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Psalm Seventy-four
Psalm 74
Chapter Contents
The desolations of the sanctuary. (1-11) Pleas for
encouraging faith. (12-17) Petitions for deliverances. (18-23)
Commentary on Psalm 74:1-11
(Read Psalm 74:1-11)
This psalm appears to describe the destruction of
Jerusalem and the temple by the Chaldeans. The deplorable case of the people of
God, at the time, is spread before the Lord, and left with him. They plead the
great things God had done for them. If the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt
was encouragement to hope that he would not cast them off, much more reason
have we to believe, that God will not cast off any whom Christ has redeemed
with his own blood. Infidels and persecutors may silence faithful ministers,
and shut up places of worship, and say they will destroy the people of God and
their religion together. For a long time they may prosper in these attempts,
and God's oppressed servants may see no prospect of deliverance; but there is a
remnant of believers, the seed of a future harvest, and the despised church has
survived those who once triumphed over her. When the power of enemies is most
threatening, it is comfortable to flee to the power of God by earnest prayer.
Commentary on Psalm 74:12-17
(Read Psalm 74:12-17)
The church silences her own complaints. What God had done
for his people, as their King of old, encouraged them to depend on him. It was
the Lord's doing, none besides could do it. This providence was food to faith
and hope, to support and encourage in difficulties. The God of Israel is the
God of nature. He that is faithful to his covenant about the day and the night,
will never cast off those whom he has chosen. We have as much reason to expect
affliction, as to expect night and winter. But we have no more reason to
despair of the return of comfort, than to despair of day and summer. And in the
world above we shall have no more changes.
Commentary on Psalm 74:18-23
(Read Psalm 74:18-23)
The psalmist begs that God would appear for the church
against their enemies. The folly of such as revile his gospel and his servants
will be plain to all. Let us call upon our God to enlighten the dark nations of
the earth; and to rescue his people, that the poor and needy may praise his
name. Blessed Saviour, thou art the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Make
thy people more than conquerors. Be thou, Lord, all in all to them in every
situation and circumstances; for then thy poor and needy people will praise thy
name.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 74
Verse 2
[2]
Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine
inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast
dwelt.
Thy congregation —
Thy people.
Thine inheritance —
The tribe of Judah, which thou hast in a special manner chosen for thine
inheritance, and for the birth of the Messiah. Nor is it strange that he
mentions this tribe particularly, because the calamity here remembered, did
principally befal this tribe, and Benjamin, which was united with it.
Verse 3
[3] Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy
hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
Lift up —
Come speedily to our rescue.
Because —
Because otherwise our destruction is irrecoverable.
Verse 4
[4]
Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns
for signs.
Roar — In
a way of triumph.
Midst, … — In
the places where thy people used to assemble for thy worship.
Set up —
Monuments of their victory.
Verse 5
[5] A
man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
Famous —
The temple was so noble a structure, that it was a great honour to any man to
be employed in the meanest part of the work, though it were but in cutting down
the trees of Lebanon.
Verse 6
[6] But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and
hammers.
Axes and hammers —
These words are not Hebrew, but Chaldee or Syriack, to point out the time when
this was done, even when the Chaldeans brought in their language, together with
their arms, among the Israelites.
Verse 8
[8] They
said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the
synagogues of God in the land.
Destroy them —
All at once. So they intended, although afterwards they changed their council,
and carried some away captive.
Burnt up —
All the public places wherein the Jews used to meet together to worship God
every sabbath-day.
Verse 9
[9] We
see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any
that knoweth how long.
Signs —
Those tokens of God's gracious presence, which we used to enjoy. The temple and
ark, and sacrifices, and solemn feasts, were signs between God and his people.
Prophet —
Who can foretell things to come. Probably Ezekiel and Jeremiah were dead when
this psalm was composed; and David was involved in civil affairs, and did not
teach the people as a prophet.
Knoweth —
How long their captivity should continue.
Verse 11
[11] Why
withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
Why —
Why dost thou forebear the exercise of thy power? Bosom - In which thou now
seemest to hide it.
Verse 12
[12] For
God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
King — It
belongs therefore to thy office to protect and save me.
Midst — In
the view of the world.
Verse 13
[13] Thou
didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in
the waters.
Dragons — He
means Pharaoh and his mighty men.
Verse 14
[14] Thou
brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the
people inhabiting the wilderness.
Leviathan —
Pharaoh.
The people — To
the ravenous birds and beasts of the desert. These creatures are significantly
called the people of the wilderness, because they are the only people that
inhabit it.
Verse 15
[15] Thou
didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
The flood —
Thou didst by cleaving the rock, make a fountain and a stream to flow from it,
for the refreshment of thy people in those dry deserts.
Driedst —
Jordan and the Red Sea; for the sea itself; yea, a greater sea than that, is
called a river, Jonah 2:3, where the Hebrew word is the same
which is here used. And the same title is expressly given to the sea, by Homer,
and other ancient writers.
Verse 16
[16] The
day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the
sun.
The light —
The moon, the lesser light.
Verse 17
[17] Thou
hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
Set —
Thou hast fixed the bounds of the habitable world in general, and of all the
countries and people upon the earth. And as this clause shews God's power over
all places, so the next displays his dominion over all times and seasons.
Verse 18
[18]
Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish
people have blasphemed thy name.
Remember —
Though we deserve to be forgotten, yet do not suffer our enemies to reproach
the name of the great and glorious God.
Verse 19
[19] O
deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget
not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
Soul —
The life.
Turtle-dove — Of
thy church, which is fitly compared to a turtle-dove, because simple and
harmless, and meek, and faithful.
Verse 20
[20] Have
respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the
habitations of cruelty.
The covenant —
Made with Abraham, whereby thou didst give the land of Canaan to him, and to
his seed for ever.
Dark places —
This dark and dismal land in which we live.
Verse 21
[21] O
let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
Return —
From the throne of thy grace, to which they make their resort.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
TITLE. Maschil of
Asaph. An instructive Psalm by Asaph. The history of the suffering church
is always edifying; when we see how the faithful trusted and wrestled with
their God in times of dire distress, we are thereby taught how to behave
ourselves under similar circumstances; we learn moreover, that when fiery trial
befalls us, no strange thing happened unto us, we are following the trail of
the host of God.
DIVISION. From Ps
74:1-11 the poet pleads the sorrows of the nation, and the despite done to the
assemblies of the Lord; then he urges former displays of divine power as a
reason for present deliverance (Ps 74:12-23). Whether it is a prophetic Psalm,
intended for use in troubles foreseen, or whether it was written by a later
Asaph, after the invasion by Sennacherib or during the Maccabean wars, it would
be very hard to determine, but we see no difficulty in the first supposition.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? To cast us off
at all were hard, but when thou dost for so long a time desert they people it
is an evil beyond all endurance—the very chief of woes and abyss of misery. It
is our wisdom when under chastisement to enquire, "Show me wherefore thou
contendest with me?" and if the affliction be a protracted one, we should
more eagerly enquire the purport of it. Sin is usually at the bottom of all the
hiding of the Lord's face; let us ask the Lord to reveal the special form of it
to us, that we may repent of it, overcome it, and henceforth forsake it. When a
church is in a forsaken condition it must not sit still in apathy, but turn to
the hand which smiteth it, and humbly enquire the reason why. At the same time,
the enquiry of the text is a faulty one, for it implies two mistakes. There are
two questions, which only admit of negative replies. "Hath God cast away
his people?" (Ro 11:1); and the other, "Will the Lord cast off for
ever?" (Ps 77:7). God is never weary of his people so as to abhor them,
and even when his anger is turned against them, it is but for a small moment,
and with a view to their eternal good. Grief in its distraction asks strange
questions and surmises impossible terrors. It is a wonder of grace that the
Lord has not long ago put us away as men lay aside cast off garments, but he
hateth putting away, and will still be patient with his chosen. Why doth thine
anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? They are thine, they are the
objects of thy care, they are poor, silly, and defenceless things: pity them,
forgive them, and come to their rescue. They are but sheep, do not continue to
be wroth with them. It is a terrible thing when the anger of God smokes, but it
is an infinite mercy that it does not break into a devouring flame. It is meet
to pray the Lord to remove every sign of his wrath, for it is to those who are
truly the Lord's sheep a most painful thing to be the objects of his
displeasure. To vex the Holy Spirit is no mean sin, and yet how frequently are
we guilty of it; hence it is no marvel that we are often under a cloud.
Verse
2. Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old.
What a mighty plea is redemption. O God, canst thou see the blood mark on thine
own sheep, and yet allow grievous wolves to devour them? The church is no new
purchase of the Lord; from before the world's foundation the chosen were
regarded as redeemed by the Lamb slain; shall ancient love die out, and the
eternal purpose become frustrate? The Lord would have his people remember the
paschal Lamb, the bloodstained lintel, and the overthrow of Egypt; and will he
forget all this himself? Let us put him in remembrance, let us plead together.
