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Psalm Twenty-six
Psalm 26
Chapter Contents
David, in this psalm, appeals to God touching his
integrity.
David here, by the Spirit of prophecy, speaks of himself
as a type of Christ, of whom what he here says of his spotless innocence was
fully and eminently true, and of Christ only, and to Him we may apply it. We
are complete in him. The man that walks in his integrity, yet trusting wholly
in the grace of God, is in a state of acceptance, according to the covenant of
which Jesus was the Mediator, in virtue of his spotless obedience even unto
death. This man desires to have his inmost soul searched and proved by the
Lord. He is aware of the deceitfulness of his own heart; he desires to detect
and mortify every sin; and he longs to be satisfied of his being a true
believer, and to practise the holy commands of God. Great care to avoid bad
company, is both a good evidence of our integrity, and a good means to keep us
in it. Hypocrites and dissemblers may be found attending on God's ordinances;
but it is a good sign of sincerity, if we attend upon them, as the psalmist
here tells us he did, in the exercise of repentance and conscientious
obedience. He feels his ground firm under him; and, as he delights in blessing
the Lord with his congregations on earth, he trusts that shortly he shall join
the great assembly in heaven, in singing praises to God and to the Lamb for
evermore.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 26
Verse 1
[1] Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I
have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.
Trusted — I have committed my cause and affairs to thee.
Verse 3
[3] For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have
walked in thy truth.
For — I dare appeal to thee, because thou knowest I have a
deep sense of thy loving-kindness, by which I have been led to love and obey
thee.
Verse 4
[4] I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in
with dissemblers.
Sat — Continued with them. I have been so far from an
imitation of their wicked courses, that I have avoided their company.
Vain — With false and deceitful persons.
Go in — Into their company.
Verse 6
[6] I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass
thine altar, O LORD:
Compass — Approach to thine altar with my sacrifices: which I
could not do with any comfort, if I were conscious of those crimes, whereof
mine enemies accuse me.
Verse 8
[8] LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the
place where thine honour dwelleth.
House — Thy sanctuary and worship.
Honour — Thy glorious and gracious presence.
Verse 9
[9] Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody
men:
Gather not — Do not bind me up in the same
bundle, or put me into the same accursed condition with them.
Verse 12
[12] My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations
will I bless the LORD.
Standeth — I stand upon a sure and solid foundation, being under
the protection of God's promise, and his almighty and watchful providence.
Congregations — I will not only privately, but in
the assemblies of thy people celebrate thy praise.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. A Psalm of
David. The sweet singer of Israel appears before us in this Psalm as one
enduring reproach; in this he was the type of the great Son of David, and is an
encouraging example to us to carry the burden of slander to the throne of
grace. It is an ingenious surmise that this appeal to heaven was written by
David at the time of the assassination of Ishbosheth, by Baanah and Rechab, to
protest his innocence of all participation in that treacherous murder; the
tenor of the Psalm certainly agrees with the supposed occasion, but it is not
possible with such a slender clue to go beyond conjecture.
DIVISION. Unity of
subject is so distinctly maintained, that there are no sharp divisions. David
Dickson has given an admirable summary in these words:—"He appeals to
God", the supreme Judge, in the testimony of a good conscience, bearing
him witness; first, of his endeavour to walk uprightly as a believer, Ps
26:1-3; secondly, of his keeping himself from the contagion of the evil
counsel, sinful causes, and examples of the wicked, Ps 26:4-5; thirdly, of his
purpose still to behave himself holily and righteously, out of love to be
partaker of the public privileges of the Lord's people in the congregation, Ps
26:6-8 Whereupon he prayeth to be free of the judgment coming upon the wicked,
Ps 26:9-10 according as he had purposed to eschew their sins, Ps 26:11 and he
closes the prayer with comfort and assurance of being heard, Ps 26:12.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. Judge me, O Jehovah. A solemn appeal to the just tribunal
of the heart searching God, warranted by the circumstances of the writer, so
far as regarded the particular offences with which he was wrongly charged.
Worried and worn out by the injustice of men, the innocent spirit flies from
its false accusers to the throne of Eternal Right. He had need have a clear
case who dares to carry his suit into the King's Bench of heaven. Such an
appeal as this is not to be rashly made on any occasion; and as to the whole of
our walk and conversation, it should never be made at all, except as we are
justified in Christ Jesus: a far more fitting prayer for a sinful mortal is the
petition, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant." For I have
walked in mine integrity. He held integrity as his principle, and walked in
it as his practice. David had not used any traitorous or unrighteous means to
gain the crown, or to keep it; he was conscious of having been guided by the
noblest principles of honour in all his actions with regard to Saul and his
family. What a comfort it is to have the approbation of one's own conscience!
If there be peace within the soul, the blustering storms of slander which howl
around us are of little consideration. When the little bird in my bosom sings a
merry song, it is no matter to me if a thousand owls hoot at me from without. I
have trusted also in the Lord. Faith is the root and sap of integrity. He
who leans upon the Lord is sure to walk in righteousness. David knew that God's
covenant had given him the crown, and therefore he took no indirect or unlawful
means to secure it; he would not slay his enemy in the cave, nor suffer his men
at arms to smite him when he slept unguarded on the plain. Faith will work hard
for the Lord, and in the Lord's way, but she refuses so much as to lift a
finger to fulfil the devices of unrighteous cunning. Rebecca acted out a great
falsehood in order to fulfil the Lord's decree in favour of Jacob—this was
unbelief; but Abraham left the Lord to fulfil his own purposes, and took the
knife to slay his son—this was faith. Faith trusts God to accomplish his own
decrees. Why should I steal when God has promised to supply my need? Why should
I avenge myself when I know that the Lord has espoused my cause? Confidence in
God is a most effectual security against sin. Therefore I shall not slide.
Slippery as the way is, so that I walk like a man upon ice, yet faith keeps my
heels from tripping, and will continue to do so. The doubtful ways of policy
are sure sooner or later to give a fall to those who run therein, but the ways
of honesty, though often rough, are always safe. We cannot trust in God if we
walk crookedly; but straight paths and simple faith bring the pilgrim happily
to his journey's end.
