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Psalm Thirteen
Psalm 13
Chapter Contents
The psalmist complains that God had long withdrawn. He
earnestly prays for comfort. He assures himself of an answer of peace.
God sometimes hides his face, and leaves his own children
in the dark concerning their interest in him: and this they lay to heart more
than any outward trouble whatever. But anxious cares are heavy burdens with
which believers often load themselves more than they need. The bread of sorrows
is sometimes the saint's daily bread; our Master himself was a man of sorrows.
It is a common temptation, when trouble lasts long, to think that it will last
always. Those who have long been without joy, begin to be without hope. We
should never allow ourselves to make any complaints but what drive us to our
knees. Nothing is more killing to a soul than the want of God's favour; nothing
more reviving than the return of it. The sudden, delightful changes in the book
of Psalms, are often very remarkable. We pass from depth of despondency to the
height of religious confidence and joy. It is thus, ver. 5. All is gloomy
dejection in ver. 4; but here the mind of the despondent worshipper rises above
all its distressing fears, and throws itself, without reserve, on the mercy and
care of its Divine Redeemer. See the power of faith, and how good it is to draw
near to God. If we bring our cares and griefs to the throne of grace, and leave
them there, we may go away like Hannah, and our countenances will be no more
said, 1 Samuel 1:18. God's mercy is the support of the
psalmist's faith. Finding I have that to trust to, I am comforted, though I
have no merit of my own. His faith in God's mercy filled his heart with joy in
his salvation; for joy and peace come by believing. He has dealt bountifully
with me. By faith he was as confident of salvation, as if it had been completed
already. In this way believers pour out their prayers, renouncing all hopes but
in the mercy of God through the Saviour's blood: and sometimes suddenly, at
others gradually, they will find their burdens removed, and their comforts
restored; they then allow that their fears and complaints were unnecessary, and
acknowledge that the Lord hath dealt bountifully with them.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 13
Verse 2
[2] How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow
in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
How long — Shall I be in such perplexities, not knowing what
course to take?
Verse 3
[3] Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes,
lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lighten — Revive and comfort, and deliver me from the darkness
of death, which is ready to come upon me.
Verse 6
[6] I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt
bountifully with me.
I will sing — It is a common thing for David
and other prophets to speak of future deliverances as if they were already
come, that so they may signify both the infallible certainty of the thing, and
their firm assurance thereof.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Psalm 13
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
OCCASION. The
Psalm cannot be referred to any especial event or period in David's history.
All attempts to find it a birthplace are but guesses. It was, doubtless, more
than once the language of that much tried man of God, and is intended to
express the feelings of the people of God in those ever-returning trials which
beset them. If the reader has never yet found occasion to use the language of
this brief ode, he will do so ere long, if he be a man after the Lord's own
heart. We have been wont to call this the "How Long Psalm." We had
almost said the Howling Psalm, from the incessant repetition of the cry
"how long?"
DIVISION.
This Psalm is very readily to be divided into three parts: the question of
anxiety, 1, 2; the cry of prayer, 3, 4; the song of faith, 5, 6.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. "How
long?" This question is repeated no less than four times. It betokens
very intense desire for deliverance, and great anguish of heart. And what if
there be some impatience mingled therewith; is not this the more true a
portrait of our own experience? It is not easy to prevent desire from
degenerating into impatience. O for grace that, while we wait on God, we may be
kept from indulging a murmuring spirit! "How long?" Does not
the oft-repeated cry become a very HOWLING? And what if grief should find no
other means of utterance? Even then, God is not far from the voice of our
roaring; for he does not regard the music of our prayers, but his own Spirit's
work in them in exciting desire and inflaming the affections.
"How
long?" Ah! how long do our days appear when our soul is cast down
within us!
"How
wearily the moments seem to glide
O'er sadness! How the time
Delights to linger in its flight!"
Time
flies with full-fledged wing in our summer days, but in our winters he flutters
painfully. A week within prison-walls is longer than a month at liberty. Long
sorrow seems to argue abounding corruption; for the gold which is long in the
fire must have had much dross to be consumed, hence the question "how
long?" may suggest deep searching of heart. "How long wilt thou
forget me?" Ah, David! how like a fool thou talkest! Can God forget?