Can he desert his blood bought and forsake his redeemed? Can election fail and
eternal love cease to glow? Impossible. The woes of Calvary, and the covenant
of which they are the seal, are the security of the saints.
The
rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed. So sweet a plea deserved to
be repeated and enlarged upon. The Lord's portion is his people—will he lose
his inheritance? His church is his kingdom, over which he stretches the rod of
sovereignty; will he allow his possessions to be torn from him? God's property
in us is a fact full of comfort: his value of us, his dominion over us, his
connection with us are all so many lights to cheer our darkness. No man will
willingly lose his inheritance, and no prince will relinquish his dominions;
therefore we believe that the King of kings will hold his own, and maintain his
rights against all comers.
This
mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. The Lord's having made Zion the especial
centre of his worship, and place of his manifestation, is yet another plea for
the preservation of Jerusalem. Shall the sacred temple of Jehovah be desecrated
by heathen, and the throne of the Great King be defiled by his enemies? Has the
Spirit of God dwelt in our hearts, and will he leave them to become a haunt for
the devil? Has he sanctified us by his indwelling, and will he, after all,
vacate the throne? God forbid. It may be well to note that this Psalm was
evidently written with a view to the temple upon Zion, and not to the
tabernacle which was there in David's time, and was a mere tent; but the
destructions here bewailed were exercised upon the carved work of a substantial
structure. Those who had seen the glory of God in Solomon's peerless temple
might well mourn in bitterness, when the Lord allowed his enemies to make an
utter ruin of that matchless edifice.
Verse
3. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations. The ruin
made had already long been an eyesore to the suppliant, and there seemed no
hope of restoration. Havoc lorded it not only for a day or a year, but with
perpetual power. This is another argument with God. Would Jehovah sit still and
see his own land made a wilderness, his own palace a desolation? Until he
should arise, and draw near, the desolation would remain; only his presence
could cure the evil, therefore is he entreated to hasten with uplifted feet for
the deliverance of his people. Even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in
the sanctuary. Every stone in the ruined temple appealed to the Lord; on all
sides were the marks of impious spoilers, the holiest places bore evidence of
their malicious wickedness; would the Lord for ever permit this? Would he not
hasten to overthrow the foe who defied him to his face, and profaned the throne
of his glory? Faith finds pleas in the worst circumstances, she uses even the
fallen stones of her desolate palaces, and assails with them the gates of
heaven, casting them forth with the great engine of prayer.
Verse
4. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations.
Where thy people sang like angels, these barbarians roar like beasts. When thy
saints come together for worship, these cruel men attack them with all the fury
of lions. They have no respect for the most solemn gatherings, but intrude
themselves and their blasphemies into our most hallowed meetings. How often in
times of persecution or prevalent heresy has the church learned the meaning of
such language. May the Lord spare us such misery. When hypocrites abound in the
church, and pollute her worship, the case is parallel to that before us; Lord
save us from so severe a trial. They set up their ensigns for signs. Idolatrous
emblems used in war were set up over God's altar, as an insulting token of
victory, and of contempt for the vanquished and their God. Papists, Arians, and
the modern school of Neologians, have, in their day, set up their ensigns for
signs. Superstition, unbelief, and carnal wisdom have endeavoured to usurp the
place of Christ crucified, to the grief of the church of God. The enemies
without do us small damage, but those within the church cause her serious harm;
by supplanting the truth and placing error in its stead, they deceive the
people, and lead multitudes to destruction. As a Jew felt a holy horror when he
saw an idolatrous emblem set up in the holy place, even so do we when in a
Protestant church we see the fooleries of Rome, and when from pulpits, once
occupied by men of God, we hear philosophy and vain deceit.
Verse
5. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the
thick trees. Once men were renowned for felling the cedars and preparing
them for building the temple, but now the axe finds other work, and men are as
proud of destroying as their fathers were of erecting. Thus in the olden times
our sires dealt sturdy blows against the forests of error, and laboured hard to
lay the axe at the root of the trees; but, alas! their sons appear to be quite
as diligent to destroy the truth and to overthrow all that their fathers built
up. O for the good old times again! O for an hour of Luther's hatchet, or
Calvin's mighty axe!
Verse
6. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with
axes and hammers. The invaders were as industrious to destroy as the
ancient builders had been to construct. Such fair carving it was barbarous to
hew in pieces, but the Vandals had no mercy and broke down all, with any weapon
which came to hand. In these days men are using axes and sledgehammers against
the gospel and the church. Glorious truths, far more exquisite than the
goodliest carving, are cavilled over and smashed by the blows of modern
criticism. Truths which have upheld the afflicted and cheered the dying are
smitten by pretentious Goths, who would be accounted learned, but know not the
first principals of the truth. With sharp ridicule, and heavy blows of
sophistry, they break the faith of some: and would, if it were possible, destroy
the confidence of the elect themselves. Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans are
but types of spiritual foes who labour to crush the truth and the people of
God.
Verse
7. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary. Axes and hammers
were not sufficient for the purpose of the destroyers, they must needs try
fire. Malice knows no bounds. Those who hate God are never sparing of the most
cruel weapons. To this day the enmity of the human heart is quite as great as
ever; and, if providence did not restrain, the saints would still be as fuel
for the flames. They have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy
name to the ground. They made a heap of the temple, and left not one
stone upon another. When the Lord left Mount Zion, and the Roman gained
entrance, the military fury led the soldiers to burn out and root up the
memorial of the famous House of the Lord. Could the powers of darkness have
their way, a like fate would befall the church of Christ. "Rase it,
"say they, "rase it even to the foundation thereof." Defilement
to the church is destruction; her foes would defile her till nothing of her
purity, and consequently of her real self, remained. Yet, even if they could
wreak their will upon the cause of Christ, they are not able to destroy it, it
would survive their blows and fires; the Lord would hold them still like dogs
on a leash, and in the end frustrate all their designs.
Verse
8. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together.
It was no idle wish, their cruelty was sincere, deep seated, a matter of their
inmost heart. Extirpation was the desire of Haman, and the aim of many another
tyrant; not a remnant of the people of God would have been left if oppressors
could have had their way. Pharaoh's policy to stamp out the nation has been a
precedent for others, yet the Jews survive, and will: the bush though burning
has not been consumed. Even thus the church of Christ has gone through baptism
of blood and fire, but it is all the brighter for them. They have burned up all
the synagogues of God in the land. Here is no allusion to places called
synagogues, but to assemblies; and as no assemblies for worship here held in
but one place, the ruin of the temple was the destruction of all the holy
gatherings, and so in effect all the meeting places were destroyed. One object
of persecutors has always been to put an end to all conventicles, as they have
called them. Keep them from meeting and you will scatter them, so have the
enemy said; but, glory be to God, saints are independent of walls, and have met
on the hill side, by the moss, or in the catacombs, or in a boat at sea. Yet
has the attempt been almost successful, and the hunt so hot, that the faithful
have wandered in solitude, and their solemn congregations have been, under such
circumstances, few and far between. What sighs and cries have in such times
gone up to the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth. How happy are we that we can
meet for worship in any place we choose, and none dare molest us.
Verse
9. We see not our signs. Alas, poor Israel! No Urim and
Thummim blazed on the High Priest's bosom, and no Shechaniah shone from between
the cherubim. The smoke of sacrifice and cloud of incense no more arose from
the holy hill; solemn feasts were suspended, and even circumcision, the
covenant sign, was forbidden by the tyrant. We, too, as believers, know what it
is to lose our evidences and grope in darkness; and too often do our churches
also miss the tokens of the Redeemer's presence, and their lamps remain
untrimmed. Sad complaint of a people under a cloud! There is no more any
prophet. Prophecy was suspended. No inspiring psalm or consoling promise fell
from bard or seer. It is ill with the people of God when the voice of the
preacher of the gospel fails, and a famine of the word of life falls on the people.
God sent ministers are as needful to the saints as their daily bread, and it is
a great sorrow when a congregation is destitute of a faithful pastor. It is to
be feared, that with all the ministers now existing, there is yet a dearth of
men whose hearts and tongues are touched with the celestial fire. Neither is
there any among us that knoweth how long. If someone could foretell an end, the
evil might be borne with a degree of patience, but when none can see a
termination, or foretell an escape, the misery has a hopeless appearance, and
is overwhelming. Blessed be God, he has not left his church in these days to be
so deplorably destitute of cheering words; let us pray that he never may.
Contempt of the word is very common, and may well provoke the Lord to withdraw
it from us; may his long suffering endure the strain, and his mercy afford us
still the word of life.
Verse
10. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Though we
know not how long yet thou dost. The times and seasons are with thee. When God
is reproached, there is hope for us, for it may be he will hearken and avenge
his dishonoured name. Wickedness has great license allowed it, and justice
lingers on the road; God has his reasons for delay, and his seasons for action,
and in the end it shall be seen that he is not slack concerning his promise as
some men count slackness. Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? He will
do so for ever, unless thou dost give him his quietus. Wilt thou never defend
thyself, and stop slanderous tongues? Wilt thou always endure the jeers of the
profane? Is there to be no end to all this sacrilege and cursing? Yes, it shall
all be ended, but not by and by. There is a time for the sinner to rage, and a
time in which patience bears with him; yet it is but a time, and then, ah,
then!