Verse
2. There are three modes of trial here challenged, which are said in
the original to refer to trial by touch, trial by smell, and trial by fire. The
psalmist was so clear from the charge laid against him, that he submitted
himself unconditionally to any form of examination which the Lord might see fit
to employ. Examine me, O Lord. Look me through and through; make a
minute survey; put me to the question, cross examine my evidence. And prove
me. Put me again to trial; and see if I would follow such wicked designs as
my enemies impute to me. Try my reins and my heart. Assay me as metals
are assayed in the furnace, and do this to my most secret parts, where my
affections hold their court; see, O God, whether or no I love murder, and
treason, and deceit. All this is a very bold appeal, and made by a man like
David, who feared the Lord exceedingly, it manifests a most solemn and complete
conviction of innocence. The expressions here used should teach us the
thoroughness of the divine judgment, and the necessity of being in all things
profoundly sincere, lest we be found wanting at the last. Our enemies are
severe with us with the severity of spite, and this a brave man endures without
fear; but God's severity is that of unswerving right. Who shall stand against
such a trial? The sweet singer says "Who can stand before his cold?"
and we may well enquire, "Who can stand before the heat of his
justice?"
Verse
3. For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes. An object of
memory and a ground of hope. A sense of mercy received sets a fair prospect
before the faithful mind in its gloomiest condition, for it yields visions of
mercies yet to come, visions not visionary but real. Dwell, dear reader, upon
that celestial word lovingkindness. It has a heavenly savour. Is it not
an unmatchable word, unexcelled, unrivalled? The goodness of the Lord to us
should be before our eyes as a motive actuating our conduct; we are not under
the bondage of the law, but we are under the sweet constraints of grace, which
are far more mighty, although far more gentle. Men sin with the law before
their eyes, but divine love, when clearly seen, sanctifies the conversation. If
we were not so forgetful of the way of mercy in which God walks toward us, we
should be more careful to walk in the ways of obedience toward him. And I
have walked in thy truth. The psalmist was preserved from sin by his
assurance of the truthfulness of God's promise, which truth he endeavoured to
imitate as well as to believe. Observe from this verse that an experience of
divine love will show itself in a practical following of divine truth; those
who neglect either the doctrinal or practical parts of truth must not wonder if
they lose the experimental enjoyment of it. Some talk of truth, it is
better to walk in it. Some vow to do well in future, but their
resolutions come to nothing; only the regenerate man can say "I have
walked in thy truth."
Verses
4-5. So far from being himself an open offender against the laws of
God, the psalmist had not even associated with the lovers of evil. He had kept
aloof from the men of Belial. A man is known by his company, and if we have
kept ourselves apart from the wicked, it will always be evidence in our favour
should our character be impugned. He who was never in the parish is not likely
to have stolen the corn. He who never went to sea is clearly not the man who
scuttled the ship.
Verse
4. I have not sat with vain persons. True citizens have no
dealings with traitors. David had no seat in the parliament of triflers. They
were not his boon companions at feasts, nor his advisers in council, nor his
associates in conversation. We must needs see, and speak, and trade, with men
of the world, but we must on no account take our rest and solace in their empty
society. Not only the profane, but the vain are to be shunned by us. All those
who live for this life only are vain, chaffy, frothy men, quite unworthy of a
Christian's friendship. Moreover as this vanity is often allied with falsehood,
it is well to save ourselves altogether from this untoward generation, lest we
should be led from bad to worse and from tolerating the vain should come to
admire the wicked. Neither will I go in with dissemblers. Since I know
that hypocritical piety is double iniquity, I will cease all acquaintance with
pretenders. If I must need walk the same street, I will not enter the same door
and spend my time in their society. The congregation of the hypocrites is not
one with which we should cultivate communion; their ultimate rendezvous will be
the lowest pit of hell, let us drop their acquaintance now! for we shall not
desire it soon. They hang their beads around their necks and carry the devil in
their hearts. This clause is in the future tense, to indicate that the writer
felt no desire to begin an acquaintance with the characters whom up till then
he had shunned. We must maintain the separated path with more and more
circumspection as we see the great redemption day approaching. Those who would
be transfigured with Jesus, must not be disfigured by conformity to the world.
The resolution of the psalmist suggests, that even among professed followers of
truth we must make distinctions, for as there are vain persons out of the
church, so there are dissemblers in it and both are to be shunned with
scrupulous decision.
Verse
5. I have hated the congregation of evil doers. A severe
sentence, but not too severe. A man who does not hate evil terribly, does not
love good heartily. Men, as men, we must always love, for they are our
neighbours, and therefore to be loved as ourselves; but evil doers, as such,
are traitors to the Great King, and no loyal subject can love traitors. What
God hates we must hate. The congregation or assembly of evil doers, signifies
violent men in alliance and conclave for the overthrow of the innocent; such
synagogues of Satan are to be held in abhorrence. What a sad reflection it is
that there should be a congregation of evil doers as well as a congregation of
the upright, a church of Satan as well as a church of God; a seed of the
serpent as well as a seed of the woman; an old Babylon as well as a new
Jerusalem: a great whore sitting upon many waters, to be judged in wrath, as
well as a chaste bride of the Lamb to be crowned at his coming. And will not
sit with the wicked. Saints have a seat at another table, and will never
leave the King's dainties for the husks of the swine trough. Better to sit with
the blind, and the halt, and the lame, at the table of mercy, than with the
wicked in their feasts of ungodliness, yea, better to sit on Job's dunghill
than on Pharaoh's throne. Let each reader see well to his company, for such as
we keep in this world, we are likely to keep in the next.
Verse
6. I will wash mine hands in innocency. He would publicly
avow himself to be altogether clear of the accusations laid against him, and if
any fault in other matters could be truthfully alleged against him, he would
for the future abstain from it. The washing of the hands is a significant
action to set forth our having no connection with a deed, as we still say,
"I wash my hands of the whole business." As to perfect innocence,
David does not here claim it, but he avows his innocence of the crimes whereof
he was slanderously accused; there is, however, a sense in which we may be
washed in absolute innocency, for the atoning blood makes us clean every whit.
We ought never to rest satisfied short of a full persuasion of our complete
cleansing by Jesus' precious blood. So will I compass thine altar, O Lord.
Priests unto God must take great care to be personally cleansed; the brazen
laver was as needful as the golden altar; God's worship requires us to be holy
in life. He who is unjust to man cannot be acceptably religious towards God. We
must not bring our thank offerings with hands defiled with guilt. To love
justice and purity is far more acceptable to God, than ten thousands of the fat
of fed beasts. We see from this verse that holy minds delight in the worship of
the Lord, and find their sweetest solace at his altar; and that it is their
deepest concern never to enter upon any course of action which would unfit them
for the most sacred communion with God. Our eye must be upon the altar which
sanctifies both the giver and the gift, yet we must never draw from the atoning
sacrifice an excuse for sin, but rather find in it a most convincing argument
for holiness.
