Give
ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
Meditation — My
prayer accompanied with deep thoughts and fervent affections of soul.
Verse 3
[3] My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I
direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Morning —
Every morning. As soon as I wake, I am still with thee, as he saith, Psalms 139:18. The first thing that I do is to
pray to thee.
Verse 4
[4] For
thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell
with thee.
Surely —
Thou dost not approve of, nor delight in them, or in their prayers.
Dwelt —
Have any fellowship with thee.
Verse 7
[7] But
as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy
fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
Come —
With holy boldness and confidence.
Mercy —
Trusting only in thy great mercy.
Fear —
With an holy dread and reverence of thy majesty.
Towards —
Looking towards it, when I cannot come to it.
Verse 8
[8] Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy
way straight before my face.
Righteousness — In
thy righteous laws.
Because —
That I may give them no occasion of slandering me, or religion for my sake.
The way —
The way wherein thou wouldst have to one walk.
Plain —
That I may clearly discern it, and readily walk in it.
Verse 9
[9] For
there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness;
their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
Throat —
Wide opened ready to devour all that come within their reach. A metaphor from
wild beasts gaping for the prey.
Verse 10
[10]
Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in
the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
Destroy —
Condemn and punish them.
Cast —
Out of thy land, and from among thy people.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Psalm 5
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
TITLE. "To
the Chief Musician upon Nehiloth, a Psalm of David." The Hebrew word
Nehiloth is taken from another word, signifying "to perforate;"
"to bore through," whence it comes to mean a pipe or a flute; so that
this song was probably intended to be sung with an accompaniment of wind
instruments, such as the horn, the trumpet, flute, or cornet. However, it is
proper to remark that we are not sure of the interpretation of these ancient
titles, for the Septuagint translates it, "For him who shall obtain
inheritance," and Aben Ezra thinks it denotes some old and well known
melody to which this Psalm was to be played. The best scholars confess that
great darkness hangs over the precise interpretation of the title; nor is this
much to be regretted, for it furnishes an internal evidence of the great
antiquity of the Book. Throughout the first, second, third, and forth Psalms,
you will have noticed that the subject is a contrast between the position, the
character, and the prospects of the righteous and of the wicked. In this Psalm
you will note the same. The Psalmist carries out a contrast between himself
made righteous by God's grace, and the wicked who opposed him. To the devout
mind there is here presented a precious view of the Lord Jesus, of whom it is
said that in the days of his flesh, he offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears.
DIVISION.
The Psalm should be divided into two parts, from the first to the seventh
verse, and then from the eighth to the twelfth. In the first part of the Psalm
David most vehemently beseeches the Lord to hearken to his prayer, and in the
second part he retraces the same ground.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. There
are two sorts of prayers—those expressed in words, and the unuttered longings
which abide as silent meditations. Words are not the essence but the garments
of prayer. Moses at the Red Sea cried to God, though he said nothing. Yet the
use of language may prevent distraction of mind, may assist the powers of the
soul, and may excite devotion. David, we observe, uses both modes of prayer,
and craves for the one a hearing, and for the other a consideration.
What an expressive word! "Consider my meditation." If I have
asked that which is right, give it to me; if I have omitted to ask that which I
most needed, fill up the vacancy in my prayer. "Consider my
meditation." Let thy holy soul consider it as presented through my
all-glorious Mediator: then regard thou it in thy wisdom, weigh it in the
scales, judge thou of my sincerity, and of the true state of my necessities,
and answer me in due time for thy mercy's sake! There may be prevailing
intercession where there are no words; and alas! there may be words where there
is no true supplication. Let us cultivate the spirit of prayer which is
even better than the habit of prayer. There may be seeming prayer where
there is little devotion. We should begin to pray before we kneel down, and we
should not cease when we rise up.
Verse
2. "The voice of my cry." In another Psalm we find the
expression, "The voice of my weeping." Weeping has a voice—a melting,
plaintive tone, an ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches the very heart of
God; and crying hath a voice—a soul-moving eloquence; coming from our
heart it reaches God's heart. Ah! my brothers and sisters, sometimes we
cannot put our prayers into words: they are nothing but a cry: but the
Lord can comprehend the meaning, for he hears a voice in our cry. To a loving
father his children's cries are music, and they have a magic influence which
his heart cannot resist. "My King, and my God." Observe
carefully these little pronouns, "my King, and my God."
They are the pith and marrow of the plea. Here is a grand argument why God
should answer prayer—because he is our King and our God. We are
not aliens to him: he is the King of our country. Kings are expected to hear
the appeals of their own people. We are not strangers to him; we are his
worshippers, and he is our God: ours by covenant, by promise, by oath, by
blood.
"For
unto thee will I pray." Here David expresses his declaration that he
will seek to God, and to God alone. God is to be the only object of worship:
the only resource of our soul in times of need. Leave broken cisterns to the
godless, and let the godly drink from the Divine fountain alone. "Unto
thee will I pray." He makes a resolution, that as long as he lived
he would pray. He would never cease to supplicate, even though the answer
should not come.