Verse
11. Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand?
Wherefore this inaction, this indifference for thine own honour and thy
people's safety? How bold is the suppliant! Does he err? Nay, verily, we who
are so chill, and distant, and listless in prayer are the erring ones. The
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and he who learns the art shall surely
prevail with God by its means. It is fit that we should enquire why the work of
grace goes on so slowly, and the enemy has so much power over men: the inquiry
may suggest practical reflections of unbounded value.
"Why
dost thou from the conflict stay?
Why do thy chariot wheels delay?
Lift up thyself, hell's kingdom shake,
Arm of the Lord, awake, awake."
Pluck
it out of thy bosom. A bold simile, but dying men must venture for their lives.
When God seems to fold his arms we must not fold ours, but rather renew our
entreaties that he would again put his hand to the work. O for more agony in
prayer among professing Christians, then should we see miracles of grace. We
have here before us a model of pleading, a very rapture of prayer. It is
humble, but very bold, eager, fervent, and effectual. The heart of God is
always moved by such entreaties. When we bring forth out strong reasons, then
will he bring forth his choice mercies.
Verses
12-23. Having spread the sad case before the Lord, the pleader now urges
another series of arguments for divine help. He reasons from the Lord's former
wonders of grace, and his deeds of power, imploring a repetition of the same
divine works.
Verse
12. For God is my King of old. How consoling is this avowal!
Israel in holy loyalty acknowledges her King, and claims to have been his
possession from of old, and thence she derives a plea for defence and deliverance.
If the Lord be indeed the sole monarch of our bosoms, he will in his love put
forth his strength on our behalf; if from eternity he has claimed us as his
own, he will preserve us from the insulting foe. Working salvation in the midst
of the earth. From the most remote period of Israel's history the Lord had
worked out for her many salvations; especially at the Red Sea, the very heart
of the world was astonished by his wonders of deliverance. Now, every believer
may plead at this day the ancient deeds of the Lord, the work of Calvary, the
overthrow of sin, death, and hell. He who wrought out our salvation of old will
not, cannot desert us now. Each past miracle of grace assures us that he who
has begun to deliver will continue to redeem us from all evil. His deeds of old
were public and wrought in the teeth of his foes, they were no delusions or
make believes; and, therefore, in all our perils we look for true and manifest
assistance, and we shall surely receive it.
Verse
21. O let not the oppressed return ashamed. Though broken and
crushed they come to thee with confidence; suffer them not to be disappointed,
for then they will be ashamed of their hope. Let the poor and needy praise thy
name. By thy speedy answer to their cries make their hearts glad, and they will
render to thee their gladdest songs. It is not the way of the Lord to allow any
of those who trust in him to be put to shame; for his word is, "He shall
call upon me, and I will deliver him, and he shall glorify me."
Verse
22. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause. Answer thou the
taunts of the profane by arguments which shall annihilate both the blasphemy
and the blasphemer. God's judgments are awful replies to the defiance of his
foes. When he makes empires crumble, and smites persecutors to the heart, his
cause is pleaded by himself as none other could have advocated it. O that the
Lord himself would come into the battle field. Long has the fight been
trembling in the balance; one glance of his eyes, one word from his lip, and
the banners of victory shall be borne on the breeze. Remember how the foolish
man reproacheth thee daily. The Lord is begged to remember that he is himself
reproached, and that by a mere man—that man a fool, and he is also reminded
that these foul reproaches are incessant and repeated with every revolving day.
It is bravely done when faith can pluck pleas out of the dragon's mouth and out
of the blasphemies of fools find arguments with God.
Verse
23. Forget not the voice of thine enemies. Great warrior let
the enemy's taunt provoke thee to the fray. They challenge thee; accept thou
the gage of battle, and smite them with thy terrible hand. If the cries of thy
children are too feeble to be heard, be pleased to note the loud voices of thy
foes and silence their profanities for ever. The tumult of those that rise up
against thee increaseth continually. The ungodly clamour against thee
and thy people, their blasphemies are loud and incessant, they defy thee, even
thee, and because thou repliest not they laugh thee to scorn. They go from bad
to worse, from worse to worst; their fury swells like the thunders of an
advancing tempest. What will it come too? What infamy will next be hurled at
thee and thine? O God, wilt thou for ever bear this? Hast thou no regard for
thine honour, no respect for thy glory? Much of this Psalm has passed over our
mind while beholding the idolatries of Rome, (the author visited Rome in
November and December, 1871, while this portion of the Treasury of David was in
progress) and remembering her bloody persecution of the saints. O Lord, how
long shall it be ere thou wilt ease thyself of those profane wretches, the
priests, and cast the harlot of Babylon into the ditch of corruption? May the
church never cease to plead with thee till judgment shall be executed, and the
Lord avenged upon Antichrist.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. There is one singularity in this Psalm which reminds one strongly
of Psalm 44: there is not one mention of national or personal sin throughout,
no allusion to the Lord's righteous dealing in their punishment, no
supplication for pardon and forgiveness; and yet one can hardly doubt that the
writer of the Psalm, be he who he may, must have felt as keenly as Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Daniel, or any other prophet of the captivity, the sins and iniquities
which had brought all this sore evil upon them. But still, though there be
expostulations, there is no complaint; though there be mourning, there is no
murmuring; there is far more the cry of a smitten child, wondering why, and
grieving that his father's face is so turned away from him in displeasure, and
a father's hand so heavy on the child of his love. Or, as we might almost say,
it is like the cry of one of those martyred ones beneath the altar, wondering
at the marauder and oppressor, and exclaiming, "How long, O Lord, how
long?" And yet it is the appeal of one who was still a sufferer, still
groaning under the pressure of his calamities, "Why has thou cast us off
for ever? We see not our signs, there is no more any prophet
among us." Barton Bouchier.
Whole
Psalm. The peculiarity of this Psalm is marred by the very frequent use
of the xeg, for ever: Ps 74:1,3,10. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
1. This Psalm, and particularly these words, do contain the church's
sad lamentation over her deep affliction, together with her earnest
expostulations with God about the cause. Two things there are that the church
in these words doth plead with God. First, The greatness of her affliction:
secondly, the nearness of he relation.
1. The
greatness of her affliction. And there were three things in her affliction
that did make it lie very heavy upon her. First, the root of this
affliction; and that was God's anger: Why doth thine anger smoke, etc.
Secondly, the height of this affliction; God was not only angry, but he
did smoke in his anger. Thirdly, the length of this affliction:
it was so long that God did seem to cast them off for ever.
2. The
nearness of her relation: Against the sheep of thy pasture; as if they
should have said, Lord, if thou hadst done this against thine enemies, it had
been no wonder; if thou hadst poured out thy wrath against the vessels of
wrath, it had not been so much. But what! wilt thou draw out thy sword against the
sheep of thy pasture? It were no wonder that thou shouldest take the fat
and the strong, and pour out thy judgments upon them; but wilt thou do it to thy
sheep?
There
be several doctrines that I may raise from these words; as,
First
doctrine: That God's people are his sheep.
Second
doctrine: That God may be sorely angry with his own people, with his own sheep.
Third
doctrine: That when God is angry with his people, it becomes them carefully to
enquire into the cause.
Fourth
doctrine: That when God's people are under afflictions, they ought to take
notice of, and be much affected with, his anger, from which they do proceed.
Fifth
doctrine: That God's people under affliction are, or should be, more affected
with his anger than with their smart. This is that which the church doth
complain of, not that the church did so smart, but that God was displeased and
angry; that did most affect them.
Sixth
doctrine: That God's people are apt to have misgiving thoughts of God when they
are in sore afflictions. God was angry with his people, and their hearts did
misgive them, as if God did cast off his people.
Seventh
doctrine: That God may be angry with his people, so sore, and so long, that in
the judgment of sense it may seem that they are for ever cast off. Eighth
doctrine: That though the people of God may not murmur against his proceedings,
yet they may humbly expostulate with him about the cause. Joseph Alleine.
1633-1668.
Verse
1. Why doth thine anger smoke, etc. Anger is a fire; and in
men, and other creatures enraged, a smoke seemeth to go out of their nostrils.
Xenophon saith of the Thebans, when they are angry they breathe fire. This then
is spoken of God, after the manner of men. John Trapp.
Verse
1. The sheep of thy pasture. There is nothing more imbecile
than a sheep: simple, frugal, gentle, tame, patient, prolific, timid,
domesticated, stupid, useful. Therefore, while the name of sheep is here
used, it is suggested how pressing the necessity is for divine assistance, and
how well befitting the Most High it would be to make their cause his own. Lorinus.