Verse
7. That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving. David
was so far instructed that he does not mention the typical offering, but
discerns the spiritual offering which was intended thereby, not the groans of
bullocks, but songs of gratitude the spiritual worshipper presents. To sound
abroad the worthy praises of the God of all grace should be the everyday
business of a pardoned sinner. Let men slander us as they will, let us not
defraud the Lord of his praises; let dogs bark, but let us like the moon shine
on. And tell of all thy wondrous works. God's people should not be
tongue tied. The wonders of divine grace are enough to make the tongue of the
dumb sing. God's works of love are wondrous if we consider the unworthiness of
their objects, the costliness of their method, and the glory of their result.
And as men find great pleasure in discoursing upon things remarkable and astonishing,
so the saints rejoice to tell of the great things which the Lord hath done for
them.
Verse
8. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house. Into the
abodes of sin he would not enter, but the house of God he had long loved, and
loved it still. We were sad children if we did not love our Father's dwelling
place. Though we own no sacred buildings, yet the church of the living God is
the house of God, and true Christians delight in her ordinances, services, and
assemblies. O that all our days were Sabbaths! And the place where thine
honour dwelleth. In his church where God is had in honour at all times,
where he reveals himself in the glory of his grace, and is proclaimed by his
people as the Lord of all. We come not together as the Lord's people to honour
the preacher, but to give glory to God; such an occupation is most pleasant to
the saints of the Most High. What are those gatherings where God is not
honoured, are they not an offence to his pure and holy eyes, and are they not a
sad stumbling block to the people of God? It brings the scalding tear upon our
cheek to hear sermons in which the honour of God is so far from being the
preacher's object, that one might almost imagine that the preacher worshipped
the dignity of manhood, and thought more of it than of the Infinite Majesty of
God.
Verse
9. Gather not my soul with sinners. Lord, when, like fruit, I
must be gathered, put me not in the same basket with the best of sinners, much
less with the worst of them. The company of sinners is so distasteful to us
here, that we cannot endure the thought of being bound up in the same bundle
with them to all eternity. Our comfort is, that the Great Husbandman discerns
the tares from the wheat, and will find a separate place for distinct
characters. In the former verses we see that the psalmist kept himself clear of
profane persons, and this is to be understood as a reason why he should not be
thrust into their company at the last. Let us think of the doom of the wicked,
and the prayer of the text will forcibly rise to our lips; meanwhile, as we see
the rule of judgment by which like is gathered to its like, we who have passed
from death unto life have nothing to fear. Nor my life with bloody men.
Our soul sickens to hear them speak; their cruel dispatches, in which they
treat the shooting of their fellow men as rare sport, are horrifying to us;
Lord, let us not be shut up in the same prison with them; nay, the same
paradise with such men would be a hell, if they remained as they are now.
Verse
10. In whose hands is mischief. They have both hands full of
it, plotting it and carrying it out. And their right hand, with which
they are most dexterous, is full of bribes; like thieves who would steal
with impunity, they carry a sop for the dogs of justice. He who gives bribes is
every way as guilty as the man who takes them, and in the matter of our
parliamentary elections the rich villain who give the bribe is by far the
worse. Bribery, in any form or shape, should be as detestable to a Christian as
carrion to a dove, or garbage to a lamb. Let those whose dirty hands are fond
of bribes remember that neither death nor the devil can be bribed to let them
escape their well earned doom.
Verse
11. Here is the lover of godliness entering his personal protest
against unrighteous gain. He is a Nonconformist, and is ready to stand alone in
his Nonconformity. Like a live fish, he swims against the stream. Trusting in
God, the psalmist resolves that the plain way of righteousness shall be his
choice, and those who will, may prefer the tortuous paths of violence and
deceit. Yet, he is by no means a boaster, or a self righteous vaunter of his
own strength, for he cries for redemption and pleads for mercy. Our integrity
is not absolute nor inherent, it is a work of grace in us, and is marred by
human infirmity; we must, therefore, resort to the redeeming blood and to the
throne of mercy, confessing that though we are saints among men, we must still
bow as sinners before God.
Verse
12. The song began in the minor, but it has now reached the major
key. Saints often sing themselves into happiness. The even place upon
which our foot stands is the sure, covenant faithfulness, eternal promise and
immutable oath of the Lord of Hosts; there is no fear of falling from this
solid basis, or of its being removed from under us. Established in Christ
Jesus, by being vitally united to him, we have nothing left to occupy our
thoughts but the praises of our God. Let us not forsake the assembling of
ourselves together, and when assembled, let us not be slow to contribute our
portion of thanksgiving. Each saint is a witness to divine faithfulness, and
should be ready with his testimony. As for the slanderers, let them howl
outside the door while the children sing within.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. This Psalm is coupled on to the foregoing by thoughts and words.
At the close of the foregoing the psalmist had prayed for integrity Ps
26:1. Unless this Psalm is regarded as a sequel to the preceding one, it will
seem vainglorious; but being combined with the penitential acknowledgments of
sin, and with the earnest supplications for pardon and grace, and with the
earnest profession of faith that God has heard his prayer, which breathe forth
in the foregoing Psalm, it will be seen that the declarations which the
psalmist now makes of integrity, are not assertions of human merit, but
acknowledgments of divine mercy. As Augustine says, "Non merita mea,
sed misericordia tua, ante oculos meos est." Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
1. Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity. A
good cause, a good conscience, and a good deportment, are good grounds of
appeal to God. Ingram Cobbin.
Verse
1. Judge me, O Lord. Nothing is so pleasing to him that is
upright as to know that God knoweth he is so. As it is a small matter with
those who are sincere to be condemned by men, so it is not much with them to be
condemned or approved by them; for indeed neither "he that commendeth
himself, "as the apostle speaks 2Co 10:18, nor he that is commended by others,
"is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth." The testimony, or
letters commendatory of all the men in the world will do us no good, unless God
give us his also. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
1. Judge me, O Lord. As an instance of appeal to heaven, we
quote that mighty preacher of the word, George Whitfield. "However some
may account me a mountebank and an enthusiast, one that is only going to make
you methodically mad; they may breathe out their invectives against me, yet
Christ knows all; he takes notice of it, and I shall leave it to him to plead
my cause, for he is a gracious Master. I have already found him so, and am sure
he will continue so. Vengeance is his, and he will repay it." George
Whitfield, 1714-1770.
Verse
1. "Integrity." (Mh), or (Mymt) is used of whatever
is uninjured, or is free from any spot or blemish; and hence we find the term
applied to an unblemished animal offering in sacrifice. Le 1:3 3:9. George
Phillips.
Verse
1. Mine integrity. There is a force in the possessive pronoun
"my, "which must be attended to. The psalmist intimates that he had
proceeded in one uniform course, notwithstanding all the devices of his
enemies. W. Wilson, D.D.