Can Omniscience fail in memory? Above all, can Jehovah's heart forget his own
beloved child? Ah! brethren, let us drive away the thought, and hear the voice
of our covenant God by the mouth of the prophet, "But Zion said, The Lord
hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking
child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they
may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the
palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." "For
ever?" Oh, dark thought! It was surely bad enough to suspect a
temporary forgetfulness, but shall we ask the ungracious question, and imagine
that the Lord will for ever cast away his people? No, his anger may endure for
a night, but his love shall abide eternally. "How long wilt thou hide
thy face from me?" This is a far more rational question, for God may
hide his face, and yet he may remember still. A hidden face is no sign of a
forgetful heart. It is in love that his face is turned away; yet to a real
child of God, this hiding of his Father's face is terrible and he will never be
at ease until, once more he hath his Father's smile.
Verse
2. "How long shall I take counsel, in my soul, having sorrow in my
heart daily?" There is in the original the idea of "laying
up" counsels in his heart, as if his devices had become innumerable but
unavailing. Herein we have often been like David, for we have considered and
reconsidered day after day, but have not discovered the happy device by which
to escape from our trouble. Such store is a sad sore. Ruminating upon trouble
is bitter work. Children fill their mouths with bitterness when they
rebelliously chew the pill which they ought obediently to have taken at once. "How
long shall my enemy be exalted over me?" This is like wormwood in the
gall, to see the wicked enemy exulting while our soul is bowed down within us.
The laughter of a foe grates horribly on the ears of grief. For the devil to
make mirth of our misery is the last ounce of our complaint, and quite breaks
down our patience; therefore let us make it one chief argument in our plea with
mercy.
Thus
the careful reader will remark that the question "how long?" is put
in four shapes. The writer's grief is viewed, as it seems to be, as it is, as
it affects himself within, and his foes without. We are all prone to play most
on the worst string. We set up monumental stones over the graves of our joys,
but who thinks of erecting monuments of praise for mercies received? We write
four books of Lamentations and only one of Canticles, and are far more at home
in wailing out a Misere than in chanting a Te Deum.
Verse
3. But now prayer lifteth up her voice, like the watchman who proclaims the
daybreak. Now will the tide turn, and the weeper shall dry his eyes. The
mercy-seat is the life of hope and the death of despair. The gloomy thought of
God's having forsaken him is still upon the psalmist's soul, and he therefore
cries, "Consider and hear me." He remembers at once the root
of his woe, and cries aloud that it may be removed. The final absence of God is
Tophet's fire, and his temporary absence brings his people into the very
suburbs of hell. God is here entreated to see and hear, that so
he may be doubly moved to pity. What should we do if we had no God to turn to
in the hour of wretchedness?
Note
the cry of faith, "O Lord MY God!" Is it not a very
glorious fact that our interest in our God is not destroyed by all our trials
and sorrows? We may lose our gourds, but not our God. The title-deed of heaven
is not written in the sand, but in eternal brass.
"Lighten
mine eyes:" that is, let the eye of my faith be clear, that I may see
my God in the dark; let my eye of watchfulness be wide open, lest I be
entrapped, and let the eye of my understanding be illuminated to see the right
way. Perhaps, too, here is an allusion to that cheering of the spirits so
frequently called the enlightening of the eyes because it causes the face to
brighten, and the eyes to sparkle. Well may we use the prayer, "Lighten
our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord!" for in many respects we need the
Holy Spirit's illuminating rays. "Lest I sleep the sleep of
death." Darkness engenders sleep, and despondency is not slow in
making the eyes heavy. From this faintness and dimness of vision, caused by
despair, there is but a step to the iron sleep of death. David feared that his
trials would end his life, and he rightly uses his fear as an argument with God
in prayer; for deep distress has in it a kind of claim upon compassion, not a
claim of right, but a plea which has power with grace. Under the pressure of
heart sorrow, the psalmist does not look forward to the sleep of death with
hope and joy, as assured believers do, but he shrinks from it with dread, from
which we gather that bondage from fear of death is no new thing.
Verse
4. Another plea is urged in the fourth verse, and it is one which the tried
believer may handle well when on his knees. We make use of our arch-enemy for
once, and compel him, like Samson, to grind in our mill while we use his cruel
arrogance as an argument in prayer. It is not the Lord's will that the great
enemy of our souls should overcome his children. This would dishonour God, and
cause the evil one to boast. It is well for us that our salvation and God's
honour are so intimately connected, that they stand or fall together.
Our
covenant God will complete the confusion of all our enemies, and if for awhile
we become their scoff and jest, the day is coming when the shame will change
sides, and the contempt shall be poured on those to whom it is due.