Verse
2. Remember thy congregation. It is not without reason that
they do not say, Remember us, but Remember thy congregation, not
ours, but thine; nor that because it has now begun to be thine, but which
thou hast purchased of old, the rod of thine inheritance which thou hast
redeemed: likewise, this Mount Zion; not wherein we, but wherein thou
hast dwelt. They had nothing which they could bring before an angry God
with greater confidence, than the ancient lovingkindness shown to their fathers
in former days. Musculus.
Verse
2. The rod of thine inheritance. hlxg jbv, the inheritance
rod is the staff with which the inheritance is measured; jkv hdmh hgq, the
land surveyor's rod (Eze 40:3); and this is used as lrwg, the lot, is
for the portion, for the inheritance itself. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
2. Thine inheritance. It signifies a nation, which through
all successions God had a peculiar right and title to. Henry Hammond.
Verse
2. Thou hast redeemed, i.e., the purchased people, by
restoring them when they had been alienated, and had fallen into the hands of
others: like a goel, or near kinsman, who ransoms a brother hurried into
captivity, and regains an inheritance that has been sold. Hermann
Venema.
Verse
3. Lift up thy feet. Or, thy hammers, that is,
"thy strokes, "to "stamp" or "beat down" the
enemy "unto perpetual desolations." Thus the "feet" are
used to "tread down with, " Isa 26:6; and so the Greek taketh it
here, changing the metaphor, and translating it, "Thy hands, "which
are also instruments to strike down with. Or, lift up thy feet, that is,
come quickly to see the perpetual desolations, which the enemy hath
made. Henry Ainsworth.
Verse
3. Lift up thy feet. Abu Walid renders it, Tread hard upon
thine enemies. The Jewish Arab, Shew forth thy punishment, adding in
a note that the lifting up the feet implies punishment, the bringing
under by force being usually expressed by treading under the feet. Henry
Hammond.
Verse
3. Lift up thy feet, etc. To these desolations they
seek that God would lift up his footsteps, that is, that he would
approach. In Ge 29:1, there occurs the phrase, to lift the feet; here
the expression is much more marked—to lift up the footsteps—and must be
taken to mean a swift, impetuous, majestic, and powerful approach; like a hero,
who strikes the ground with heavy tread, and advances rapidly with far sounding
footsteps. Hermann Venema.
Verse
3. In the sanctuary. Their cities had been laid waste, their
provinces, their farms, their vineyards, their oliveyards. They themselves had
been everywhere cut down without striking a blow in defence, and their means of
life had been snatched away without resistance. Yet they speak not of these
things; not because things of this sort ought not to cause grief, nor yet
because the saints are not touched with a sense of their loss; but because
those things which threatened the extinction of religion and the worship of
God, overtopped the feeling of all these other misfortunes with an intolerable
sorrow. Musculus.
Verse
4. Thine enemies roar, etc. The word gav is used especially
of the roar of the lion... In this place we may justly extend the application
of the verb to those noisy words, whether mirthful or boastful, blasphemous
against God and calamitous to his people (Ps 74:10), breathing terror and
threatenings through edicts; or rude and senseless, as in their idolatrous
worship; or in their prayers and thoughtless songs. As in Isa 52:5, its meaning
is to howl. Hermann Venema.
Verse
4. They set up their ensigns for signs. The meaning is, that
the enemy, having abolished the signs of the true God, of his people and
religion, such as circumcision, the feasts, sacrifices, the other ordinances of
religion, and other marks of liberty, substituted his own idolatrous signs, as
the signs of his authority and religion. Hermann Venema.
Verses
4-7. (The persecution under Antiochus. B.C. 168.) Athenaeus
proceeded to Jerusalem, where, with the assistance of the garrison, he
prohibited and suppressed every observance of the Jewish religion, forced the
people to profane the Sabbath, to eat swine's flesh, and other unclean food,
and expressly forbade the national rite of circumcision. The Temple was
dedicated to Jupiter Olympus: the statue of that deity was erected on part of
the altar of burnt offerings, and sacrifice duly performed... As a last insult,
the feasts of the Bacchanalia, the license of which, as they were celebrated in
the later ages of Greece, shocked the severe virtue of the older Romans, were
substituted for the national festival of Tabernacles. The reluctant Jews were
forced to join in these riotous orgies, and to carry the ivy, the insignia of
the god. So near was the Jewish nation, and the worship of Jehovah, to total
extermination. Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868), in "A History of the
Jews."
(Under
Titus.) And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city,
and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings lying
round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple, and set them over against
its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did
they make Titus imperator, with the greatest acclamation of joy. Josephus.
Verse
8. The synagogues of God. It is the opinion of Spencer,
Vitringa, and of the learned in general, that the institution of synagogues for
worship originated in the reading of the law publicly after the collection of
its volumes by Ezra, and that, consequently, there were no such places of
solemn assembly previous to the Babylonish captivity. Some of the Jews
themselves have expressed a conviction that this is the fact, and the
Scriptures give no intimation of their existence antecedently to that time. We
are aware, however, that one of the first Hebraists of the present day, the
Rev. Dr. Macaul, inclines to the opinion of an earlier origin than that
generally adopted. We quote his words: "The existence of such places
before the Babylonish captivity has been much disputed"; and most writers,
arguing from the silence of the Old Testament, incline to the opinion that they
originated in Babylon, and that after the restoration similar oratories were
opened in the land of Israel; and hence some infer that the Seventy-fourth
Psalm, which says in the eighth verse, They have burned up all the
synagogues in the land, was written in the post Babylonian times. The
argument from silence is, however, far from conclusive. The translation of
yrewm as synagogues, in the verse just cited, might fairly lead to a
similar translation in some other passages which were confessedly written
before the captivity; and the circumstances, character, and necessities of the
Israelites, the great body of whom were far removed from the temple, prove
indisputably that in their towns and villages they must have had some locality
where they assembled on their sabbaths, new moons, and other solemn days, for
the purpose of receiving instruction in the law, and for public prayer. That
locality, however different from subsequent arrangements, was the origin of the
synagogue. How such assemblies were conducted before the captivity it is
now impossible to say. F. A. Cox.
Verse
8. Synagogues. Dr. Prideaux affirms that they had no
synagogues before the Babylonish captivity; for the main service of the
synagogue, says he, being the reading of the law unto the people, where there
was no book of the law to be read, there certainly could be no synagogues. But
how rare the book of the law was through all Judaea, before the Babylonish
captivity, many texts of Scripture tell us. When Jehoshaphat sent teachers through
all Judaea, to instruct the people in the law of God, they carried a book of
the law with them (2Ch 17:9), which they needed not have done if there had been
any copies of the law in those cities to which they went; which certainly there
would have been had there been any synagogues in them. And when Hilkiah found
the law in the temple (2Ki 22:8), neither he nor king Josiah needed to have
been so surprised at it, had books of the law been common on those times. Their
behaviour on that occasion sufficiently proves they had never seen it before,
which could not be the case had there then been any other copies of it to be
found among the people; and if there were no copies of the law at that time
among them, there could then be most certainly no synagogues for them to
resort to for the hearing of it read unto them. From whence he concludes there
could be no synagogues among the Jews, till after the Babylonish
captivity. Cruden's Concordance.
Verse
8. Synagogues. The assertion of those who are in favour of the
Maccabean origin of the Psalm, that these words describe the destruction of the
synagogues, is met by the remark, that in all the copious accounts which
we have of the transactions of these times, there is nothing said of any such
work of destruction. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
8. Synagogues. In the Old Testament we find no traces of
meetings for worship in synagogues. Temporary altars, groves, and high places
were used alike by the Jewish saints and sinners for the worship of God and
idols. The only pre-exile instance which seems to indicate that the devout in
Israel were in the habit of resorting to pious leaders for blessings and
instruction on stated occasions, is to be found in 2Ki 4:23, where the
Shunammite's husband asks, "Wherefore wilt thou go to him (Elisha) today?