Verse
3. Observe, this is not so much a prayer as a resolution, "'My voice
shalt thou hear;' I will not be dumb, I will not be silent, I will not
withhold my speech, I will cry to thee for the fire that dwells within
compels me to pray." We can sooner die than live without prayer. None of
God's children are possessed with a dumb devil.
"In
the morning." This is the fittest time for intercourse with God. An
hour in the morning is worth two in the evening. While the dew is on the grass,
let grace drop upon the soul. Let us give to God the mornings of our days and
the morning of our lives. Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of
the night. Devotion should be both the morning star and the evening star.
If
we merely read our English version, and want an explanation of these two
sentences, we find it in the figure of an archer, "I will direct my
prayer unto thee," I will put my prayer upon the bow, I will direct it
towards heaven, and then when I have shot up my arrow, I will look up to
see where it has gone. But the Hebrew has a still fuller meaning than
this—"I will direct my prayer." It is the word that is used
for the laying in order of the wood and the pieces of the victim upon the
altar, and it is used also for the putting of the shewbread upon the table. It
means just this: "I will arrange my prayer before thee;" I will lay
it out upon the altar in the morning, just as the priest lays out the morning
sacrifice. I will arrange my prayer; or, as old Master Trapp has it,
"I will marshall up my prayers," I will put them in order, call up
all my powers, and bid them stand in their proper places, that I may pray with
all my might, and pray acceptably.
"And
will look up," or, as the Hebrew might better be translated, "'I
will look out,' I will look out for the answer; after I have prayed, I will
expect that the blessing shall come." It is a word that is used in another
place where we read of those who watched for the morning. So will I watch for
thine answer, O my Lord! I will spread out my prayer like the victim on the
altar, and I will look up, and expect to receive the answer by fire from heaven
to consume the sacrifice.
Two
questions are suggested by the last part of this verse. Do we not miss very
much of the sweetness and efficacy of prayer by a want of careful meditation
before it, and of hopeful expectation after it? We too often rush into the
presence of God without forethought or humility. We are like men who present
themselves before a king without a petition, and what wonder is it that we
often miss the end of prayer? We should be careful to keep the stream of
meditation always running; for this is the water to drive the mill of prayer.
It is idle to pull up the flood-gates of a dry brook, and then hope to see the
wheel revolve. Prayer without fervency is like hunting with a dead dog, and
prayer without preparation is hawking with a blind falcon. Prayer is the work
of the Holy Spirit, but he works by means. God made man, but he used the dust
of the earth as a material: the Holy Ghost is the author of prayer, but he
employs the thoughts of a fervent soul as the gold with which to fashion the
vessel. Let not our prayers and praises be the flashes of a hot and hasty
brain, but the steady burning of a well-kindled fire.
But,
furthermore, do we not forget to watch the result of our supplications? We are
like the ostrich, which lays her eggs and looks not for her young. We sow the
seed, and are too idle to seek a harvest. How can we expect the Lord to open
the windows of his grace, and pour us out a blessing, if we will not open the
windows of expectation and look up for the promised favour? Let holy
preparation link hands with patient expectation, and we shall have far larger
answers to our prayers.
Verse
4. And now the Psalmist having thus expressed his resolution to pray, you hear
him putting up his prayer. He is pleading against his cruel and wicked enemies.
He uses a most mighty argument. He begs of God to put them away from him,
because they were displeasing to God himself. "For thou art not a God
that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee."
"When I pray against my tempters," says David, "I pray against
the very things which thou thyself abhorrest." Thou hatest evil:
Lord, I beseech thee, deliver me from it!
Let
us learn here the solemn truth of the hatred which a righteous God must bear
toward sin. He has no pleasure in wickedness, however wittily, grandly,
and proudly it may array itself. Its glitter has no charm for him. Men may bow
before successful villainy, and forget the wickedness of the battle in the
gaudiness of the triumph, but the Lord of Holiness is not such-an-one as we
are. "Neither shall evil dwell with thee." He will not afford
it the meanest shelter. Neither on earth nor in heaven shall evil share the
mansion of God. Oh, how foolish are we if we attempt to entertain two guests so
hostile to one another as Christ Jesus and the devil! Rest assured, Christ will
not live in the parlour of our hearts if we entertain the devil in the cellar
of our thoughts.
Verse
5. "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight." Sinners are
fools written large. A little sin is a great folly, and the greatest of all
folly is great sin. Such sinful fools as these must be banished from the court
of heaven. Earthly kings were wont to have fools in their trains, but the only
wise God will have no fools in his palace above. "Thou hatest all
workers of iniquity." It is not a little dislike, but a thorough
hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated of God is an awful
thing. O let us be very faithful in warning the wicked around us, for it will
be a terrible thing for them to fall into the hands of an angry God!
Verse
6. Observe, that evil speakers must be punished as well as evil workers, for "thou
shalt destroy them that speak leasing." All liars shall have their
portion in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. A man may lie
without danger of the law of man, but he will not escape the law of God. Liars
have short wings, their flight shall soon be over, and they shall fall into the
fiery floods of destruction. "The Lord will abhor the bloody and
deceitful man." Bloody men shall be made drunk with their own blood,
and they who began by deceiving others shall end with being deceived themselves.