Verse
1. I have trusted in the Lord. Trust in God is the fountain
of "integrity." Whoever places his hope in God need not seek to
advance his worldly interests by violating his duty towards his neighbour: he
waits for everything from above, and is, at the same time, always
determined that he will not be deprived of the favour of his heavenly Father
through violating his commandments. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
1. I shall not slide. It is a striking word, as fully
expressive of the completeness of God's protection and the security of his
upholding hand as the psalmist's language of the integrity of his walk and
trust in God. It is not, as in our Prayer book version, "I shall not fall,
"but it is, "I shall not even slide; "not even make a
false step or stumble. Barton Bouchier.
Verse
2. The psalmist uses three words, examine, prove, try.
These words are designed to include all the modes in which the reality of
anything is tested; and they imply together that he wished the most thorough
investigation to be made; he did not shrink from any test. Albert Barnes.
Verse
2. Examine—prove—try. As gold, by fire, is severed
and parted from dross, so singleness of heart and true Christian simplicity is
best seen and made most evident in troubles and afflictions. In prosperity
every man will seem godly, but afflictions do draw out of the heart whatsoever
is there, whether it be good or bad. Robert Cawdray.
Verse
2. Prove me. The work of conscience within us doth prove
us. God hath set up a light within us, and when this is enlightened by the
Word, then it makes a man's breast full of light. Now a faithful godly man loveth
that this should be tender, active, speaking out of God's Word for every duty,
and against every sin. You see the quickness of it in David, when it is said,
"His heart smote him; "and 1 John 3., "If thy heart condemn
thee, God is greater than thy heart." Alas! if thou within thine own self
judgest thyself to sin thus and thus, God doth much more. Try thy integrity;
art thou willing to have a tender conscience, and an informed conscience? Dost
thou love to hear what that speaks out of God's Word? whether peace or duty?
this is comfortable. But on the other side, if thou art a man that rebellest
against the light of it, wouldst fain put out the sting of it, wouldst be glad
to feel no such living thing in thy breast, then thou hast cause to suspect
thyself. Oh, it is to be feared that there are many that give themselves to
lusts, and carnal pleasures, that so they may put a foggy mist between their
conscience and themselves. Others dig into the world, labouring to become
senseless, that so there may be an eclipse of this light by the interposition
of the earth. Others run to damnable heresies, denying Scriptures, God, heaven,
hell; pleading for an universal salvation of all. What are these but refuges of
guilty consciences? We must distinguish between our carnal concupiscence, and
conscience; between deluded imaginations, and conscience; between an erroneous
and scrupulous conscience, and a well grounded and truly informed conscience;
and when we have done so, we must follow conscience as far as that follows the
Word. Anthony Burgess.
Verse
2. Reins...heart. The "reins, "as the seat
of the lower animal passions; the "heart, "as comprising not
only the higher affections, but also the will and the conscience. He thus
desires to keep nothing back; he will submit himself to the searching flame of
the Great Refiner, that all dross of self deception may be purged away. J.
J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
3. The practical effect of divine goodness is seen in this text. As
the chief thing communicated from God is the divine nature, whereby we are made
to resemble him, so the promises of God set home upon the soul are the means of
communication; they are the milk and honey of the Scripture, which do not
cherish the old man, but support the new; they are no pillows for sinful sloth,
but spurs to holy diligence. The promises of grace animate the soul to duty;
and when we thus see the goodness of the Lord, it encourages our subjection to
his government. Timothy Cruso.
Verses
3-4. I have walked in thy truth, I have not sat with vain persons.
Be as careful as thou canst, that the persons thou choosest for thy companions
be such as fear God. The man in the gospel was possessed with the devil, who
dwelt among the tombs, and conversed with graves and carcasses. Thou art far
from walking after the good Spirit, if thou choosest to converse with open
sepulchres, and such as are dead in sins and trespasses. God will not shake the
wicked by the hand, as the Vulgate reads Job 8:20, neither must the godly man.
David proves the sincerity of his course, by his care to avoid such society: I
have walked in thy truth; I have not sat with vain persons.
There
is a twofold "truth." 1. Truth of doctrine. Thy law is the
truth, free from all dross of corruption and falsehood of error. 2. Truth of
affection, or of the inward parts. This may be called "thy truth,
"or God's truth, though man be the subject of it, partly because it
proceedeth from him, partly because it is so pleasant to him; in which respect
a broken heart is called the "sacrifice of God." Ps 51:6. As if he
had said, I could not have walked in the power of religion, and in integrity,
if I had associated with vile and vain company; I could never have walked in
thy precepts if I had "sat with vain persons."
Observe
the phrase, "I have not sat with vain persons." 1. Sitting is
a posture of choice. It is at a man's liberty, whether he will sit or stand. 2.
Sitting is a posture of pleasure. Men sit for their ease, and with delight;
therefore, the glorified are said to "sit in heavenly places." Eph 2:6.
3. Sitting is a posture of staying or abiding. 2Ki 5:3. Standing is a posture
of going, but sitting of staying. The blessed, who shall forever be with the
Lord and his chosen, are mentioned "to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Mt 8:11. David in neither of these
senses durst sit with vain persons. He might, as his occasions required,
use their company, but durst not knowingly choose such company. They could not
be the object of his election who were not the object of his affection. "I
hate the congregation of evil doers, "saith he. As siting is a posture
of pleasure, he did not sit with vain persons. He was sometimes amongst them to
his sorrow, but not to his solace. They were to him, as the Canaanites to the
Israelites, pricks in his eyes, and thorns in his sides. "Woe is me, that
I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!" Ps 120:5. It
caused grief, not gladness, that he was forced to be amongst the profane. George
Swinnock.
Verses
3-4. I have walked in thy truth, I have not sat with vain persons.
See Psalms on "Ps 26:3" for further information.
Verse
4. I have not sat with vain persons. There is a necessary
commerce with men in buying and selling, or as the apostle says, "We must
needs go out of the world, "but do not voluntarily choose the company of
the wicked. 1Co 5:10. "I have written unto you not to keep company,
"etc. 1Co 5:11. Do not be too familiar with them. What do Christ's doves
among birds of prey? What do virgins among harlots? The company of the wicked
is very defiling, it is like going among them that have the plague. "They
were mingled among the heathen and learned their works." If you mingle
bright armour with rusty, the bright armour will not brighten the rusty, but
the rusty armour will spoil the bright. Pharaoh taught Joseph to swear, but
Joseph did not teach Pharaoh to pray. Thomas Watson.