It is neither new moon nor Sabbath." Yet 2Ki 22:8, etc.; 2Ch 34:14, etc.,
testify undoubtedly against the existence of places of worship under the
monarchy. It is during the exile, whilst the temple worship was in abeyance,
that we find indubitable proof of the systematic meetings on fasts for devotion
and instruction (Zec 7:3-5 8:19). Religious meetings were also held on Sabbaths
and fasts, to instruct the exiles in the divine law, and to admonish them to
obey the divine precepts, (Ezr 10:1-9 Ne 8:1-3 9:1-3 13:1-3). These meetings,
held near the temple and in other localities, were the origin of the synagogue,
and the place in which the people assembled was denominated the house of
assembly. Hence, also, the synagogue in the temple itself... These
synagogues soon became very popular, so that the psalmist in depicting worship
in the time of the Maccabees declares that the many meeting places of God—or the
Synagogues of God as the A.V. rightly renders it—have been laid waste. Christian
D. Ginsburg, in Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature.
Verse
8. (second clause). The sense seems to be, they (the
Chaldaean invaders) have abolished all the solemnities in the land. They
have taken away the daily sacrifice; they have put an end to the festivals and
feasts of our holy ritual. Compare La 2:6: "He hath violently taken away
his tabernacle; he hath destroyed his places of the assembly, "(or rather,
his assembly, his moed). "The Lord hath caused the solemn feasts
and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion." Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
9. We see not our signs. As if they had said, heretofore God
was wont to give us signs and tokens, he would even work miracles for us, or he
would send a prophet to instruct and advise us what to do; we had those who
could tell us how long, that is, how long our troubles should last, and
when we should have our expected end of them; but now we are in trouble, and no
man can tell us how long, now we are left to the wide world, to shift for
ourselves as well as we can; the Lord will not advise us what to do, nor give
us his mind what's best to be done, or how to proceed; thus deplorable was
their condition upon the hiding of God's face from them. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
9. We see not our signs. These signs, which he mourned that
he did not see, were certain outward marks of God's special favour, certain
testimonies of his presence, certain memorials that he was with them to bless
them. And it is said that there were five things in Solomon's temple destroyed
by Nebuchadnezzar, which were not in the second temple, which was erected after
the Babylonish captivity. Five memorials or tokens of God's special presence
were then wanting. One was the ark of the covenant; another, the fire from
heaven upon the brazen altar; the third, the Shechaniah, or cloud that rested
upon the mercyseat; the fourth, the Urim and Thummim which were in the
breastplate of the high priest; and the fifth, the spirit of prophecy. For
though there were the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, at the time of,
and shortly after, the restoration; yet the spirit of prophecy ceased with
Malachi, and did not reappear until John the Baptist, the forerunner of the
Lord Jesus... The lamentation of the church here, then, was, that she saw not
her signs. So now, the church of the living God, the regenerate family of Zion,
have often reason to pour out the same melancholy complaint. Signs of God's
favour, marks and testimonies of his work of grace upon their souls, are often
so out of sight, so buried in obscurity, so enveloped in clouds of darkness,
that the living family are compelled, from soul feeling, to take up the
language of lamentation here expressed, and say, We see not our signs. J. C.
Philpot. 1802-1869.
Verse
9. Our signs. The ordinary signs of Israel being God's
peculiar people are the passover (Ex 12:13), the Sabbath (Ex 21:13), the
temple, the altar, the sacrifices; the extraordinary ones are God's miracles
wrought in his people's behalf (Ps 78:43). A. R. Fausset.
Verse
9. There is no more any prophet. By us it ought to be
observed what they do not say: It is not,—here is no more any giant or warlike
leader who may deliver us from the adversary: but, there is no more any
prophet. And yet when the prophets were with them, they were contemptible in
the eyes of all, maltreated by the wicked and put to death. Musculus.
Verse
10. Shall the enemy blaspheme the name for ever? The sinner
never leaves his sin till sin first leaves him: did not death put a stop to his
sin, he would never cease from sin. This may be illustrated by a similitude
thus: A company of gamesters resolve to play all night, and accordingly they
sit down to chess tables, or some other game; their candle, accidentally or
unexpectedly, goes out, or is put out, or burnt out; their candle being out, they
are forced to give over their game, and go to bed in the dark; but had the
candle lasted all night, they would have played all night. This is every
sinner's case in regard of sin: did not death put out the candle of life, the
sinner would sin still. Should the sinner live for ever, he would sin for ever;
and, therefore, it is a righteous thing with God to punish him for ever in
hellish torments. Every impenitent sinner would sin to the days of eternity, if
he might live to the days of eternity. O God, how long shall the adversary
reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? For ever, and
evermore; or for ever and yet—for so the Hebrew loves to exaggerate: as if the
sinner, the blasphemer, would set a term of duration longer than eternity to
sin in. The psalmist implicitly saith, Lord, if thou dost but let them alone
for ever, they will certainly blaspheme thy name for ever and ever. I have read
of the crocodile, that he knows no maximum quod sic, he is always
growing bigger and bigger, and never comes to a certain pitch of monstrosity so
long as he lives. Quamdiu vivit crescit. Every habituated sinner would,
if he were let alone, be such a monster, perpetually growing worse and worse. Thomas
Brooks.
Verse
12. God is my King of old, etc. Let us learn from this verse
how to think of our God. First, that he is our King, and therefore we ought to
be encouraged to pray for his help against the ungodly, and to place ourselves
in entire submission to his will and government. Secondly, that he is not a new
God, but the Ancient of Days, and that whatever salvation has been wrought not
only in the midst of his own people, but in the midst of the whole earth, even
among those by whom he is not acknowledged, has been wrought by him. Let this
meaning strike at the root of all trust in other gods, or in any creature. Musculus.
Verse
13. Thou didst divide the sea. Thou, O Lord, didst make firm
the flowing sea, that there might be a way for our fathers to pass over, and in
those very waters through which thou didst lead thy ransomed, thou didst
utterly overthrow the hosts of Egypt, who were like dragons for ferocity, as
they sought to devour thy people. Jansenius.
Verse
14. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan, etc. It is spoken of
Pharaoh's army which God destroyed in the Red Sea; that is, the destruction of
the Egyptians was a pledge of the accomplishment of God's promise to cast the
Canaanite out of the promised land, and to give them possession of it. Many
hardships they were to pass through in the wilderness, but God gave them this
mercy as food, not to their bodies, but food to their faith, while they were in
the wilderness: therefore, those former great and glorious promises were
accomplished. So that former mercies are food that God gives unto the faith of his
people to feed upon, till he hath perfectly accomplished whatever he hath
promised unto his church. William Strong.
Verse
14. Leviathan. The Arabic Lexicographers (quoted by Bochart)
affirm that Pharao, in the Egyptian language, signified a crocodile. Parkhurst
remarks that in Schenchzer's Physica Sacra may be seen a medal with Julius
Caesar's head on one side, and on the reverse a crocodile with this
inscription: AGYPTO CAPTA, Egypt taken. M. Mariette has discovered at
Karnak a monumental stele of Thothmes on which the king says of himself,
"Fierce
as the huge crocodile, I made them see the glory of my God;
Terrible Lord of the waters, none dare even approach him."
Verse
14. Leviathan is a name given not only to the crocodile, but
to the whale and other large fishes. The Zum, or people inhabiting the
wilderness, are supposed, by many sensible writers, to be the Ichthyophagy, or
fish eaters, who occupied, according to ancient authors, a part of the coast of
the Red Sea. The psalmist is here speaking of Israel's passage through its
waters; and it is a singular fact that Diodorus, who lived about two thousand
years ago, mentions a tradition, prevalent amongst these very persons, to the
effect that in the time of their remote forefathers an extraordinary reflux
took place, the channel of the gulf becoming dry, and the green bottom
appearing, whilst the whole body of waters rolled away in an opposite
direction. There can be little doubt that this strange people would have used
for food, and various purposes, such great fish as might have been cast ashore
on the termination of the miracle. Most writers give this text a figurative
meaning, but that is no reason why it may not be also literally understood; for
such a mode of speaking is common in the Bible. But whether we understand it
one way or the other, we have the testimony of heathens to its propriety and
force. If, by the term Leviathan, we believe Egypt to be intended, and
by its heads those petty states into which that country was divided, the
traditions of India, and the East, inform us that such designations were well
understood, and therefore beautifully applicable. Anon., in "Biblical
and Theological Gleanings"; by William O'Neill. 1854.
Verse
14. Meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. May not the
exact meaning be that even as the sea monsters washed upon the shore furnished
food for the inhabitants of the Red Sea, even so the symbolic dragon power of
Egypt when destroyed at the Red Sea, became food for Israel's faith, and even
furnished provision for their wilderness journey by the spoil which was cast up
by the tide. C. H. S.
Verse
15. Flood. God in dividing Jordan did not only divide the
water that ordinarily belonged to the river, or the water which came from its
fountains, but also the extraordinary additional waters by the great rains a
little before harvest. So God cleaved both the fountain, i.e.,
the fountain water, and the flood. Jonathan Edwards.
Verse
16. The day is thine, the night also is thine.
Ah!
do not be sorrowful, darling,
And do not be sorrowful, pray—
Taking the year together, my dear,
There is not more night than day.
And
God is God, my darling,
Of night as well as day;
And we feel and know that we can go,
Wherever he leads the way.
A
God of the night, my darling,
Of the night of death so grim,
The gate that leads out of life, good wife,
Is the gate that leads to Him.
From
"In the Sere and Yellow Leaf, "in "The Circling Year."
Verse
16. Day. Night. These changes are according to a fixed law.
Day and night are the ordinances of heaven upon earth for the growth of earth's
life, and, if we could trace the sunshine and the dark in every follower of
God, we should see them arranged with equal wisdom. It is a more complex work,
but, be sure of this, there is order in it all, and the hand that rules the
world in its orbit, and that makes it fulfil its course through light and
shade, is governing our lives for a higher than earthly end. One feature of the
law is presented so far for our guidance. It is a law of alternation. It
is day and night, and, let us thank God, it is also in due time night and day.