Our old proverb saith, "Bloody and deceitful men dig their own
graves." The voice of the people is in this instance the voice of God. How
forcible is the word abhor! Does it not show us how powerful and
deep-seated is the hatred of the Lord against the workers of iniquity?
Verse
7. With this verse the first part of the Psalm ends. The Psalmist has bent his
knee in prayer; he has described before God, as an argument for his
deliverance, the character and the fate of the wicked; and now he contrasts
this with the condition of the righteous. "But as for me, I will come
into thy house." I will not stand at a distance, I will come into thy
sanctuary, just as a child comes into his father's house. But I will not come
there by my own merits; no, I have a multitude of sins, and therefore I will
come in the multitude of thy mercy. I will approach thee with confidence
because of thy immeasurable grace. God's judgments are all numbered, but his
mercies are innumerable; he gives his wrath by weight, but without weight his
mercy. "And in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple,"—towards
the temple of thy holiness. The temple was not built on earth at that time; it
was but a tabernacle; but David was wont to turn his eyes spiritually to that
temple of God's holiness where between the wings of the Cherubim Jehovah dwells
in light ineffable. Daniel opened his window toward Jerusalem, but we open our
hearts toward heaven.
Verse
8. Now we come to the second part, in which the Psalmist repeats his arguments,
and goes over the same ground again.
"Lead
me, O Lord," as a little child is led by its father, as a blind man is
guided by his friend. It is safe and pleasant walking when God leads the way. "In
thy righteousness," not in my righteousness, for that is
imperfect, but in thine, for thou art righteousness itself. "Make
thy way," not my way, "straight before my face."
Brethren, when we have learned to give up our own way, and long to walk in
God's way, it is a happy sign of grace; and it is no small mercy to see the way
of God with clear vision straight before our face. Errors about duty may lead
us into a sea of sins, before we know where we are.
Verse
9. This description of depraved man has been copied by the Apostle Paul, and,
together with some other quotations, he has placed it in the second chapter of
Romans, as being an accurate description of the whole human race, not of
David's enemies only, but of all men by nature. Note that remarkable figure, "Their
throat is an open sepulchre," a sepulchre full of
loathsomeness, of miasma, of pestilence and death. But, worse than that, it is
an open sepulchre, with all its evil gases issuing forth, to spread
death and destruction all around. So, with the throat of the wicked, it would
be a great mercy if it could always be closed. If we could seal in continual
silence the mouth of the wicked it would be like a sepulchre shut up, and would
not produce much mischief. But, "their throat is an open
sepulchre," consequently all the wickedness of their heart exhales, and
comes forth. How dangerous is an open sepulchre; men in their journeys might
easily stumble therein, and find themselves among the dead. Ah! take heed of
the wicked man, for there is nothing that he will not say to ruin you; he will
long to destroy your character, and bury you in the hideous sepulchre of his
own wicked throat. One sweet thought here, however. At the resurrection there
will be a resurrection not only of bodies, but characters. This should be a
great comfort to a man who has been abused and slandered. "Then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun." The world may think you vile, and bury
your character; but if you have been upright, in the day when the graves shall
give up their dead, this open sepulchre of the sinner's throat shall be
compelled to give up your heavenly character, and you shall come forth and be
honoured in the sight of men. "They flatter with their tongue."
Or, as we might read it, "They have an oily tongue, a smooth tongue."
A smooth tongue is a great evil; many have been bewitched by it. There be many
human ant-eaters that with their long tongues covered with oily words entice
and entrap the unwary and make their gain thereby. When the wolf licks the
lamb, he is preparing to wet his teeth in its blood.
Verse
10. "Against thee:" not against me. If they were my
enemies I would forgive them, but I cannot forgive thine. We are to
forgive our enemies, but God's enemies it is not in our power to forgive.
These expressions have often been noticed by men of over refinement as being
harsh, and grating on the ear. "Oh!" say they, "they are
vindictive and revengeful." Let us remember that they might be translated
as prophecies, not as wishes; but we do not care to avail ourselves of this
method of escape. We have never heard of a reader of the Bible who, after
perusing these passages, was made revengeful by reading them, and it is but
fair to test the nature of a writing by its effects. When we hear a judge condemning
a murderer, however severe his sentence, we do not feel that we should be
justified in condemning others for any private injury done to us. The Psalmist
here speaks as a judge, ex officio; he speaks as God's mouth, and in
condemning the wicked he gives us no excuse whatever for uttering anything in
the way of malediction upon those who have caused us personal offence. The most
shameful way of cursing another is by pretending to bless him. We were all
somewhat amused by noticing the toothless malice of that wretched old priest of
Rome, when he foolishly cursed the Emperor of France with his blessing. He was
blessing him in form and cursing him in reality. Now, in direct contrast we put
this healthy commination of David, which is intended to be a blessing by
warning the sinner of the impending curse. O impenitent man, be it known unto
thee that all thy godly friends will give their solemn assent to the awful
sentence of the Lord, which he shall pronounce upon thee in the day of doom!