Verse
4. Neither will I go with dissemblers. Chaldee: "I will
not go in with those that hide themselves to do evil." Wickedness is not
candid, and loves concealment, while truth and righteousness are open, and seek
scrutiny. Job 24:13-17 Joh 3:20-21. None will deny that the candid man has far
fewer troubles with his own conduct than the tortuous and deceitful. The
righteous shun the wicked both for the sin and for the misery that are
in their ways. William S. Plumer.
Verse
4. Dissemblers. The hypocrite has much angel without, more
devil within. He fries in words, freezes in works; speaks by ells, doth good by
inches. He is a stinking dunghill, covered over with snow; a loose hung mill
that keeps great clacking, but grinds no grist; a lying hen that cackles when
she hath not laid. Thomas Adams.
Verse
4. Dissemblers. Perhaps when the bright sunbeams of an early
spring have robed all nature in a smiling garb, you have taken your little
baskets, and gone in quest of a bank of sweet smelling modest violets, and you
may have found flowers so like them, in form and colour, that you have been
deceived, and eagerly grasped you prize; but alas! the sweet odour which should
have scented the gale, was found wanting, and betrayed the dog violet. An apt
emblem this of those, who, "having the form of godliness, deny the power
thereof." 2Ti 3:5. Mrs. Rogers, in "The Shepherd King."
Verses
4-5. As rotten apples corrupt those sound ones that do touch them and
lie close to them, even so the evil manners and bad conditions of the ungodly
do infect those that keep them company. Robert Cawdray.
Verses
4-5. "It is difficult (saith a late ingenious writer) even to a
miracle to keep God's commandments and evil company too." How suddenly
after your soul refreshments in your closet communion have you lost all your
heats and spiritual fervencies, which you had in secret, and have instantly
cooled by going forth into cold and corrupt air! When a saint hath been in
private ravished with the love of God and the joys of heaven, and afterwards
meets with company, which neither doth nor can speak one word of such matters,
what a damp it is to him! What a quenching, as it were, of the Spirit of God in
him! Nay, is not that true which one saith, that "the people of God do
generally lose more by worldly men, that are of a blameless conversation before
men, than they lose by wicked and profane men"? Lewis Stuckley.
Verses
4-5, 9. He that would not be found among sinners in the other world, must
take heed that he do not frequent their company in this. Those whom the
constable finds wandering with vagrants, may be sent with them to the house of
correction. "Lord, "said a good woman, on her death bed, when in
doubt of her salvation, "send me not to hell amongst wicked men, for thou
knowest I never loved their company all my life long." David deprecates
their future doom upon the like ground, and argues it as a sign of his
sincerity: I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with
dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with
the wicked...O gather not my soul with sinner. Lord, I have not loved the
wicked so well as to sit with them for a little time, and shall I live with
them forever? I have not lain amongst them rotting on the earth; and wilt thou
gather my soul with those sticks for the unquenchable fire of hell? Lord, I
have been so far from liking, that thou knowest I have loathed the congregation
of evil doers. Do not I hate them that hate thee? Yea, I hate them with perfect
hatred; and shall thy friends fare as thy foes? I appeal to thy Majesty, that
my great comfort is in thy chosen. I rejoice only to be amongst thy children
here, and shall I be excluded their company hereafter? "O do not gather
my soul with sinners, "for the wine press of thine eternal anger!
Marcion, the heretic, seeing Polycarp, wondered that he would not own him. Do
you not know me, Polycarp? Yes, saith Polycarp, "Scio te esse
primogenitum diaboli; " "I know thee to be the firstborn of the
devil, "and so despised him. George Swinnock.
Verse
5. I have hated the congregation of evil doers, etc. The
hatred of God's enemies, qua his enemies—"yea, I hate them right
sore" so entirely opposed to the indifferentism of the present day, has
always been one distinguishing mark of his ancient servants. Witness Phinehas
Ps 106:41; "And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all
generations for evermore; " Samuel with Agag; Elias with the priests of
Baal. And notice the commendation of the angel of Ephesus, "Thou canst not
bear them that are evil." Re 2:2. J. M. Neale.
Verse
5. I have hated the congregation of evil doers. We consider
them as God's enemies, so we hate them; not their persons, but their vices; for
that, as Augustine defines it, is odium perfectum, a perfect hatred. And
indeed it is the hatred that God beareth to his enemies; for "the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men"
Ro 1:18; not against their persons—they are his workmanship, and carry his
image in some sort, though much disfigured; but against the unrighteousness and
ungodliness of men, by which their persons do stand obnoxious to his
displeasure. And thus I find the saints of God have triumphed over the wicked,
as Israel over Pharaoh, and the Gileadites over the children of Ammon; not
rejoicing in the destruction of God's creatures, but of God's enemies; and
wishing with Deborah and Barak, "So let all thine enemies perish, O
Lord." This is no more but an applauding of the judgment of God, and a
celebration of his justice. Edward Marbury.
Verse
5. I have hated, etc. Consider that there can be no true
friendship betwixt a godly and a wicked person; therefore it concerneth thee to
be the more wary in thy choice. He that in factions hath an eye to power, in
friendship will have an eye to virtue. Friendship, according to the
philosopher, is one soul in two bodies. But how can they ever be of one soul
that are as different as air and earth, and as contrary as fire and water? All
true love is, motus animi ad fruendum Deo propter ipsum; se et proximo
propter Deum—a motion of the soul towards the enjoyment of God for himself,
and his neighbours for God's sake; so that he can never truly love man who doth
not love his Maker. God is the only foundation upon which we can build
friendship; therefore such as live without him, cannot love us in him. That
building which is loose, without this foundation can never stand long. A wicked
man may call that profession he maketh to his brother by the name of love, but
heathens can tell us that virtue alone is the hand which can twist the cords of
love; that other combinations are but a confederacy, and all other but
conjunctions in hypocrisy. George Swinnock.
Verse
5. Wheresoever we perceive any people to worship God truly after his
word, there we may be certain the church of Christ to be, unto the which we
ought to associate ourselves, and to desire, with the prophet David, to praise
God in the midst of this church. But if we behold, through the iniquity of
time, congregations to be made with counterfeit religion, otherwise than the
word of God doth teach, we ought then, if we be required to be companions
thereof, to say again with David, "I have hated the synagogue of the
malignant, and will not sit with the wicked." In the Apocalypse, the
church of Ephesus is highly commended, because she tried such as said they were
apostles and were not in deed, and therefore would not abide the company of
them. Further, God commanded his people that they should not seek Bethel,
neither enter into Galgala, where idolatry was used, by the mouth of his
prophet Amos. John Philpot (Martyr). Burnt at Smithfield, 1555.
Verse
5. How few consider how they harden wicked men by an intimacy with
them, whereas withdrawal from them might be a means to make them ashamed!