Verse
5. What a change is here! Lo, the rain is over and gone, and the time of the
singing of birds is come. The mercy-seat has so refreshed the poor weeper, that
he clears his throat for a song. If we have mourned with him, let us now dance
with him. David's heart was more often out of tune than his harp, He begins
many of his psalms sighing, and ends them singing; and others he begins in joy
and ends in sorrow; "so that one would think," says Peter Moulin,
"that those Psalms had been composed by two men of a contrary
humour." It is worthy to be observed that the joy is all the greater
because of the previous sorrow, as calm is all the more delightful in
recollection of the preceding tempest.
"Sorrows
remembered sweeten present joy."
Here
is his avowal of his confidence: "But I have trusted in thy
mercy." For many a year it had been his wont to make the Lord his
castle and tower of defence, and he smiles from behind the same bulwark still.
He is sure of his faith, and his faith makes him sure; had he doubted the
reality of his trust in God, he would have blocked up one of the windows
through which the sun of heaven delights to shine. Faith is now in exercise,
and consequently is readily discovered; there is never a doubt in our heart
about the existence of faith while it is in action: when the hare or partridge
is quiet we see it not, but let the same be in motion and we soon perceive it.
All the powers of his enemies had not driven the psalmist from his stronghold.
As the shipwrecked mariner clings to the mast, so did David cling to his faith;
he neither could nor would give up his confidence in the Lord his God. O that
we may profit by his example and hold by our faith as by our very life!
Now
hearken to the music which faith makes in his soul. The bells of the mind are
all ringing, "My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation." There
is joy and feasting within doors, for a glorious guest has come, and the fatted
calf is killed. Sweet is the music which sounds from the strings of the heart.
But this is not all; the voice joins itself in the blessed work, and the
tongue keeps tune with the soul, while the writer declares, "I will
sing unto the Lord."
"I will
praise thee every day,
Now thine anger's past away;
Comfortable thoughts arise
From the bleeding sacrifice."
Verse
6. The Psalm closes with a sentence which is a refutation of the charge of
forgetfulness which David had uttered in the first verse, "He hath
dealt bountifully with me." So shall it be with us if we wait awhile.
The complaint which in our haste we utter shall be joyfully retracted, and we
shall witness that the Lord hath dealt bountifully with us.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 1. "How
long wilt thou forget me, O Lord?" etc. The departures of God from
true believers are never final; they may be tedious, but they are temporary. As
the evil spirit is said to depart from Christ for a season (Luke 4:13; though
he quitted that temptation, he did not quit his design, so as to tempt no more),
so the good Spirit withdraws from those that are Christ's, for a season only,
'tis with a purpose of coming again. When he hath most evidently forsaken, 'tis
as unquestionable that sooner or later he will return; and the happiness of his
return will richly recompense for the sadness of his desertion; Isaiah 54:7,
"For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I
gather thee;" here is not only a gathering after a forsaking, but "great
mercies" to make amends for "a small moment." He who
hath engaged to be our God for ever, cannot depart for ever. Timothy Cruso,
1696.
Verse 1. "How
long wilt thou forget me, O Lord?" Whatever be the pressing need of
Christ's followers in troubles, and their constant cleaving to duty for all
that; and whatever be Christ's purpose of love toward them, yet he seeth it fit
ofttimes not to come to them at first, but will let the trial go on till it
come to a height, and be a trial indeed, and put them seriously to it; for
before he came he lets them row "about five and twenty or thirty
furlongs" (the last of which make near four miles, eight furlongs going to
a mile); and (Mark 6:48) he came not till the fourth watch of the night, which
is the morning watch. We are indeed very sparing of ourselves in trouble, and
do soon begin to think that we are low and tried enough, and therefore would be
delivered; but our wise Lord seeth that we need more. George Hutcheson,
1657.
Verse 1. "How
long," etc. Enquire into the causes of God's anger. He is never angry
but when there is very great reason, when we force him to be so. What is that
accursed thing in our hearts, or in our lives, for which God hides his face,
and frowns upon us? What particular disobedience to his commands is it for
which he has taken up the rod? Job 10:2; "I will say unto God, Do not
condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me;" as if he should
say, Lord, my troubles and my sorrows are very well known. . . . . . We must
not cease to be solicitous to know what are the particular sins that have made
him to tear us up by the roots, to throw us down as with a whirlwind; what is
it that has made him so long angry with us, and so long to delay his help, that
if any evil be undiscovered in our souls, we may lament it with a seasonable
grief, and get a pardon for it. It is not the common course of God's providence
to cover his servants with so thick a darkness as this is, which our troubled
souls labour under in the day, or rather in the night of his displeasure; and,
therefore, we may with humility desire to know why he proceeds with us in a way
that is so singular; for it is some way delightful to the understanding to
pierce into the reasons and causes of things. Timothy Rogers.