Our verdict shall applaud the condemning curse which the Judge of all the earth
shall thunder against the godless.
In
the following verse we once more find the contrast which has marked the preceeding
Psalms.
Verse
11. Joy is the privilege of the believer. When sinners are destroyed our
rejoicing shall be full. They laugh first and weep ever after; we weep now, but
shall rejoice eternally. When they howl we shall shout, and as they must
groan for ever, so shall we ever shout for joy. This holy bliss of ours
has a firm foundation, for, O Lord, we are joyful in thee. The eternal
God is the well-spring of our bliss. We love God, and therefore we delight in
him. Our heart is at ease in our God. We fare sumptuously every day because we
feed on him. We have music in the house, music in the heart, and music in
heaven, for the Lord Jehovah is our strength and our song; he also is become
our salvation.
Verse
12. Jehovah has ordained his people the heirs of blessedness, and nothing shall
rob them of their inheritance. With all the fulness of his power he will bless
them, and all his attributes shall unite to satiate them with divine
contentment. Nor is this merely for the present, but the blessing reaches into
the long and unknown future. "Thou, Lord, wilt bless the
righteous." This is a promise of infinite length, of unbounded
breadth, and of unutterable preciousness. As for the defence which the believer
needs in this land of battles, it is here promised to him in the fullest
measure. There were vast shields used by the ancients as extensive as a man's
whole person, which would surround him entirely. So says David, "With
favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield." According to Ainsworth
there is here also the idea of being crowned, so that we wear a royal helmet,
which is at once our glory and defence. O Lord, ever give to us this gracious
coronation!
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 1. "Give
ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation." It is certain that
the greater part of men, as they babble out vain, languid, and inefficacious
prayers, most unworthy the ear of the blessed God, so they seem in some degree
to set a just estimate upon them, neither hoping for any success from them, nor
indeed seeming to be at all solicitous about it, but committing them to the
wind as vain words, which in truth they are. But far be it from a wise and
pious man, that he should so foolishly and coldly trifle in so serious an
affair; his prayer has a certain tendency and scope, at which he aims with
assiduous and repeated desires, and doth not only pray that he may pray, but
that he may obtain an answer; and as he firmly believes that it may be
obtained, so he firmly, and constantly, and eagerly urges his petitions, that
he may not flatter himself with an empty hope. Robert Leighton, D.D.
Verses 1, 2. Observe
the order and force of the words, "my cry," "the voice of my
prayer;" and also, "give ear," "consider,"
"hearken." These expressions all evince the urgency and energy of
David's feelings and petitions. First we have, "give ear;"
that is, hear me. But it is of little service for the words to be heard, unless
the "cry," or the roaring, or the meditation, be considered.
As if he had said, in a common way of expression, I speak with deep anxiety and
concern, but with a failing utterance; and I cannot express myself, nor make
myself understood as I wish. Do thou, therefore, understand from my feelings
more than I am able to express in words. And, therefore, I add my "cry;"
that what I cannot express in words for thee to hear, I may by my "cry"
signify to thine understanding. And when thou hast understood me, then, O Lord,
"Hearken unto the voice of my prayer," and despise not what
thou hast thus heard and understood. We are not, however, to understand that
hearing, understanding, and hearkening, are all different acts in God, in the
same way as they are in us; but that our feelings towards God are to be thus
varied and increased; that is, that we are first to desire to be heard, and
then, that our prayers which are heard may be understood; and then, that being
understood, they may be hearkened unto, that is, not disregarded. Martin
Luther.
Verse 1. "Meditation"
fits the soul for supplication; meditation fills the soul with good liquor, and
then prayer broaches it, and sets it a-running. David first mused, and then
spake with his tongue, "Lord, make me to know mine end." Psalm 39:3,
4. Nay, to assure us that meditation was the mother which bred and brought forth
prayer, he calls the child by its parent's name, "Give ear to my words,
O Lord, consider my meditation." Meditation is like the charging of a
piece, and prayer the discharging of it. "Isaac went into the field to
meditate." Genesis 24:63. The Septuagint, the Geneva translation, and
Tremellius, in his marginal notes on it, read it to "pray;" and the
Hebrew word (Heb.) used there signifieth both to pray and meditate;
whereby we may learn that they are very near akin; like twins, they be in the
same womb, in the same word. Meditation is the best beginning of prayer, and
prayer is the best conclusion of meditation. When the Christian, like Daniel,
hath first opened the windows of his soul by contemplation, then he may kneel
down to prayer. George Swinnock.
Verse 3. "My
voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord."
When first thy
eyes unveil, give thy soul leave
To do the like; our bodies but forerun
The spirit's duty: true hearts spread and heave
Unto their God, as flowers do to the sun;
Give him thy first thoughts, then, so shalt thou keep
Him company all day, and in him sleep.
Yet
never sleep the sun up; prayer should
Dawn with the day, there are set awful hours
'Twixt heaven and us; the manna was not good
After sun-rising, for day sullies flowers.
Rise to prevent the sun; sleep doth sins glut,
And heaven's gate opens when the world's is shut.