Each has its time and use. John Ker. 1869.
Verse
16. Thou hast prepared the light. It is but recently that we
have been able to form any conception of the power of light as an agent in the
economy of the globe; the discoveries of Actinism are among the most
interesting and marvellous of natural science. The discovery that "no
substance can be exposed to the sun's rays without undergoing a chemical
change, "has been described as scarcely less important in its effects than
the discovery of the law of gravitation. A sunbeam is one of the most powerful
of all the agencies of nature; magical as it is, it breaks up the strongest
chemical affinities; it is the author of colour, and it is the creator of a
myriad combinations, which all tend to the harmony of the world. Nor ought we
to forget the moral influence of light. We are all aware of the sensible
difference produced in our moral natures by a fine day or a dark day. Light
gives zest and tone to the spirits; light gives buoyancy and joy to the soul;
light crowds the chambers of the mind with ideas; Light is Life: the
merest insect could not live without light; and even blind natures receive, in
those organs which are not the property of vision, the assurance of its
benignant operations. Light is Order: and at its wand and command the
separation takes place, and dark and light pair off into their separate ranks.
Light is Beauty: whether in the refulgence of the moon; the chill
sparkle of the stars; the unrivalled play of colours in the attenuated film of
the soap bubble, at once the toy of childhood and the tool of the sage; the
rich play of tints in the mother of pearl, or the rich gorgeous rays in the
plumes of birds. Light is Purity: forms that rankle out of the glance of
its clear, steady beam, contract around themselves loathness and disgust, and
become the seats of foulness and shame. Light is Growth: where it is, we
know that nature pursues her work in life and in vigour; light gives vitality
to the sap; light removes obstructions from the pathway of the growing
agencies, while, in its absence, forms become stunted, gnarled, and impaired.
Light is Health: as it darts its clear and brilliant points to and fro,
it brings in its train those blessings of elasticity and energy, which give the
fulness of being—which is perfect health to the expanding forms. There is a
fine consistency, when Scripture makes light to contain, as it were, the seeds
of all things, and when the prelude of all creation is made to be those words,
"God said, Let there be light." This, then, is the part light is made
to play in the history of the world; it is used by moral power to become the
creator of moral influence. What a long series of creations elapsed before moral
causes seemed to operate in the affairs of the globe! But he, whose nature and
whose names are Light, had given to light its distinct being and work; and that
creative word, "Let there be light, "spoke right forwards to
the moral energies which were to be superinduced by its creation. Thus light,
it is true, went before all things, and became the cause of moral consequences;
but then, this arose from the divine hand, whence darted its benevolent beams. It
was God who gave it its divine commission, to divine between light and
darkness; it was God who made it the fountain of knowledge and of day; it
was God who gave to it the faculty to become, in turn, a creator, and to
warm into life and beauty a myriad seeds and shape of loveliness. E. Paxton
Hood.
Verse
16. The light and the sun. I was considerably affected in my
younger days by the long standing objection, that Moses made light to
exist before the creation of the sun; as books then usually taught, what some
still fancy, that there could not have been light without this luminary. But
not choosing, on such important point, to attach my faith to any general
assertion, I sought to find out if any investigator of the nature of light had
perceived any distinction in its qualities or operation, which made it a fluid
or matter independent of the sun. It was not easy, before the year 1791, to
meet with the works of any student of nature on such a subject, as it had been
little attended to; but I at length saw the fact asserted by Henckel, a German
of the old school, of some value in his day, and soon afterwards some
experiments were announced in England which confirmed the supposition. It has
been a favourite point of attention with me ever since; and no truth in
philosophy seems to be now more clearly ascertained than that light has a
distinct existence, separate and independent of the sun. This is a striking
confirmation of the Mosaic record; for that expressly distinguishes the
existence and operation of light from the solar action upon it, and from that
radiation of it which is connected with his beams and presence. By Moses, an
interval of three days is placed between the luminous creation, and the
appearance and position of the sun and moon. Light was, therefore, operating by
its own laws and agencies, without the sun, and independently of his peculiar
agency, from the first day to the fourth of our terrestrial fabrication. But
from the time that the sun was placed in his central position, and his rays
were appointed to act on our earth, they have been always performing most
beneficial operations, essential to the general course of things. Sharon
Turner (1768-1847), in "The Sacred History of the World."
Verse
17. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth. The actual
distribution of sea and land over the surface of the globe is likewise of the
highest importance to the present condition of organic life. If the ocean were
considerably smaller, or if Asia and America were concentrated within the
tropics, the tides, the oceanic currents, and the meteorological phenomenon on
which the existence of the vegetable and animal kingdoms depend, would be so
profoundly modified, that it is extremely doubtful whether man could have
existed, and absolutely certain that he could never have risen to a high degree
of civilisation. The dependence of human progress upon the existing
configuration of the globe necessarily leads us to the conclusion that both
must be the harmonious work of the same Almighty Power, and that a divine and
immutable plan has from all eternity presided over the destinies of our planet.
It is almost superfluous to point out how largely the irregular windings and
undulations of the coasts, the numerous islands scattered over the face of the
waters, the promontories stretching far away into the domains of the sea, and
the gulfs plunging deeply into the bosom of the land, have contributed to the
civilisation of the human race by multiplying its points of contact with the
ocean, the great highway of nations. G. Hartwig, in "The Harmonies of
Nature." 1866.
Verse
17. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth. Consider the
form of the earth. It is known to be globular, and in shape nearly like an
orange. And why has God chosen that form? With a view that it might be
inhabited by living creatures on its whole surface. In order to this, every
part of the globe must have sufficient light and heat, the wind must have a
free circulation, and the water must be diffused over all its parts. The
rotundity of the earth is best calculated to promote these conveniences: for this
round form admits light and heat, without which there could be no life all over
the globe. The revolutions of day and night, the changes in the temperature of
the air, heat, cold, dryness or moisture, could not have taken place without
this form. Had the earth been square, had it been conic, had it been an
hexagon, or any other angular form, what must the consequence have been? The
greatest part of our earth would have been drowned, whilst the rest, would have
languished with drought. Some countries must have been torn in pieces by
storms, while others would have been deprived of the wholesome circulation of
wind. I have new reason to admire the supreme wisdom, when I reflect on the
enormous mass which composes our world. Were the earth softer, or more spongy
than it is, men and animals would sink into it; were it harder and less
penetrable, it would resist the toil of the labourer, and lose its capacity for
producing and nourishing the multitude of plants, herbs, roots, and flowers,
which now spring out of its bosom. There are regular and distinct strata found
in the earth; some of stone, others of metal and minerals. There are numerous
and evident advantages which result from these in favour of mankind. Do not the
strata of gravel, sunk deep in the earth, purify and in a manner filter the
water and render it sweet and fit for use? On the surface of the earth there is
a varied prospect; there is an admirable mixture of plains and valleys, of
small hills and mountains. The man must be blind indeed that does not see the
wise purpose of the Great Author of nature, in thus diversifying the surface of
the earth. Were the earth an even plain, how much beauty would it lose?
Besides, this variety of valley and mountain is very favourable to the health
of living creatures, and were there no hills, the earth would be less peopled
with men and animals. There would be fewer plants, fewer simples and trees. We
should be deprived of metals and minerals: the vapours would not be condensed,
nor should we have either springs or rivers. Must we not then acknowledge that
the whole plan of the earth, its form, its inward and outward construction, are
all regulated according to the wise laws, which all combine towards the
pleasure and happiness of mankind? O thou supreme Author of nature, thou hast
done all things well! Whichever way I turn my eyes, whether I penetrate into
the interior structure of the globe thou hast appointed me to inhabit, or
whether I examine its surface, I everywhere discover marks of profound wisdom
and infinite goodness. Christopher Christian Sturm.
Verse
17. Thou hast made summer and winter. Plasmasti ea. Now thou
hast done all this and more for mankind in general, wilt thou be wanting to thy
church? John Trapp.
Verse
17. Winter. As if fatigued with so many cares, nature now
rests; this, however, is only to collect new force, again to be employed for
the good of the world. But even this rest, which nature enjoys in winter, is a
secret activity. A new creation is preparing in silence. The necessary dispositions
are already making, that the desolate earth may again recover the children she
has lost. The corn which is to serve us for food, already shoots. The fibres of
plants, which are to adorn our fields and gardens, begin insensibly to open. O
my beneficent Creator! Here I find fresh cause to adore thy wisdom and power.
The repose which nature takes it as worthy to enter into the plan of thy wise
providence, as the activity she shows in spring and summer. Thou hast wisely
combined the several revolutions of the earth, thou hast equally divided its
rest and labour. It is thy will that each day should vary the scenes of nature,
in that way which is most proper for the perfection of the whole. Pardon, O
God, my temerity, If I have been so stupid as to blame anything in the
government of the world. I am more than ever convinced that all the plans of
thy providence, though they may appear extraordinary to my weak reason, are
replete with wisdom and goodness. Christopher Christian Sturm.