Verse 1. "How
long wilt thou forget me," etc. For God to forget David, not to
mind him, or look after him, is much! If his eye be never so little once off
us, the spiritual adversary is ready presently to seize on us, as the kite on
the chick if the hen look not carefully after it. . . . . . As a father will
sometimes cross his son to try the child's disposition, to see how he will take
it, whether he will mutter and grumble at it, and grow humorous and wayward,
neglect his duty to his father because his father seemeth to neglect him, or
make offer to run away and withdraw himself from his father's obedience because
he seemeth to carry himself harshly and roughly toward him, and to provoke him
thereunto; so doth God likewise ofttimes cross his children and seemeth to
neglect them, so to try their disposition, what metal they are made of, how
they stand affected towards him: whether they will neglect God because God
seemeth to neglect them, forbear to serve him because he seemeth to forget
them, cease to depend upon him because he seemeth not to look after them, to
provide for them, or to protect them. Like Joram's prophane pursuivant,
"This evil," saith he, "is of the Lord; what should I wait for
the Lord any longer?" Or whether they will constantly cleave to him,
though he seem not to regard them, nor to have any care of them; and say with
Isaiah, "Yet will I wait upon God, though he have hid his face from us,
and I will look for him though he look not on us;" for, "They are
blessed that wait on him; and he will not fail in due time to show mercy unto
all them that do so constantly wait on him." Isaiah 8:17; 30:18. As Samuel
dealt with Saul; he kept away till the last hour, to see what Saul would do
when Samuel seemed not to keep touch with him. So doth God with his saints, and
with those that be in league with him; he withdraweth himself oft, and keeps
aloof off for a long time together to try what they will do, and what courses
they will take when God seemeth to break with them and to leave them in the
suds, as we say; amidst many difficulties much perplexed, as it was with David
at this time. Thomas Gataker, 1637.
Verse 1.
1.
For desertions. I think them like lying fallow of lean and weak land for some
years, while it gathers sap for a better crop. It is possible to gather gold,
where it may be had, with moonlight. Oh, if I could but creep one foot, or half
a foot, nearer in to Jesus, in such dismal night as that when he is away, I
should think it a happy absence!
2.
If I knew that the Beloved were only gone away for trial, and further
humiliation, and not smoked out of the house with new provocations, I would
forgive desertions and hold my peace at his absence. But Christ's bought
absence (that I bought with my sin), is two running boils at once, one upon
each side; and what side then can I lie on?
3.
I know that, as night and shadows are good for flowers, and moonlight and dews
are better than a continual sun, so is Christ's absence of special use, and
that it hath some nourishing virtue in it, and giveth sap to humility, and
putteth an edge on hunger, and furnisheth a fair field to faith to put forth
itself, and to exercise its fingers in gripping it seeth not what. Samuel
Rutherford, 1600-1661.
Verses 1, 2. That
which the French proverb hath of sickness is true of all evils, that they come
on horseback and go away on foot; we have often seen that a sudden fall, or one
meal's surfeit, has stuck by many to their graves; whereas pleasures come like
oxen, slow and heavily, and go away like post-horses, upon the spur. Sorrows,
because they are lingering guests, I will entertain but moderately, knowing
that the more they are made of the longer they will continue: and for
pleasures, because they stay not, and do but call to drink at my door, I will
use them as passengers with slight respect. He is his own best friend that
makes the least of both of them. Joseph Hall.
Verses 1, 2.
"HOW LONG wilt thou forget me? HOW LONG wilt thou hide thy face
from me? HOW LONG shall I take counsel in my soul?" The
intenseness of the affliction renders it trying to our fortitude; but it is by
the continuance of it that patience is put to the test. It is not under the
sharpest, but the longest trials, that we are most in danger of fainting. In
the first case, the soul collects all its strength, and feels in earnest to
call in help from above; but, in the last, the mind relaxes, and sinks into
despondency. When Job was accosted with evil tidings in quick succession, he
bore it with becoming fortitude; but when he could see no end to his troubles,
he sunk under them. Andrew Fuller.