Walk
with thy fellow creatures; note the hush
And whisperings amongst them. Not a spring
Or leaf but hath his morning hymn; each bush
And oak doth know I AM—canst thou not sing?
O leave thy cares and follies! Go this way,
And thou art sure to prosper all the day.
Henry Vaughn, 1621-1695.
Verse 3. "My
voice shalt thou hear in the morning." "In the morning shall my
prayer prevent thee," said Heman. That is the fittest time for
devotion, you being then fresh in your spirits, and freest from distractions.
Which opportunity for holy duties may fitly be called the wings of the
morning. Edward Reyner, 1658.
Verse 3. "In
the morning." "In the days of our fathers," says Bishop
Burnet, "when a person came early to the door of his neighbour, and
desired to speak with the master of the house, it was as common a thing for the
servants to tell him with freedom— 'My master is at prayer,' as it now is to
say, 'My master is not up.'"
Verse 3. "In
the morning I will direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up," or, I
will marshall my prayer, I will bring up petition after petition, pleading
after pleading, even till I become like Jacob, a prince with God, till I have
won the field and got the day. Thus the word is applied by a metaphor both to
disputations with men and supplications to God. Further, we may take the
meaning plainly without any strain of rhetoric, Set thy words in order
before me. Method is good in everything, either an express or covert
method. Sometimes it is the best of art to cover it: in speaking there is a
special use of method, for though, as one said very well (speaking of those who
are more curious about method than serious about matter), "Method never
converted any man;" yet method and the ordering of words is very
useful. Our speeches should not be heaps of words, but words bound up; not a
throng of words, but words set in array, or, as it were, in rank and file. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 3. "I
will direct my prayer unto thee and will look up." In the words you
may observe two things: first, David's posture in prayer; secondly, his
practice after prayer. First, his posture in prayer, "I will direct my
prayer unto thee." Secondly, his practice after prayer, "And I
will look up." The prophet in these words, makes use of two military
words. First, he would not only pray, but marshall up his prayers, he would put
them in battle array; so much the Hebrew word (Heb.) imports. Secondly, when he
had done this, then he would be as a spy upon his watch-tower, to see whether
he prevailed, whether he got the day or no; and so much the Hebrew word (Heb)
imports. When David had set his prayers, his petitions, in rank and file, in
good array, then he was resolved he would look abroad, he would look about him
to see at what door God would send in an answer to prayer. He is either a fool
or a madman, he is either very weak or very wicked, that prays and prays but
never looks after his prayers; that shoots many an arrow toward heaven, but
never minds where his arrows alight. Thomas Brooks.
Verse 3. David would
direct his prayer to God and look up; not down to the world, down to
corruption, but up to God what he would speak. Psalm 85:8. "I will hear
what God the Lord will speak," Let the resolution of the prophet be thine,
"I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my
God will hear me." Micah 7:7. William Greenhill, 1650.
Verse 3. "I
will direct my prayer to thee, and will look up," that is, I will
trade, I will send out my spiritual commodities, and expect a gainful return; I
will make my prayers, and not give them for lost, but look up for an answer.
God will bring man home by a way contrary to that by which he wandered from
him. Man fell from God by distrust, by having God in suspicion; God will bring
him back by trust, by having good thoughts of him. Oh, how richly laden might
the vessel which thou sendest out come home, wouldst thou but long and look for
its return! George Swinnock.
Verse 3. Faith hath
a supporting act after prayer; it supports the soul to expect a gracious
answer: "I will direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up,"
or I will look; for what, but for a return? An unbelieving heart shoots at
random, and never minds where his arrow lights, or what comes of his praying;
but faith fills the soul with expectation. As a merchant, when he casts up his
estate, he counts what he hath sent beyond sea, as well as what he hath in
hand; so doth faith reckon upon what he hath sent to heaven in prayer and not
received, as well as those mercies which he hath received, and are in hand at
present. Now this expectation which faith raiseth in the soul after prayer,
appears in the power that it hath to quiet and compose the soul in the interim
between the sending forth, as I may say, the ship of prayer, and its return
home with its rich lading it goes for, and it is more or less, according as
faith's strength is. Sometimes faith comes from prayer in triumph, and cries, Victoria.
It gives such a being and existence to the mercy prayed for in the Christian's
soul before any likelihood of it appears to sense and reason, that the
Christian can silence all his troubled thoughts with the expectation of its
coming. Yea, it will make the Christian disburse his praises for the mercy long
before it is received. . . . . . For want of looking up many a prayer is lost.
If you do not believe, why do you pray? And if you believe, why do you not
expect? By praying you seem to depend on God; by not expecting, you again
renounce your confidence. What is this but to take his name in vain? O
Christian, stand to your prayer in a holy expectation of what you have begged
upon the credit of the promise. . . . . Mordecai, no doubt, had put up many
prayers for Esther, and therefore he waits at the king's gate, looking what
answer God would in his providence give therunto. Do thou likewise. William
Gurnall.