Whilst we are merry and jovial with them, we make them believe their condition
is not deplorable, their danger is not great; whereas if we shunned them, as we
would a bowed wall, whilst they remain enemies to the Lord, this might do them
good, for the startling of them, and rousing of them out of their unhappy
security and strong delusions wherein they are held. Lewis Stuckley.
Verse
6. I will wash mine hands in innocency. There are two eminent
lavers in the gospel; the first, Christ's bath, a hot bath, lavacrum
sanguinis, the laver of Christ's blood; the second, our bath, a cold bath, lavacrum
lachrimarum, the laver of repentance. These two mixed together will prove a
sovereign composition, wrought first by Christ himself when he sweat water and
blood. The first is as that pool of Bethesda into which whoever enters with faith,
is healed; the blood of Christ is the true laver of regeneration, a fountain
set open for Judah and Jerusalem to wash in. "The blood of Christ purgeth
us from all sins." 1Jo 1:7. We account it charity in mothers to feed their
children with their own milk: how dear is the love of Christ, that both washes
and feeds us with his own blood! No sooner are we born in Christ, but just as
our mother's, so Christ's blood is turned into milk, nourishing us to
everlasting salvation. What is calamus benjamini, or storax, or a
thousand rivers of oil, to make us clean, except the Lord purge and cleanse us?
No; it is his blood "that speaks better things than the blood of
Abel." "Unto him, therefore, that loved us and washed us from our
sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests to God and his
Father: to him be glory and dominion for ever." Re 1:5-6. But yet it is
the second bath, the laver of repentance, that must apply and make the first
operative. This bath of Mary Magdalene's repentance, it is a kind of rebaptism,
giving strength and effect to the first washing. And it implies a three fold
act: first, to bruise our hearts by contrition; secondly, to lay our
wounds open by confession to God; thirdly, to wash our hands in
innocency, by satisfaction to men...Wash now and wash all; from the
crown of the head to the sole of the foot there is nothing in us but wounds and
sores; yet above all there is something here in it that David washes his "hands."
Indeed it is not enough to come with wet eyes, if we come with foul hands to
offer with unwashen hands; the Gentiles would not do it. Contrition and
confession to God make not up complete repentance without satisfaction to men. Non
remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum: (Augustine), it is as true as
old, and in old father Latimer's English it is "Either there must be
restitution, open or secret, or else hell." Whoever repairs not the wrong,
rejoiceth in the sin. Pr 2:14. Where there is no satisfaction, Non agitur
sed fingitur paenitentia, saith St. Augustine; and those who restore not
all, wash not their whole hands, they dip only the tips of their fingers.
Extortion, rapine, bribery, these are the sins of the hands (sins so proper to
the Jews, that they may well conceive as they do that the devil lies all night
on their hands, and that is it makes them so diligent in washing); but as for
us Christians, unless these vipers be shaken off our hands, though ye cover the
altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, yet if you
continue in your pollutions, God regards not your offering any more, nor will
he receive it with good will at your hands. Mt 2:13. Isaac Bargrave's Sermon
before the House of Commons, 1623.
Verse
6. I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine
altar, O Lord. If greatness might have privileged this person from
impurity, David was a king; if the grace of his soul might have freed
him from the soil of sin, he was "a man after God's own heart." But
let not great men put too much trust in their greatness; the longer the robe is
the more soil in contracts: great power may prove the mother of great
damnation. And as for purity, there is a generation that say there's no sin in
them, but they deceive themselves; there is no truth in them. Whatever Rome's rusiologyi
pretend for the power of nature, and of free will, we wretched sinners are
taught to conceive more truly of our own infirmity. Christ's own apostle, stout
Thomas, failed in the faith of his resurrection; Peter (whose chair is now the
pretended seat of infallibility) denied his Master; David, "a man after
God's own heart, "hath need of washing; and who can say, I am pure
in the sight of the Lord? Certainly, O Lord, no flesh is righteous in thy
sight. No; this is the best ground of Christian felicity, if with David we fall
to a sight of our own sins; if with the Publican we strike our own breasts, and
not with the Pharisee, cast our eye so much upon other men's faults. Why should
we, like tailors, measure all men but ourselves? as if the best of us had not
sin enough of his own to think on. See how David calls himself to account for
his own sins; "O Lord, I know mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before
me." Oh, the powerful effect of Christian devotion, when by the reflective
act of the understanding, science is turned into conscience, and our knowledge
is but the glass of our imperfection, the glass wherein the sight of our sins
sends us presently to God, as it did David here, who makes this account only
betwixt God and his own soul, "I, O Lord." First, he takes his
rise from humility and the sight of his own sins, and he soars up by the wings
of faith to the throne of God's mercy: "I, O Lord." He sees
with his own eyes, and not only with the church, or the priest's spectacles; he
is his own penitentiary and confessor; here's no intercession by saints, no
masses, merits, indulgences, trentals, dirges: all's done betwixt God and him: "I,
O Lord." With the eye of humility he looks to himself and his
own misery; then with the eye of faith to God and his mercy, and from
both these results a third virtue of repentance in the act of
preparation, washing the soil of sin in the bath of sorrow: "I will
wash mine hands, "etc. Isaac Bargrave.
Verse
6. I will wash mine hands in purity. Referring in these
words, to the ordinary use of the sacrifices, he makes a distinction between
himself and those who professed to offer the same divine worship, and thrust
themselves forward in the services of the sanctuary, as if they alone had the
sole right to perform them. As David, therefore, and these hypocrites were one
in this respect, that they entered the sanctuary, and surrounded the sacred
altar together, he proceeds to show that he was a true worshipper, declaring
that he not only diligently attended to the external rites, but came to worship
God with unfeigned devotion. It is obvious that he alludes to the solemn rite
of washing which was practised under the law. He, accordingly, reproves the
gross superstition of hypocrites, who, in seeking only the purification of
water, neglected true purification; whereas it was God's design, in the
appointment of the outward sign, to put men in mind of their inward pollution,
and thus to encourage them to repentance. The outward washing alone, instead of
profiting hypocrites, kept them at a greater distance from God. When the
psalmist, therefore, says, "I will wash my hands in innocence, "he
intimates that they only gather more pollution and filth by their washings. The
Hebrew word (Nwyqn) nikkayon, signifies the cleanness of anything, and
is figuratively used for innocence. We thus see, that as hypocrites
derive no moral purity whatever from their washings, David mocks at the labour
with which they vainly toil and torment themselves in such rites. John
Calvin.