Verse 1-4.
Everything is strangely changed; all its comeliness, and beauty, and glory,
vanishes when the life is gone: life is the pleasant thing; 'tis sweet
and comfortable; but death with its pale attendants, raises a horror and
aversion to it everywhere. The saints of God dread the removal of his favour,
and the hiding of his face; and when it is hid, a faintness, and a cold
amazement and fear seizes upon every part, and they feel strange bitterness,
and anguish, and tribulation, which makes their joints to tremble, and is to
them as the very pangs of death. Timothy Rogers.
Verses 1, 5, 6.
Prayer helps towards the increase and growth of grace, by drawing the habits of
grace into exercise. Now, as exercise brings benefit to the body, so does
prayer to the soul. Exercise doth help to digest or breathe forth those humours
that clog the spirits. One that stirs little we see grow pursy, and is soon
choked up with phlegm, which exercise clearly clears the body of. Prayer is the
saint's exercise-field, where his graces are breathed; it is as the wind to the
air, it brightens the soul; as bellows to the fire, which clears the coal of
those ashes that smother them. The Christian, while in this world, lives in an
unwholesome climate; one while, the delights of it deaden and dull his love to
Christ; another while, the trouble he meets in it damps his faith on the
promise. How now should the Christian get out of these distempers, had he not a
throne of grace to resort to, where, if once his soul be in a melting frame, he
(like one laid in a kindly sweat), soon breathes out the malignity of his
disease, and comes into his right temper again? How often do we find the holy
prophet, when he first kneels down to pray, full of fears and doubts, who,
before he end the duty part, grows into a sweet familiarity with God, and
repose in his own spirit! (Psalm 13:1), he begins his prayer as if he thought
God would never give him a kind look more: "How long wilt thou forget
me, O Lord? for ever?" But by that time he had exercised himself a
little in duty, his distemper wears off, the mists scatter, and his faith
breaks out as the sun in its strength, verses 5, 6: "I have trusted in
thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the
Lord." Thus his faith lays the cloth, expecting a feast ere long to be
set on: he that now questioned whether he should ever hear good news from
heaven, is so strong in faith as to make himself merry with the hopes of that
mercy which he is assured will come at last. Abraham began with fifty, but his
faith got ground on God every step, till he brought down the price of their
lives to ten. William Gurnall.
Verses 1, 6. Whatever
discouragements thou meetest with in thine attendance on God in ordinances, be
like the English jet, fired by water, and not like our ordinary fires, quenched
by it; let them add to, not diminish, thy resolution and courage; let not one
repulse beat thee off; be violent, give a second storm to the kingdom of
heaven. Parents sometimes hide themselves to make their children continue
seeking. He that would not at first open his mouth, nor vouchsafe the woman of
Canaan a word, doth, upon her continued and fervent petition, at last open his
hand and give her whatsoever she asks: "O woman, be it unto thee as thou
wilt." Continued importunity is undeniable oratory. And truly, if after
all thy pains thou findest Jesus Christ, will it not make amends for thy long
patience? Men that venture often at a lottery, though they take blanks twenty
times, if afterwards they get a golden bason and ewer, it will make them
abundant satisfaction. Suppose thou shouldst continue knocking twenty, nay,
forty years, yet if at last, though but one hour before thou diest thy heart be
opened to Christ, and he be received into thy soul, and when thou diest heaven
be opened to thee, and thy soul received into it, will it not infinitely
requite thee for all thy labour? Oh, think of it, and resolve never to be dumb
while God is deaf, never to leave off prayer till God return a gracious answer.
And for thy comfort, know that he who began his Psalm with "How long
wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from
me?" comes to conclude it with, "I will sing unto the Lord,
because he hath dealt bountifully with me." George Swinnock.
Verse 2. "How
long?" There are many situations of the believer in this life in which
the words of this Psalm may be a consolation, and help to revive sinking faith.
A certain man lay at the pool of Bethesda, who had an infirmity thirty and
eight years. John: 5:5. A woman had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years,
before she was "loosed." Luke 13:11. Lazarus all his life long
laboured under disease and poverty, till he was released by death and
transferred to Abraham's bosom. Luke 16:20-22. Let every one, then, who may be
tempted to use the complaints of this Psalm, assure his heart that God does not
forget his people, help will come at last, and, in the meantime, all things
shall work together for good to them that love him. W. Wilson, D.D.