Verse 4. "Thou
art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness." As a man that cutteth
with a dull knife is the cause of cutting, but not of the ill-cutting and
hacking of the knife—the knife is the cause of that; or if a man strike upon an
instrument that is out of tune, he is the cause of the sound, but not of the
jarring sound—that is the fault of the untuned strings; or, as a man riding upon
a lame horse, stirs him—the man is the cause of the motion, but the horse
himself of the halting motion: thus God is the author of every action, but not
of the evil of that action—that is from man. He that makes instruments and
tools of iron or other metal, he maketh not the rust and canker which
corrupteth them, that is from another cause; nor doth that heavenly workman,
God Almighty, bring in sin and iniquity; nor can he be justly blamed if his
creatures do soil and besmear themselves with the foulness of sin, for he made
them good. Spencer's Things New and Old.
Verses 4-6. Here the
Lord's alienation from the wicked is set forth gradually, and seems to rise by
six steps. First, he hath no pleasure in them; secondly, they shall
not dwell with him; thirdly, he casteth them forth, they shall not stand
in his sight; fourthly, his heart turns from them, thou hatest all the
workers of iniquity; fifthly, his hand is turned upon them, thou shalt
destroy them that speak leasing; sixthly, his spirit rises against them,
and is alienated from them, the Lord will abhor the bloody man. This
estrangement is indeed a strange (yet a certain) punishment to "the
workers of iniquity." These words, "the workers of
iniquity," may be considered two ways. First, as intending (not all
degrees of sinners, or sinners of every degree, but) the highest degree of
sinners, great, and gross sinners, resolved and wilful sinners. Such as sin
industriously, and, as it were, artificially, with skill and care to get
themselves a name, as if they had an ambition to be accounted workmen
that need not to be ashamed of doing that whereof all ought to be ashamed;
these, in strictness of Scripture sense, are "workers of
iniquity." Hence note, notorious sinners make sin their business,
or trade. Though every sin be a work of iniquity, yet only some
sinners are "workers of iniquity;" and they who are called so,
make their calling to sin. We read of some who love and make a lie.
Revelation 22:15. A lie may be told by those who neither love nor make it; but
there are lie-makers, and they, sure enough, are lovers of a lie. Such
craftsmen in sinning are also described in Psalm 58:2—"Yea, in heart ye
work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth." The
psalmist doth not say, they had wickedness in their heart, but they did work it
there; the heart is a shop within, an underground shop; there they did
closely contrive, forge, and hammer out their wicked purposes, and fit them
into actions. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 5. What an
astonishing thing is sin, which maketh the God of love and Father of mercies an
enemy to his creatures, and which could only be purged by the blood of the Son
of God! Though all must believe this who believe the Bible, yet the exceeding
sinfulness of sin is but weakly apprehended by those who have the deepest sense
of it, and will never be fully known in this world. Thomas Adam's Private
Thoughts, 1701-1784.
Verse 5 (last
clause). "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." For what
God thinks of sin, see Deuteronomy 7:22; Proverbs 6:16; Revelation 2:6, 15;
where he expresseth his detestation and hatred of it, from which hatred
proceeds all those direful plagues and judgments thundered from the fiery mouth
of his most holy law against it; nay, not only the work, but worker also
of iniquity becomes the object of his hatred. William Gurnall.
Verse 5 (last
clause). "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." If God's
hatred be against the workers of iniquity, how great is it against iniquity
itself! If a man hates a poisonous creature, he hates poison much more. The
strength of God's hatred is against sin, and so should we hate sin, and hate it
with strength; it is an abomination unto God, let it be so unto us. Proverbs
6:16-19, "These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination
unto him; a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an
heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift to mischief, a
false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among
brethren." William Greenhill.
Verse 5 (last
clause). Those whom the Lord hates must perish. But he hates impenitent
sinners, "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." Now, who are
so properly workers of iniquity as those who are so eager at it that they will
not leave this work, though they be in danger to perish for it? Christ puts it
out of doubt. The workers of iniquity must perish. Luke 13:27. Those whom the
Lord will tear in his wrath must perish with a witness; but those whom he
hates, he tears, &c. Job 16:8. What more due to such impenitent sinners
than hatred? What more proper than wrath, since they treasure up wrath? Romans
2:5. Will he entertain those in the bosom of love whom his soul hates? No;
destruction is their portion. Proverbs 21:15. If all the curses of the law, all
the threatenings of the gospel, all judgments in earth or in hell, will be the
ruin of him, he must perish. If the Lord's arm be strong enough to wound him
dead, he must die. Psalm 68:21. . . . . . . Avoid all that Christ hates. If you
love, approve, entertain that which is hateful to Christ, how can he love you?
What is that which Christ hates? The psalmist (Psalm 45:7) tells us, making it
one of Christ's attributes, to hate wickedness. . . . . As Christ hates
iniquity, so the "workers of iniquity." You must not love
them, so as to be intimate with them, delight in the company of evil doers,
openly profane, scorners of godliness, obstructors of the power of it. 2
Corinthians 6:14-18. If you love so near relations to wicked men, Christ will
have no relation to you. If you would have communion with Christ in sweet acts
of love, you must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, nor
those that act them. David Clarkson, B.D., 1621-1686.