Verse
6. "I will wash mine hands, "etc. David willing to
express his coming with a pure heart to pray to God, doth it by this similitude
of a priest: that as a priest washes his hands, and then offers
oblation, so had he constantly joined purity and devotion
together. Henry Hammond.
Verse
6. In innocency. The very akmt and crown of all our
preparation, the purest water we can wash in, is innocency; and innocency
is a virtue of the heart as well as of the hand. "Cleanse your hands, ye
sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Jas 4:8. I could wish
our washing might be like Cyprian's baptising, ad tincturam, even till
we were dyed in repentance and the blood of Christ. Let the quantity of thy
sins be the measure of thy repentance. First offer thine innocency, then
thy sacrifice. It is not enough that you come this day by order, you must come
with innocency. God requires the duty of the second table, as well as of
the first; he abhors the outward act of piety where he finds no conscience and
practice of innocency. Isaac Bargrave.
Verse
6. (first clause). One morning, as Gotthold was pouring water
into a basin, he recollected the words of Scripture: I will wash my hands in
innocency, a text which shows how diligently the royal prophet had
endeavoured to lead a blameless life, and walk habitually in the fear of God.
Upon this he mused, and said, Henceforth, my God, every time I pour out water
to wash with, I will call to mind that it is my duty to cleanse my hands from
wicked actions, my mouth from wicked words, and my heart from wicked lusts and
desires, that so I may be enabled to lift holy hands unto thee, and with
unspotted lips and heart worship thee, to the best of my ability. What will it
profit me to strive after outward purity, if my heart is filthy and abominable
in thy sight? Can the food nourish me which I have earned with polluted hands,
or seized with violence and injustice, or eaten with insensibility and
ingratitude? Ah! no, my God; far from me be food like this. My first care shall
be to maintain a blameless walk; my next, when I have thoughtlessly defiled
myself, to cleanse and wash away the stain, and remove mine iniquity from thine
eyes. "Purge me, O my God, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall
be whiter than snow." Ps 51:7. Christian Scriver (1629-1693),
in "Gotthold's Emblems."
Verse
6. I will compass thine altar, O Lord. On the next day after
this feast (the Feast of Tabernacles), the people compassed the altar seven
times, with palm boughs in their hands, in the remembrance of the overthrow of
Jericho...Not only the boughs, but the days of this whole Feast of Tabernacles,
were termed Hosannoth, from the usual acclamation of the people whilst
they carried the boughs up and down. Thomas Godwyn, B.D. (1587-1643), in
"Moses and Aaron."
Verse
6. By the phrase compassing the altar, either he alludes to
some Levitical custom of going about the altar, as the priests did in the
oblation of their sacrifices; and the people, especially those of them who were
more devout and zealous, who possibly moved from place to place, but still
within their own court, that they might discern what was done on the several
sides of the altar, and so be more affected with it; or rather he implies that
he would offer many sacrifices together, which would employ the priests round
about the altar. Matthew Poole.
Verse
8. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, etc.
"I have in my congregation, "said a venerable minister of the gospel,
"a worthy, aged woman, who has for many years been so deaf as not to
distinguish the loudest sound, and yet she is always one of the first in the
meeting. On asking the reason of her constant attendance (as it was impossible
for her to hear my voice), she answered, `Though I cannot hear you, I come to
God's house because I love it, and would be found in his ways; and he gives me
many a sweet thought upon the text when it is pointed out to me: another reason
is, because there I am in the best company, in the more immediate presence of
God, and among his saints, the honourable of the earth. I am not satisfied with
serving God in private; it is my duty and privilege to honour him regularly in
public.'" What a reproof this is to those who have their hearing, and yet
always come to a place of worship late, or not at all! K. Arvine.
Verse
9. Gather not my soul with sinners. Now is the time that
people should be in care and concern, that their souls be not gathered with
sinners in the other world. In discoursing from this doctrine we shall—1.
Consider some things implied in it. 2. Show who are the sinners, that we are to
have a horror of our souls being gathered with in the other world. 3. What it
is for one's soul to be gathered with sinners in the other world. 4. Consider
this care and concern, or show what is implied in this earnest request,
"Gather not my soul with sinners" 5. Give the reasons why we should
be in such care and concern. 6. Make application. Death is the gathering time,
which the psalmist has in view in the text. Ye have a time here that ye call
the gathering time, about the term when the servants are going away, wherein ye
gather your strayed sheep, that every one may get their own again. Death is
God's gathering time wherein he gets the souls belonging to him, and the devil
those belonging to him. They did go long together, but then they are parted,
and the saints are taken home to the congregation of saints, and sinners to the
congregation of sinners. And it concerns us to say, "Gather not my soul
with sinners." Whoever be our people here, God's people or the devil's,
death will gather our souls to them. It is a horrible thing to be gathered with
sinners in the other world. To think of our souls being gathered with them
there, may make the hair of one's head stand up. Many now like no gathering
like the gathering with sinners; it is the very delight of their hearts, it
makes a brave jovial life in their eyes. And it is a pain to them to be
gathered with saints, to be detained before the Lord on a Sabbath day. But to
be gathered with them in the other world, is a horror to all sorts. 1. The
saints have a horror of it, as in the text. To think to be staked down in their
company in the other world would be a hell of itself to the godly. David never
had such a horror of the society of the diseased, the persecuted, etc., as of
sinners. He is content to be gathered with saints of whatever condition; but,
"Lord, "say he, "Gather not my soul with sinners." 2. The
wicked themselves have a horror of it. Nu 23:10. "Let me die the death of
the righteous, "said the wicked Balaam, "and let my last end be like
his." Though they would be content to live with them, or be with them in
life, their consciences bear witness that they have a horror of being with them
in death. They would live with sinners, but they would die with saints. A poor,
unreasonable, self condemning thought. Thomas Boston.
Verse
9. Gather not my soul with sinners. Bind me not up in the
same bundle with them, like the tares for the fire. Mt 13:30. The contrast to
this is seen in the following Ps 27:10, "When my father and my mother
forsake me, then the Lord will take me up; " literally, will gather me
to his fold. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
9. Gather not my soul with sinners. The Lord hath a harvest
and a gleaning time also, set for cutting down and binding together, in the
fellowship of judgments, God's enemies, who have followed the same course of
sinning: for here we are given to understand that God will "gather
their souls, "and so will let none escape. David Dickson.
Verse
9. Gather not my soul with sinners. After all, it may be
objected that this concern seems to be common with saints and sinners. Even a
wicked Balaam said, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my
last end be like his." Nu 23:10. Take a few differences between them
in this matter. 1. It is separation from Christ that makes the saints to have a
horror at being gathered with sinners hereafter. Separation from Christ is the
main ground of the believer's horror: but if other things were to be right with
the sinner in the other world, he would be easy under separation from Christ.