Verse 2. "How
long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?"
There is such a thing as to pore on our guilt and wretchedness, to the
overlooking of our highest mercies. Though it be proper to know our own hearts,
for the purposes of conviction, yet, if we expect consolation from this
quarter, we shall find ourselves sadly disappointed. Such, for a time, appears
to have been the case of David. He seems to have been in great distress; and,
as is common in such cases, his thoughts turned inward, casting in his mind
what he should do, and what would be the end of things. While thus exercised,
he had sorrow in his heart daily: but, betaking himself to God for
relief, he succeeded, trusting in his mercy, his heart rejoiced in his
salvation. There are many persons, who, when in trouble, imitate David in
the former part of this experience: I wish we may imitate him in the latter. Andrew
Fuller.
Verse 2, 4. "How
long shall my enemy be exalted over me?" 'Tis a great relief to the
miserable and afflicted, to be pitied by others. It is some relief when others,
though they cannot help us, yet seem to be truly concerned for the sadness of
our case; when by the kindness of their words and of their actions they do a
little smooth the wounds they cannot heal; but 'tis an unspeakable addition to
the cross, when a man is brought low under the sense of God's displeasure, to
have men mock at his calamity, or to revile him, or to speak roughly; this does
inflame and exasperate the wound that was big enough before; and it is a hard
thing when one has a dreadful sound in his ears to have every friend to become
a son of thunder. It is a small matter for people that are at ease, to deal
severely with such as are afflicted, but they little know how their severe
speeches and their angry words pierce them to the very soul. 'Tis easy to blame
others for complaining, but if such had felt but for a little while what it is
to be under the fear of God's anger, they would find that they could not but
complain. It cannot but make any person restless and uneasy when he apprehends
that God is his enemy. It is no wonder if he makes every one that he sees, and
every place that he is in, a witness of his grief; but now it is a comfort in
our temptations and in our fears, that we have so compassionate a friend as
Christ is to whom we may repair. "For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15. Timothy Rogers.
Verse 3. "Lighten
mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death." In time of sickness and
grief, the "eyes" are dull and heavy; and they grow more and more so
as death approaches, which closes them in darkness. On the other hand, health
and joy render the organs of vision bright and sparkling, seeming, as it were,
to impart "light" to them from within. The words, therefore, may be
fitly applied to a recovery of the body natural, and thence, of the body
politic, from their respective maladies. Nor do they less significantly
describe the restoration of the soul to a state of spiritual health and holy
joy, which will manifest themselves in like manner, by "the eyes of the
understanding being enlightened;" and in this case, the soul is saved from
the sleep of sin, as the body is in the other, from the sleep of death. George
Horne.
Verse 3. Why dost thou
hide thy face? happily thou wilt say, None can see thy face and live. Ah,
Lord, let me die, that I may see thee; let me see thee, that I may die: I would
not live, but die; that I may see Christ, I desire death; that I may live with
Christ, I despise life. Augustine.
Verse 3. "How
long wilt thou hide thy face from me?" Oh, excellent hiding, which is
become my perfection! My God, thou hidest thy treasure, to kindle my desire!
Thou hidest thy pearl, to inflame the seeker; thou delayest to give, that thou
mayest teach me to importune; seemest not to hear, to make me persevere. John
Anselm, 1034-1109.
Verse 4.
Ah! can you
bear contempt; the venom'd tongue
Of those whom ruin pleases, the keen sneer,
The lewd reproaches of the rascal herd;
Who for the selfsame actions, if successful,
Would be as grossly lavish in your praise?
To sum up all in one— can you support
The scornful glances, the malignant joy,
Or more, detested pity of a rival—
Of a triumphant rival?
James
Thomson, 1700-1748.
Verse 4. "And
those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved"— compose comedies out
of my tragedies. John Trapp.
Verse 5. "I
have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation."
Faith rejoiceth in tribulation, and triumpheth before the victory. The patient
is glad when he feels his physic to work, though it make him sick for the time;
because he hopes it will procure health. We rejoice in afflictions, not that
they are joyous for the present, but because they shall work for our good. As
faith rejoiceth, so it triumpheth in assurance of good success; for it seeth
not according to outward appearance, but when all means fail, it keepeth God in
sight, and beholdeth him present for our succour. John Ball.
Verse 5. "I
have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation."
Though passion possess our bodies, let "patience possess our souls."