Verse 6. "Thou
shalt destroy them that speak leasing," whether in jest or earnest.
Those that lie in jest will (without repentance) go to hell in earnest. John
Trapp.
Verse 6. "Thou
shalt destroy them that speak leasing," etc. In the same field where
Absalom raised battle against his father, stood the oak that was his gibbet.
The mule whereon he rode was his hangman, for the mule carried him to the tree,
and the hair wherein he gloried served for a rope to hang. Little know the
wicked how everything which now they have shall be a snare to trap them when
God begins to punish them. William Cowper, 1612.
Verse 7. "In
thy fear will I worship." As natural fear makes the spirits retire
from the outward parts of the body to the heart, so a holy fear of miscarrying
in so solemn a duty would be a means to call thy thoughts from all exterior
carnal objects, and fix them upon the duty in hand. As the sculpture is on the
seal, so will the print on the wax be; if the fear of God be deeply engraven on
thy heart, there is no doubt but it will make a suitable impression on the duty
thou performest. William Gurnall.
Verse 7. David
saith, "In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple."
The temple did shadow forth the body of our Lord Christ, the Mediator, in whom
only our prayers and service are accepted with the Father which Solomon
respected in looking towards the temple. Thomas Manton, D.D., 1620-1677.
Verse 7. "But
as for me," etc. A blessed verse this! a blessed saying! The words and
the sense itself, carry with them a powerful contrast. For there are two things
with which this life is exercised, HOPE and FEAR, which are, as it were, those
two springs of Judges 1:15, the one from above, the other from beneath. Fear
comes from beholding the threats and fearful judgments of God; as being a God
in whose sight no one is clean, every one is a sinner, every one is damnable.
But hope comes from beholding the promises, and the all-sweet mercies of
God; as it is written (Psalm 25:6), "Remember, O Lord, thy loving
kindnesses, and thy tender mercies which have been ever of old." Between these
two, as between the upper and nether millstone, we must always be ground and
kept, that we may never turn either to the right hand or to the left. For this
turning is the state peculiar to hypocrites, who are exercised with the two
contrary things, security and presumption. Martin Luther.
Verse 9. If the
whole soul be infected with such a desperate disease, what a great and
difficult work it is to regenerate, to restore men again to spiritual life and
vigour, when every part of them is seized by such a mortal distemper! How great
a cure doth the Spirit of God effect in restoring a soul by sanctifying it! To
heal but the lungs or the liver, if corrupted, is counted a great cure, though
performed but upon one part of thee; but all thy inward parts are very
rottenness. "For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward
part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with
their tongue." How great a cure is it then to heal thee! Such as is
only in the skill and power of God to do. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse 9. "Their
throat is an open sepulchre." This figure graphically portrays the
filthy conversation of the wicked. Nothing can be more abominable to the senses
than an open sepulchre, when a dead body beginning to putrefy steams forth its
tainted exhalations. What proceeds out of their mouth is infected and putrid;
and, as the exhalation from a sepulchre proves the corruption within, so it is
with the corrupt conversation of sinners. Robert Haldane's "Expositions
of the Epistle to the Romans," 1835.
Verse 9. "Their
throat is an open sepulchre." This doth admonish us, (1) that the
speeches of natural unregenerate men are unsavory, rotten, and hurtful to
others; for, as a sepulchre doth send out noisome savours and filthy smells, so
evil men do utter rotten and filthy words. (2) As a sepulchre doth consume and
devour bodies cast into it, so wicked men do with their cruel words destroy
others; they are like a gulf to destroy others. (3) As a sepulchre, having
devoured many corpses, is still ready to consume more, being never satisfied,
so wicked men, having overthrown many with their words, do proceed in their
outrage, seeking whom they may devour. Thomas Wilson, 1653.
Verse 9. "Their
inward part," etc. Their hearts are storehouses for the devil. John
Trapp.
Verse 10. All those
portions where we find apparently prayers that breathe revenge, are never to be
thought of as anything else than the breathed assent of righteous souls
to the justice of their God, who taketh vengeance on sin. When taken as the
words of Christ himself, they are no other than an echo of the Intercessor's
acquiescence at last in the sentence on the barren fig-tree. It is as if he
cried aloud, "Hew it down now, I will intercede no longer, the doom is
righteous, destroy them, O God; cast them out in (or, for) the
multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against thee."
And in the same moment he may be supposed to invite his saints to sympathise in
his decision; just as in Revelation 18:20, "Rejoice over her, thou heaven,
and ye holy apostles and prophets." In like manner when one of Christ's
members, in entire sympathy with his Head, views the barren fig-tree from the
same point of observation, and sees the glory of God concerned in inflicting the
blow, he too can cry, "Let the axe smite!" Had Abraham stood beside
the angel who destroyed Sodom, and seen how Jehovah's name required the ruin of
these impenitent rebels, he would have cried out, "Let the shower descend;
let the fire and brimstone come down!" not in any spirit of revenge; not
from want of tender love to souls, but from intense earnestness of concern for
the glory of his God. We consider this explanation to be the real key that
opens all the difficult passages in this book, where curses seem to be called
for on the head of the ungodly. They are no more than a carrying out of
Deuteronomy 27:15-26, "Let all the people say, Amen," and an entering
into the Lord's holy abhorrence of sin, and delight in acts of justice
expressed in the "Amen, hallelujah," of Revelation 19:3. Andrew A.