1750-1786.
Verse
19. O deliver not, etc. How weak soever the church be, and how
many and strong soever the enemy be, yet cannot they all devour the church,
except the Lord should deliver his church over into their hands, against which
evil the church hath ground of confidence to pray, O deliver not the soul of
thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked; for he hath given his
church wings, and a hiding place too, as the comparison imports, if he please
to give her the use thereof also. David Dickson.
Verse
19. The people of God are taught in this form of supplication how to
edge and keen their prayers, and make them vigorous; to wit, by disclaiming any
ability or sufficiency in themselves; by styling themselves a congregation of
poor, silly, weak doves, no way able to encounter an army of bestial, cunning,
crafty, bloody, boisterous enemies. This plea the people of God make use of:
"With thee the fatherless findeth mercy, "Ho 14:3. John Langley.
Verse
19. The soul of thy turtledove. They compare themselves to a
turtledove, whose nature leads it, in whatever way it may be afflicted, not to
indulge in noisy impatience, but to mourn in secret; so the afflicted people of
Israel were unable to do anything but breathe their sighs and groans to God. Musculus.
Verse
19. Thy turtledove. God's people are an harmless, innocent
people, altogether unable and insufficient to help themselves against their
enemies, who are numerous, cruel, and barbarous. Hence they are resembled to
sheep, doves; called in the Word, fatherless, orphans, little ones, babes,
poor, simple, needy. They are men bound to their good behaviour, may not
harbour so much as a bad thought against any; are called to suffer, not to do
wrong. Julian did jeer at them for this; he would strike them on the one cheek,
and tell them that their Master taught them to turn the other; his soldiers
would take away their cloaks, and mind them that they must part with their
coats also. Out of their own dispositions they judge of others, therefore may
easily be deceived and entrapped. Thus Gedaliah, that sweet man, would not
believe the relation of Johanan touching the conspiracy of the crocodile
Ishmael against him; nay, was even angry with him for his faithful dealing that
way, and it cost him his life. Jer 40:16,41. That famous admiral of France,
Jasper Coligny, though he had information and intelligence from sundry parts
beyond the seas, that the court did intend to mischief him, and that there was
no security in their promises and agreements, though backed with oaths, thrust
himself, notwithstanding, upon the lion, and was smoothed with one paw and torn
with the other: being such, they lie open to the rage of many adversaries...
One would think these turtles should rather win the love of all that come near
them than incur the hatred of any, for they are quiet and peaceable persons. In
the mount of the Lord there is no hurt done (Isa 11:9), yet, notwithstanding,
they are maligned by a world of people. Because they are not like them (1Pe
4:4); because they are not of their number (Joh 15:19); because their persons
and their sacrifices are more acceptable with God than the others' (Ge 4:4);
because they reprove them for their evil ways (Joh 3:20); because they are for
the most part poor and mean, have no great forecast in worldly affairs, are no
deep politicians, they are such as those pauperes Lugdunensis, those
poor men of Lyons in France, therefore are exposed to beasts and lions (Mt
1:25); because they mourn for sin in themselves and others: they quarrel with
the dove even because of her mournful note. They will jeer at sighing sisters,
and men that hang the head like a bulrush; yet, seeing this bulrush cannot grow
without mire and mud, why should it not hang the head? John Langley.
Verse
19. Thy turtledove. This expression may, perhaps, be further
illustrated from the custom, ancient and modern, of keeping doves as favourite
birds (see Theocritus v. 96, and Virgil Eclog. 3. v 68, 69), and
from the care taken to secure them from such animals as are dangerous to them. James
Merrick.
Verse
19. Turtle Doves, of whatever species they be, whether
travellers or domesticated, are equally preserved by the inhabitants of Egypt:
they do not kill, and never eat them. Wishing to know the motive of this
abstinence among people who possess so little in the greater part of their
action, I learnt that it was for the honour of humanity. It is a consequence of
the respect due to hospitality, which the Arabs hold in such high estimation,
and of which they have communicated some shades to the people who dwell among them.
They would regard it as a violation of this hospitality not to spare those
birds, which come with a perfect confidence to live amongst them, and there to
become skilful but useless receptors of love and tenderness. The very farmer,
who sees his harvest a prey for the flights of turtle doves which alight on his
fields, neither destroys nor harasses them, but suffers them to multiply in
tranquillity. C. N.S. de M. Sonnini. 1775-1811.
Verse
19. Forget not the congregation of thy poor. Thy poor, by way
of discrimination. There may be a greater distance between poor and poor, than
there is between poor and rich. There are many "ragged regiments,
""congregations of poor, "whom the Lord will forget for ever;
but his poor shall be saved. And these poor are of two sorts; either
poor in regard of wealth and outward substance, or poor in regard of friends or
outward assistance. A rich man, especially a godly rich man, may be in a poor
case, destitute and forsaken, wanting patronage and protection. God saveth the poor
in both notions, both those that have no friends, and those that have no
estates. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
20. Have respect. The word, in the original signification of
it, imports a fastening of the eyes upon some object, that a man desires to
look into. Hence, by a metaphor, it is transferred to the eyes of the mind, and
signifies a serious weighing and consideration of a thing. God is said to
"wink at the times of ignorance, "or not to regard it, Ac 17:30.
God's people here look at God, as if he did wink at his covenant, and neither
look at it, nor them in their miseries. The psalmist desires him that he would
be mindful of it for his people's deliverance. Francis Taylor, in "A
Sermon preached before the House of Commons, " entitled "God's
Covenant the Churches Plea." 1645.
Verse
20. Have respect unto the covenant. This presseth the Lord
more than the former; this is the close grappling, as it were, with him in the
words of Jacob: "I will not let thee go till thou hast blessed me."
This is the throwing out of the greatest sheet anchor in the tempest, for it
lays hold on God's faithfulness, and truth, and fatherly goodness. If they be
not in covenant with God, it may be charged upon them.—"You have violated
my holy law, you have incensed my wrath against you by your perverse ways,
therefore I will not help you, but give you up; "but now the souls that be
in covenant with God will not be put off so (be it spoken with holy reverence),
but will cry out, O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, yet have
respect unto thy covenant. Yet be sure you walk uprightly before the
Lord...With what face can any one say, Lord, have respect unto thy covenant,
when he casts his own covenant behind his back, and cannot say with the prophet
David, "I have a respect to all thy commandments"? How canst thou
say, "Deliver me not up to the many beasts without, "when thou art
not afraid to be delivered up to thy vile, bestial lusts and affections that
are within? Thou hypocrite, first labour the subduing of the monsters that are
within thee, then a fair way will be open to have thine enemies subdued round
about thee. John Langley.
Verse
20. Have respect unto the covenant. Those persons and
preachers who decline to think and speak of gospel mercies and free salvation
as secured by covenant, deprive themselves and others of much of the
blessed comforts of God's word. Such was not the manner of the inspired
psalmist. William S. Plumer.
Verse
20. God seems to his people to neglect his covenant, when they are
oppressed by ungodly men. So Asaph complains. After an acknowledgment that God
was the Shepherd of Israel, and so in covenant with his people, and accordingly
had wonderfully brought them out of Egypt, and made them flourish marvellously
in the land of Canaan, he attributes their misery to God's neglect. Many
reasons may be given of this unkind carriage of God's people to him. As, first,
because their misery blinds them; and blind men when they are smitten suspect
every man that comes near them. Secondly, self love makes us suspect any rather
than ourselves, yea, even God himself. The people should have reflected upon
themselves that were innocent, but in their sorrows they reflect upon God that
was innocent. We are all Adam and Eve's children. When Eve had eaten of the
forbidden fruit, she tacitly lays the fault upon God: "The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat." Ge 3:13. Hadst thou not made a subtil serpent
I had not broken thy commandment. Adam lays it openly upon God: "The woman
who thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Ge
3:12. Hadst thou not given me such a companion to betray me, I had been
innocent. So we their posterity, when trouble is upon us, suspect God's
breaking covenant, rather than our own. Thus our nurses beat the stone when children
stumble through their own neglect. Thirdly, in time of need we most commonly
suspect such as are best able to help us. The sick man, if he be in danger of
death, suspects not his ignorant neighbours, but his skilful physician. He that
is oppressed in his estate, when the sentence goes against him, suspects none
more than the advocate, or the judge. We know God is best able to help us; our
corruption, therefore, makes us to suspect him most, if our troubles continue.
Fourthly, we most suspect those who, as we think, have most reason to help us
in our miseries, and do it not. If the servant wants meal or apparel, he
complains not of his fellow servants but of his master, who is tied by covenant
to provide for him; if the child be wronged by the servants, he lays not the
fault upon his brethren but upon his father, who by bands of nature is obliged
to take care of him. So we, being in covenant with God, wonder not much if
others fail us, but complain heavily if God seems to neglect us. Francis
Taylor.