The law of our profession binds us to a warfare; patiendo vincimus, our
troubles shall end, our victory is eternal. Here David's triumph (Psalm
18:38-40), "I have wounded them, that they were not able to rise; they are
fallen under my feet. Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
Thou hast also given me the neck of mine enemies," etc. They have wounds
for their wounds; and the treaders down of the poor are trodden down by the
poor. The Lord will subdue those to us that would have subdued us to
themselves; and though for a short time they rode over our heads, yet now at
last we shall everlastingly tread upon their necks. Lo, then, the reward of
humble patience and confident hope. Speramus et superamus. Deuteronomy
32:31. "Our God is not as their God, even our enemies being judges."
Psalm 20:7. "Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses."
But no chariot hath strength to oppose, nor horse swiftness to escape, when God
pursues. Verse 8. "They are brought down and fallen; we are risen and
stand upright." Their trust hath deceived them; down they fall, and never
to rise. Our God hath helped us; we are risen, not for a breathing space, but
to stand upright for ever. Thomas Adams.
Verse 5. None live
so easily, so pleasantly, as those that live by faith. Matthew Henry.
Verse 5. Wherefore I
say again, "Live by faith;" again I say, always live by it, rejoice
through faith in the Lord. I dare boldly say it is thy fault and neglect of its
exercise if thou suffer either thy own melancholy humour or Satan to interrupt
thy mirth and spiritual alacrity, and to detain thee in dumps and pensiveness
at any time. What if thou beest of a sad constitution? of a dark complexion? Is
not faith able to rectify nature? Is it not stronger than any hellebore? Doth
not an experienced divine and physician worthily prefer one dram of it before
all the drugs in the apothecary's shop for this effect? Hath it not sovereign
virtue in it, to excerebrate all cares, expectorate all fears and griefs,
evacuate the mind of all ill thoughts and passions, to exhilarate the whole
man? But what good doth it to any to have a cordial by him if he use it not? To
wear a sword, soldier-like, by his side, and not to draw it forth in an
assault? When a dump overtakes thee, if thou wouldst say to thy soul in a word
or two, "Soul, why art thou disquieted? know and consider in whom thou
believest," would it not presently return to its rest again? Would not the
Master rebuke the winds and storms, and calm thy troubled mind presently? Hath
not every man something or other he useth to put away dumps, to drive away the
evil spirit, as David with his harp? Some with merry company, some with a cup
of sack, most with a pipe of tobacco, without which they cannot ride or go. If
they miss it a day together they are troubled with rheums, dulness of spirits.
They that live in fens and ill airs dare not stir out without a morning draught
of some strong liquor. Poor, silly, smoky helps, in comparison with the least
taste (but for dishonouring faith I would say whiff) or draught of faith. Samuel
Ward, 1577-1653.
Verse 6. "I
will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me."
Faith keeps the soul from sinking under heavy trials, by bringing in former
experiences of the power, mercy, and faithfulness of God to the afflicted soul.
Hereby was the psalmist supported in distress. Oh, saith faith, remember what
God hath done both for thy outward and inward man: he hath not only delivered
thy body when in trouble, but he hath done great things for thy soul; he hath
brought thee out of a state of black nature, entered into a covenant relation
with thee, made his goodness pass before thee; he hath helped thee to pray, and
many times hath heard thy prayers and thy tears. Hath he not formerly brought
thee out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and put a new song in
thy mouth, and made thee to resolve never to give way to such unbelieving
thoughts and fears again? and how unbecoming is it for thee now to sink in
trouble? John Willison, 1680-1750.