2. The believer has a horror at being gathered with sinners on account of their
filthiness; but the thing that makes the sinner concerned is the prospect of
punishment. No doubt, a principle of self preservation must make punishment
frightful to all; but abstracted from that, the saints have a concern not to be
gathered with sinners in the other world, upon account of their unholiness and
filthiness. "He who is filthy, let him be filthy still, "is enough to
make a saint abhor the lot of sinners in the life to come. 3. The concern of
the saints has a mighty influence upon them, to make them study holiness here;
but sinners live unholy for all their concern. "And every man that hath
this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 1Jo 3:3. What
hope? The hope of seeing Christ as he is, and of being perfectly like him, of being
separated from sinners. 4. Lastly, the concern of the saints is such, that they
do with purpose of heart come out from among sinners more and more in this
world; but sinners are not concerned to be separated from sinners here. Balaam
wished to die the death of the righteous; but he had no concern to live the
life of the righteous, and to be separated from sinners here. James Scot,
1773.
Verses
9-12. David prays that God would not "gather his soul with
sinners, whose right hand is full of bribes; "such as, for advantage,
would be bribed to sin, to which wicked gang he opposeth himself, Ps 26:11; "But
as for me, I will walk in mine integrity; "where he tells us what kept
him from being corrupted and enticed, as they were; from God—it was his integrity.
A soul walking in its integrity will take bribes neither from men, nor sin
itself: and therefore he saith Ps 26:12, "His foot stood in an even place;
"or, as some read it, "My foot standeth in righteousness." William
Gurnall.
Verse
10. Their right hand is full of bribes. If the great men in
Turkey should use their religion of Mahomet to sell, as our patrons commonly
sell benefices here (the office of preaching, the office of salvation), it
should be taken as an intolerable thing; the Turk would not suffer it in his
commonwealth. Patrons be charged to see the office done, and not to seek a
lucre and a gain by their patronage. There was a patron in England that had a
benefice fallen into his hand, and a good brother of mine came unto him, and
brought him up thirty apples in a dish, and gave them to his man to carry them
to his master. It is like he gave one to his man for his labour, to make up the
gain, and so there was thirty-one. This man cometh to his master, and presented
him with the dish of apples, saying, "Sir, such a man hath sent you a dish
of fruit, and desireth you to be good unto him for such a benefice."
"Tush, tush, "said he, "this is no apple matter, I will none of
his apples, I have as good as these (or any he hath) in mine own orchard."
The man came to the priest again, and told him what his master said.
"Then, "said the priest, "desire him yet to prove one of them
for my sake, he shall find them much better than they look for." He cut
one of them, and found ten pieces of gold in it. "Marry, "said he,
"this is a good apple." The priest standing not far off, hearing what
the gentleman said, cried out and answered, "they are all one apples, I
warrant you, sir; they grew all on one tree, and have all one taste."
"Well, he is a good fellow, let him have it, "said the patron, etc.
Get you a graft of this same tree, and I warrant you it shall stand you in
better stead than all St. Paul's learning. Hugh Latimer.
Verse
10. Bribes. They that see furthest into the law, and most
clearly discern the cause of justice, if they suffer the dust of bribes to be
thrown into their sight, their eyes will water and twinkle, and fall at last to
blind connivance. It is a wretched thing when justice is made a hackney that
may be backed for money, and put on with golden spurs, even to the desired
journey's end of injury and iniquity. Far be from our souls this wickedness,
that the ear which should be open to complaints should be stopped with the
earwax of partiality. Alas! poor truth, that she must now be put to charges of
a golden ear pick, or she cannot be heard! Thomas Adams.
Verse
10.
What
makes all doctrines plain and clear?
About two hundred pounds a year,
And that which was proved true before
Proved false again? Two hundred more.
—Samuel Butler (1600-1680), in Hudibras. Part 3. Canto 1.
Verses
12 (first clause). The upright man's foot, is said to stand
in an even place; he walks not haltingly and uncomely, as those who go in
unequal ways, which are hobbling, and up and down, or those whose feet and legs
are not even (as Solomon saith), "The legs of the lame are not equal,
"and so cannot stand in an even place, because one is long and the
other short; the sincere man's feet are even, and the legs of a length,
as I may say; his care alike conscientious to the whole will of God. The
hypocrite, like the badger, hath one foot shorter than another; or, like a
foundered horse, he doth not stand, as we say, right of all four; one foot at
least you shall perceive he favours, loath to put it down. William Gurnall.
Verse
12. On an even place. As a man whose feet are firmly fixed
upon even ground is apprehensive of no fall, so the pious worshippers of
Jehovah feel no dread lest their adversaries should finally triumph over them. William
Walford.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1.
1. Two
inseparable companions—faith and holiness.
2. The
blessedness of the man who possesses them. He needs not fear the judgment,
nor the danger of the way.
3. The
only means of procuring them.
Verse
1. (last sentence). The upholding power of trust in God.
Verse
2. Divine examinations. Their variety, severity, searching
nature, accuracy, certainty: when to be desired, and when to be dreaded.
Verse
3. Delight for the eyes and safety for the feet; or the good man's
sweet contemplation and holy practice; or the heavenly compound of
godliness—motive, and motion, enjoying and acting, love and truth, free grace
and good works.
Verse
3. Thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes. It might be well
to follow David and to keep the lovingkindness of God before our eyes.
This should be done in four ways:—1. As a subject of contemplation.
2. As the source of encouragement.
3. As an incitement to praise.
4. As an example for imitation.
—William Jay.
Verse
4. Vain persons. Who they are. Why they are to be avoided.
What will become of them. Dissemblers. Describe this numerous family.
Show what their objects are. The mischief done to believers by their
craftiness. The need of shunning them, and their fearful end.
Verse
5. Bad company. Cases of its evil results, excuses for it
answered, warnings given, motives urged for relinquishing.
Verse
6. The necessity of personal holiness in order to acceptable
worship.
Verse
7. 1. The believer's calling—a publisher.
2.
The author selected, and the quality of his works. "Thy wondrous
works."
3.
The mode of advertising—"voice of thanksgiving", "tell",
etc.
Verse
8. God's house. Why we love it. What we love in it. How we show our
love. How our love will be rewarded.
Verse
9. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 524. "The Saints'
Horror at the Sinners' Hell."
Verse
11. The best men needing redemption and mercy; or the outward walk
before men, and the secret walk with God.
Verse
12. Secure standing, honoured position, grateful praise.
Verse
12 (last clause). Congregational Psalmody, and our personal
share in it.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》