Verse
20. The psalmist moves God in prayer to look to his covenant by this
argument: For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of
cruelty; that is, of cruel men, or of men so full of cruelty, that they
deserve rather to be called cruelty than cruel: this sort of men inhabit
and fill up all those places where the light of holy truth doth not shine. Now,
if they who want the light, or have no true knowledge of God among them, are
hereby prepared for the acting of all manner of wickedness, how much more are
they prepared for the acting of wickedness who have thrust the light from them,
and are in dark places of their own making? The prophet Hosea shows (Ho 4:1),
that where there is no knowledge of God in a land, for want of means, there is
no truth nor mercy (that is, there is none exercised) in that land, but
oppression, deceit, and falsehood bear down all: how much more must it be so
when there is no knowledge of God in a land, because of the contempt of means,
and rebellion against the light? What wickedness will not they do in the dark,
who put out the candle that they may not see what they do? Joseph Caryl.
Verse
20. (second clause). This might have some literal meaning. The
dark places of the earth, some have thought, may here describe in the first
instance, the caves, the dens, and the woods of the land; for there are many
such (as travellers testify) in the land of Judaea, and in unsettled times they
have often been the abode of robbers and murderers, who have thence sallied
forth to molest and cut off the travellers, to ravish peaceful villages, to
waylay and plunder the merchant, to commit all sorts of crimes, and then to
return in impunity to these dark retreats, where they laugh at all law, human
or divine; they quaff, with horrid pleasure, the recollection of the widow's
tears, and listen with inhuman joy to the echoing remembrances of the orphan's
moan and the dying father's shriek. But what a land thus infested would be, is
but a faint image of the heathen world. Wherever heathenism spreads itself,
there are the dark places of the earth. The Scripture often tells us
that. John Hambleton. 1839.
Verse
20. The dark places. An allusion, as sometimes interpreters
conceive, to the dens of wild beasts, wherein they hide themselves to seize
upon their prey, Ps 104:21-22. To these cruel men are compared. Ps 10:8-9.
"He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places
doth he murder the innocent. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he
lieth in wait to catch the poor." Such places oppressors and robbers
choose. Others take it for an allusion to prisons and dark dungeons void of
light. As the prophet, Isa 42:7, describes a prison: "To open the blind
eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house." So trouble in Scripture is compared to darkness,
and prosperity to light; because darkness is irksome, and light comfortable:
"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; "and
then the sorry hiding places whither God's people went to hide themselves are
here meant. Yet, could they not there be quiet, but were pursued, found out,
and spoiled by their adversaries. Others take dark places for obscure
and mean places, as dark men, in the original, are called mean men
in our translation, Pr 22:29. And then it may either signify that the meanest
men did oppress God's people, or that the poorest and meanest of God's people
were not spared. Such usage have we found in our time, when the poor cottages
of our foes have sent out pillagers, and no cottagers of ours have escaped
spoiling in diverse places. Francis Taylor.
Verse
20. Cruelty. Heathenism is cruel. It is not changed in
character since the days when parents made their children to pass through fire
to Moloch. At this very day, for instance, infanticide prevails in China; and
the "law, "says a book of authority—"the law, otherwise so
rigorous, does not take the slightest cognisance of that crime, nor ever
subject those guilty of it to punishment. Every morning before it is light,
waggons traverse the different quarters of the city of Pekin to receive the
dead infants." Well may they go "before it is light; ""the
dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty."
"The missionaries of that city obtained details, which justify belief that
the number of infants (chiefly females) destroyed there is upwards of three
thousand annually." Think of this same proportion, extended throughout
that densely peopled empire. Among the same people suicide is also of frequent
occurrence. What a contrast with the religion which stays the rash hand, and
calls out, "Do thyself no harm!" We might pass to India; and there
the flames of the funeral piles, on which so many widows were annually burnt,
had hardly expired, when we were shocked, only a few years since, with other
proofs of the cruelty of heathenism. What painful details were those, which our
government brought to light respecting the secret murderers of India! What
think you of a vast fraternity of murderers, consisting of many thousands of
persons, which has existed from generation to generation, which has been
ramified over the whole country from Cape Comorin to the Himalayan mountains,
which has flourished alike under Hindu, Mahometan, and British rulers, and which
has every year destroyed multitudes of victims—and all this under the sanction
of religion? The murderous system, they say, has been enjoined them by the
goddess Kalee, who is represented as having made a grant of half the human race
to her votaries, (to be murdered, that is) according to certain prescribed
forms. John Hambleton.
Verse
23. If we are compelled to close our most solemn and urgent
devotions, and our most earnest supplications, without seeing one ray of light
beaming upon our path, it may comfort us to remember that so the pious psalmist
closed this complaint. To hope against hope is the most blessed kind of hope. William
S. Plumer.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1.
1.
The divine displeasure a fact.
2.
It is but in measure, and we are very liable to exaggerate it.
3.
Even while it lasts our relation to him is unaffected: Sheep of thy pasture.
4.
Our business is to enquire the reason of it, and act accordingly.
Verse
1. (second clause). The Lord's anger with his people compared
to smoke.
1.
It is not a consuming fire.
2. It suggests fear of the fire.
3. It darkens the light of joy.
4. It blinds the eyes of faith.
5. It checks the breath of life.
6. It blackens the beauty of our worldly comforts.
Verse
2.
1.
The Lord's relation to his people.
(a)
Election.
(b) Redemption.
(c) Indwelling.
2.
The prayer arising from it: Remember.
Verse
3. Church mischief.
1.
The church has enemies.
2.
Wickedness in the church is their great weapon.
3.
This causes much desolation to weak saints, to enquirers, to peace, to prayer,
to usefulness.
4.
The cure for it is God's interposition.
Verses
3-4. The power of prayer.
1.
On one side were,
(a)
Desolation: perpetual, etc.
(b) Desecration.
(c) Declamation: enemies roar.
(d) Demonstration: they set up.
2.
On the other side is,
(a)
Supplication.
(b) This brings God to the rescue effectually and quickly.
Verse
4. Ensigns for signs. The craft of Satan is supplanting truth
with deceptive counterfeits.
Verse
5. True fame. To build for God with labour, daring, diligence,
skill, etc.
Verse
6. Vandal work against the truth of God.
Verses
6-7. Things feared by a church.
1.
Injury to her doctrines or ordinances: carved work.
2.
The fire of strife, division, etc.
3.
The defilement of sin. Either of these three will throw a church down; let her
guard and pray against them.
Verse
8. The destruction of rural churches, the aim of our enemies: the
injury they would so do, and our duty to prevent it: the means the destroyers
use: bribery, oppression, etc. Our proper method for sustaining such churches.
Verse
9. (first clause).
1.
There are such things as signs, that is, tokens and marks of God's
special favour to the soul.
2.
There is also a seeing those signs when God, the Holy Ghost, is pleased
to shine upon them.
3.
There is a third state, where there is not seeing the signs, those signs
being enveloped in darkness, dimness, and obscurity. J. C. Philpot.
Verse
10. A prayer for revival.
1.
How God is reproached.
2. What are the ill effects of it.
3. When we may expect him to arise.
Verse
11.
1.
The patience of God with man: He 'withdraws his hand, even,' etc., he hesitates
to strike.
2.
The impatience of man with God: "pluck it, "etc. G. R.
Verse
12.
1.
The sovereignty of God.
2. Its antiquity.
3. Our loyalty to it.
4. The practical character of his reign: working.
5. The graciousness of it: working salvation.
6. The place of its operation: in the midst of the earth.
Verse
14. God's defeat of our enemies, and the benefit accruing to
ourselves.
Verse
15. The wonderful nature of gracious supplies, illustrated by the
smitten rock.
Verse
16. God present alike in all dispensations of providence.
Verses
16-17.
1.
The God of grace is the God of nature: The day in thine, etc.
2.
The God of nature is the God of grace: the wisdom, the power, the faithfulness
the same. See Psalm 19. G. R.
Verse
19. The soul of the believer compared to a turtledove.
Verse
20.
1.
The title given to heathen nations: dark places of the earth. Not
without the light of nature, or of reason, or of natural conscience, or of
philosophy, as of Greece and Rome; but without the light of revelation.
2.
Their condition: full of, etc.: cruelty in their public, social, and
private relationships. See Romans 1: "without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful."
3.
Their part in the covenant. This is known from their part in its promises, and
in prophecies: I will give thee the heathen, etc.
4.
The prayer of others on their behalf: Have respect, etc.; Oh send
forth thy light, etc.
The
conversion of the world will be in answer to the prayers of the church.
Verse
22. God pleading his own cause in providential visitations of nations
and individuals, as also in remarkable conversions and awakenings.
Verse
22.
1.
The glory of our cause: it is the Lord's own.
2.
The hope of our cause: he will plead it himself.
3.
The hope thus derivable from the violence of man: it will move the Lord to
arise.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》