Verse 6. "I
will sing unto the Lord." Mr. John Philpot having lain for some time
in the bishop of London's coal-house, the bishop sent for him, and amongst
other questions, asked him why they were so merry in prison? singing (as the
prophet speaks) Exultantes in rebus pessimis, rejoicing in your
naughtiness, whereas you should rather lament and be sorry. Mr. Philpot
answered, "My lord, the mirth which we make is but in singing certain
Psalms, as we are commanded by Paul, to rejoice in the Lord, singing together
hymns and Psalms, for we are in a dark, comfortless place, and therefore, we
thus solace ourselves. I trust, therefore, your lordship will not be angry,
seeing the apostle saith, 'If any be of an upright heart, let him sing Psalms;'
and we, to declare that we are of an upright mind to God, though we are in
misery, yet refresh ourselves with such singing." After some other
discourse, saith he, "I was carried back to my lord's coal-house, where I,
with my six fellow prisoners, do rouze together in the straw, as cheerfully (I
thank God) as others do in their beds of down." And in a letter to a
friend, he thus writes: "Commend me to Mr. Elsing and his wife, and thank
them for providing me some ease in my prison; and tell them though my lord's
coal-house be very black, yet it is more to be desired of the faithful than the
Queen's palace. The world wonders how we can be so merry under such extreme
miseries; but our God is omnipotent, who turns misery into felicity. Believe
me, there is no such joy in the world, as the people of God have under the
cross of Christ: I speak by experience, and therefore believe me, and fear
nothing that the world can do unto you, for when they imprison our bodies, they
set our souls at liberty to converse with God; when they cast us down, they
lift us up; when they kill us, then do they send us to everlasting life. What
greater glory can there be than to be made conformable to our Head, Christ? And
this is done by affliction. O good God, what am I, upon whom thou shouldst
bestow so great a mercy? This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us
rejoice and be glad in it. This is the way, though it be narrow, which is full
of the peace of God, and leadeth to eternal bliss. Oh, how my heart leapeth for
joy that I am so near the apprehension thereof! God forgive me my
unthankfulness, and unworthiness of so great glory. I have so much joy, that
though I be in a place of darkness and mourning, yet I cannot lament; but both
night and day am so full of joy as I never was so merry before; the Lord's name
be praised for ever. Our enemies do fret, fume, and gnash their teeth at it. O
pray instantly that this joy may never be taken from us; for it passeth all the
delights in this world. This is the peace of God that passeth all
understanding. This peace, the more his chosen be afflicted, the more they feel
it, and therefore cannot faint neither for fire nor water. Samuel Clarke's
"Mirrour," 1671.
Verse 6. "I
will sing unto the Lord." How far different is the end of this Psalm
from the beginning! John Trapp.
Verse 6. " I
will sing unto the Lord," etc. I never knew what it was for God to
stand by me at all turns, and at every offer of Satan to afflict me, etc., as I
have found him since I came in hither; for look how fears have presented
themselves, so have supports and encouragements; yea, when I have started, even
as it were at nothing else but my shadow, yet God, as being very tender to me,
hath not suffered me to be molested, but would with one Scripture or another,
strengthen me against all; insomuch that I have often said, Were it lawful,
I could pray for greater trouble, for the greater comfort's sake. Ecclesiastes
7:14; 2 Corinthians 1:5. John Bunyan, 1628-1688.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. The
apparent length of sorrow, only apparent. Contrast with days of joy, with
eternal misery and eternal joy. Impatience, and other evil passions, cause the
seeming length. Means of shortening, by refusing to forestall, or to repine
afterwards.
Verse 1 (second
clause). Hiding of the divine face. Why at all? Why from me? Why so long?
Verse 2. Advice to
the dejected, or the soul directed to look out of itself for consolation. A.
Fuller.
Verse 2 (first
clause).— Self-torture, its cause, curse, crime, and cure.
Verse 2. "Having
sorrow in my heart daily."
I.
The cause of daily sorrow. Great enemy, unbelief, sin, trial, loss of Jesus'
presence, sympathy with others, mourning for human ruin.
II.
The necessity of daily sorrow. Purge corruptions, excite graces, raise desires
heavenward.
III.
The cure of daily sorrow. Good food from God's table, old wine of promises,
walks with Jesus, exercise in good works, avoidance of everything unhealthy. B.
Davies.
Verse 2 (second
clause).— Time anticipated when defeat shall be turned into victory.
Verse 3. By
accomodating the text to the believer.
I.
True character of Satan, "enemy."
II.
Remarkable fact that this enemy is exalted over us.
III.
Pressing enquiry, "How long?" B. Davies.
Verse 3. " Lighten
mine eyes." A prayer fit for (1) Every benighted sinner. (2) Every
seeker of salvation. (3) Every learner in Christ's school. (4) Every tried
believer. (5) Every dying saint. B. Davies.
Verse 4. Noteth the
nature of the wicked two ways; namely, the more they prevail the more insolent
they are; they wonderfully exult over those that are afflicted. T. Wilcocks.
Verse 5. Experience
and perseverance. "I have," "my heart shall."
Verse 6. The bountiful
giver and the hearty singer.
The
whole Psalm would make a good subject, showing the stages from mourning to
rejoicing, dwelling especially upon the turning point, prayer. There are two
verses for each, mourning, praying, rejoicing. A. G. Brown.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》