Bonar, 1859.
Verse 10. (Or
imprecatory passages generally.) Lord, when in my daily service I read
David's Psalms, give me to alter the accent of my soul according to their
several subjects. In such Psalms wherein he confesseth his sins, or requesteth
thy pardon, or praiseth for former, or prayeth for future favours, in all these
give me to raise my soul to as high a pitch as may be. But when I come to such
Psalms wherein he curseth his enemies, O there let me bring my soul down to a
lower note. For those words were made only to fit David's mouth. I have the
like breath, but not the same spirit to pronounce them. Nor let me flatter
myself, that it is lawful for me, with David, to curse thine enemies, lest my
deceitful heart entitle mine enemies to be thine, and so what was religion in
David, prove malice in me, whilst I act revenge under the pretense of piety. Thomas
Fuller, D.D., 1608-1661.
Verse 12. When the
strong man armed comes against us, when he darts his fiery darts, what can hurt
us, if God compass us about with his lovingkindness as with a shield? He
can disarm the tempter and restrain his malice, and tread him under our feet.
If God be not with us, if he do not give us sufficient grace, so subtle, so
powerful, so politic an enemy, will be too hard for us. How surely are we
foiled, and get the worse, when we pretend to grapple with him in our own
strength! How many falls, and how many bruises by those falls have we got, by
relying too much on our own skill? How often have we had the help of God when
we have humbly asked it! And how sure are we to get the victory, if Christ
pray for us that we do not fail! Luke 22:31. Where can we go for shelter
but unto God our Maker! When this lion of the forest does begin to roar, how
will he terrify and vex us, till he that permits him for awhile to trouble us,
be pleased to chain him up again! Timothy Rogers, 1691.
Verse 12. "As
with a shield." Luther, when making his way into the presence of
Cardinal Cajetan, who had summoned him to answer for his heretical opinions at
Augsburg, was asked by one of the Cardinal's minions, where he should find a
shelter, if his patron, the Elector of Saxony, should desert him? "Under
the shield of heaven!" was the reply. The silenced minion turned round,
and went his way.
Verse 12. "With
favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield." The shield is not for
the defence of any particular part of the body, as almost all the other pieces
are: helmet, fitted for the head; plate, designed for the breast; and so
others, they have their several parts, which they are fastened to; but the
shield is a piece that is intended for the defence of the whole body. It was
used therefore to be made very large; for its broadness, called a gate or door,
because so long and large, as in a manner to cover the whole body. And if the
shield were not large enough at once to cover every part, yet being a movable
piece of armour, the skilful soldier might turn it this way or that way, to
catch the blow or arrow from lighting on any part they were directed to. And
this indeed doth excellently well set forth the universal use that faith is of
to the Christian. It defends the whole man: every part of the Christian by it
is preserved. . . . . The shield doth not only defend the whole body, but it is
a defence to the soldier's armour also; it keeps the arrow from the helmet as
well as head, from the breast and breastplate also. Thus faith, it is armour
upon armour, a grace that preserves all the other graces. William Gurnall.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verses 1, 2. Prayer
in its threefold form. "Words, meditation, cry." Showing how
utterance is of no avail without heart, but that fervent longings and silent
desires are accepted, even when unexpressed.
Verse 3. The
excellence of morning devotion.
Verse 3. (last
two clauses)
1.
Prayer directed.
2.
Answers expected.
Verse 4. God's
hatred of sin an example to his people.
Verse 5. "The
foolish." Show why sinners are justly called fools.
Verse 7. "Multitude
of thy nercy." Dwell upon the varied grace and goodness of God.
Verse 7. The devout
resolution
Verse 7.
I.
Observe the singularity of the resolution.
II.
Mark the object of the resolution. It regards the service of God in the
sanctuary. "I will come into thine house. . . in thy fear will I worship
towards thy holy temple."
III.
The manner in which he would accomplish the resolution.
(1)
Impressed with a sense of the divine goodness: "I will come into thy house
in the multitude of thy mercy."
(2)
Filled with holy veneration: "And in thy fear will I worship."
William Jay, 1842.
Verse 8. God's
guidance needed always and especially when enemies are watching us.
Verse 10. Viewed as
a threatening. The sentence, "Cast them out in the multitude of their
transgressions," is specially fitted to be the groundwork of a very solemn
discourse.
Verse 11.
I.
The character of the righteous: faith and love.
II.
The privileges of the righteous.
(1)
Joy—great, pure, satisfying, triumphant, (shout) constant (ever).
(2)
Defence—by power, providence, angels, grace, etc.
Verse 11. Joy in the
Lord both a duty and a privilege.
Verse 12. (first
clause). The divine blessing upon the righteous. It is ancient,
effectual, constant, extensive, irreversible, surpassing, eternal, infinite.
Verse 12. (second
clause). A sense of divine favour a defence to the soul.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》